Back to Paris

Summary

The author recounts the beginning of their 3-month European adventure, starting with a chaotic morning trying to catch a train from Nantes to Paris, followed by a long wait at Charles de Gaulle Airport, and a humorous mishap with a new airport check-in machine.

Abstract

The narrative begins with the author and Max's early morning rush to catch their train to Paris after a taxi no-show and a last-minute race to the station. Despite the initial panic, they make it with time to spare. After a sleepless night, the author struggles to stay awake during the journey, eventually succumbing to exhaustion at the airport where they face a 7-hour layover. The author, too tired to engage in reading, endures discomfort and boredom, resorting to eating sandwiches to pass the time. The experience at the airport includes an encounter with innovative check-in machines, which leads to an embarrassing moment when the author inadvertently jams one of the machines by inserting their passport into the wrong slot. The airport staff intervene, and the group is checked in manually, leaving the author with a disdain for airport machines.

Opinions

The author seems to have a negative view of machines, especially after the passport incident at the check-in counter.
The author expresses a sense of humor about the situation, referring to themselves as a "guinea pig" when using the new check-in machine.
The author's opinion on the comfort of the airport chairs is quite low, describing them as the "most uncomfortable chair in the world

Where our 3 month European adventure began.

We were up very early to catch the 7.30 am train from Nantes to Paris. Max ordered a taxi for 6.30 am, which did not arrive. After several phone calls, one finally arrived just after 7. We sped to the station through deserted streets in time to catch the train. After all our panicking, we had 15 minutes to spare!

After only 3 hours sleep last night, I dozed all the way to Montparnasse where our train stopped. We caught the metro to Gare du Nord, and then a train to Charles de Gaulle Airport to face a 7-hour wait! Too tired to read, I sat zombie-like in the most uncomfortable chair in the world, wanting to sleep but unable to. Out of sheer boredom, I ate 9 of the delicious sandwiches Max had prepared for our journey.

The toilets at Charles de Gaulle airport. Not good for a hangover. Photo by author.

A couple of hours before our scheduled boarding time, we headed down to the check-in line which has new check-in machines which allow you to scan your passport so you don’t have to show your passport at the counter.

I was first in line — the guinea pig so to speak — so I looked at the screen and it said “Scan your passport” on the left hand side of the screen so I looked underneath and there was a passport-sized slot so I stuck my opened passport in, and nothing happened!

As it turned out, I had inserted the passport into the slot that prints the boarding pass and of course, it was stuck fast! Kiryn called the check-in staff who came over and unlocked the machine and retrieved my passport, and wouldn’t let us use the machine again. I don’t think they trusted us!

Our check-in was all done manually. I hate machines! Especially at airports!