En France..

Despite many challenges, we arrived at last...If I had not used it recently in a blip posting, I would have titled this "TheTimes They are A-Changing!"

It all started last night when I was not able to download our boarding passes and was instructed to call Customer Service..only to find out that for the third time since we booked in January, that our flight times had changed..but as I pointed out, they hadn't notified us of that...like when were they intending to tell us? Seems we needed new electronic tickets and seating assignments before we could get boarding passes...Ok..I can handle that.. but please..no more changes! 

We arrived at the airport in plenty of time - perhaps too early, as the security folks had enough time on their hands to select my sister for further investigation of her bags - looking for drug residue? Why my sister?

Of course, the flight out of Toronto was delayed..as one would expect these days...and while we were in line to board, my sister was called up to see if she was comfortable being in charge of opening the exit door and helping other passengers evacuate through it...Say what? Yes, we are in the exit row, but not in the seat by the door...so, again, why my sister? 

Of course, she politely declined and they reassigned her seat to another row, but left her exit row seat empty?  Which was a bonus for me and my exit-row-seat-mate who had no problem taking on the role of exit door manager! We now had an empty seat between us!

We arrived in Paris a bit late, and once again, my sister was pulled out at security for yet another issue they wanted to investigate..? Why my sister? What is it about her that they do not like? 

She passed all inspections of course and then we had 5 hours to wait for our connecting flight to Toulouse..and when the stated boarding time arrived, we noted that nothing was happening at the stated gate...seems the gate had been changed, without an announcement?..."Quel surpris" and not just to another convenient gate but to one in another section of the terminal! After rushing there, afraid we were going to miss our last chance to get toToulouse, we, of course, had to wait and wait as that flight had been further delayed until they found a crew? and oh yes, it was not at an actual gate, but a bus ride away - out there on the tarmac in the rain...But Ok, I could handle that...I was just too tired to complain.

The final fiasco was that once we boarded, with every seat filled, there was not enough bin space for all the carry-on bags and much time was spent trying to solve this most challenging issue? Like, is there not a space for each seat? heh heh..Well, yes there would be if we all stuck to the regulation size.....

At last the final solution! Gather up all the homeless bags and ticket them and put them in the hold...

Yes, we were late arriving in Toulouse but many apologies were offered...and despite all the bureaucratic mix-ups, the flight attendants on both planes were exceedingly nice, friendly and  helpful..Kudos to Air France for that! And..the miracle of all miracles? Our baggage arrived with us..all the way fromToronto after being on and off two connecting planes!  

Yes, it is cold and raining ..but who cares..we need to battle the jet-lag, sleep, rest and get organized for the adventure ahead of us...That is the reason we came early - to have three days to be rested and ready for the sometimes hectic schedule of the painting vacation!

Key and memorable parts of our journey are included in the extra..and I apologize for the wordiness and more detail than one could want..but these postings - when I have time to do them - will be the basis of my journal and I do not want to forget a single moment - even the frustrating ones!