I arrived at the Charlotte airport about 2 hours ahead of our flight to Dullas only to find out the flight was delayed due to mechanical problems. We kept asking about the delay and how it would effect the connection to Paris, but we were told, "no problems." At the last minute, my group was switched from a United flight to DC, to a Delta flight through Atlanta, both connected to flights to Charles Degaull. The ticket agent called down to get our luggage transferred from United to Delta So off on the great adventure!
The connection in Atlanta was no problem, the flight over, although crowded, was uneventful. We arrived in Paris with 45 minutes to get to our connection. One train later, a long jog up and down stairs, through terminals and we arrived at our gate with 5 minutes to spare only to find no airplane and no people. On the commuter flights they load you on busses and drive you to the airplane which is parked in another area of the airport, about a 5 minute ride.
We were given two options. Stay and kill 8 hours till the next flight to Pau or catch a train to Orly and get a flight at either 1 or 3pm. The only issue was luggage. If we switch to a flight out of Orly, or luggage would stay here until we filed a missing luggage report in Pau and then it would be sent over. Apparently, if you are not on the flight, luggage does not go on. We said we would wait because we were not sure how hard the missing luggage report would be to file.
Update......ASU wins 3rd National Title in a row!
The airport is very interesting. There was a strike going on, so people would parade through the airport chanting and beating drums. Also, walking through would be paramilitary armed with machine guns with a policeman. I was told if the policeman gave the OK, the paramilitary could open fire.
We also get French lessons 3 times a week. I got a jump start when my high school friend June taught me a few things and made a cheat sheet for me. That really helped!. It has been passed around the group. I have a long way to go! We have two teachers, Caroline works on vocabulary and grammer and Karin the pronunciation. Karin is very big in learning via immersion. During her classes we hear very little English.
Strange thing about the Post Office. You can buy stamps at most stores that sell papers, but usually they do not know about postage to the US. You can put a letter in any of the yellow boxes around town. To get in the Post Office you have to press a buzzer on the door. Then they buzz you in. There is a camera, so I guess they can decide not to let you in. Maybe the customers go "postal" in France.
