It's Christmas break! The factory is closed for a week so I will have more time to tackle things here, like TMAs (Open University assignments).
We visited my family in France last weekend. Partly because we cannot be in two places at once on Christmas day, and this year is English Christmas year, so we will be heading South to Oxfordshire. The journey to my parents was a bit of an adventure! Keep reading this post if you are eager to know more.
We left home at 10.30 to catch the train to get on the 13.15 flight from Birmingham to Paris. (number 13 is relevant to this story) And... surprise surprise... the train was late (never happens on British rails *cough*).
We still arrived at the airport on time, even considered buying a sandwich, but given that I was given food & drinks on BA/SN Brussels the week before I thought we may as well get something on the plane. Missed. No food on BA flights to Paris. We were sitting on row 13. When we arrived at Paris Airport, the captain addressed the usual greetings and informed us on the local time (14SSHHHH), which I did not hear entirely but checked my watch which indicated 14.00. OK, my watch was already on continental time. Not surprising given that I wear it almost exclusively when I travel.
Off the plane, onto a bus (No. 13) which was supposed to take us to the terminal but did not start once everybody was on it. A second bus arrived, we changed bus, arrived inside the terminal, queued at passport control (CDG is awful for that). Now, the luggage conveyor belt had broken down and it took ages to get our bag. We bought a sandwich in the meantime. And then came our luggage. Hurrah!
Went to the SNCF/RER station. Tried to buy 2 tickets from central Paris but due to a technical failure, credit cards were not accepted on ticket machines. Of course we did not have change. We started to queue at the desks, when we noticed a machine changing notes into coins. Saved! Bought 2 tickets, got onto the RER (=Regional Express Network). Our train to Laval from Montparnasse was at 17.30, but I thought that just to make sure we would go all the way to Montparnasse and have a coffee there, rather than hanging around in Central Paris and having to rush.
We arrived at Montparnasse and all the trains on the departure board were from 18.00 onwards... Very odd. I looked at my watch: 17.00. Looked at the board again. And then I saw the massive clock in the station showing 18.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had missed our train by 30 minutes... We went to the helpdesk and the next one was at 18.30 which was not too bad. As our first tickets were non-exchangeable, non-refundable, we would have to pay again, but the guy said we could just mention it to the ticket inspector in the train. Tried to inform my parents about the delay. My mobile phone battery was down. Fortunately, Trave's was OK.
At 18.15 we were advised that due to a technical failure, the train was stopped and they could not tell us when we would leave. Eventually the train left at 18:50 which was not too bad. My sister was there in Laval to pick us up and the car did not break down so we got to my parents' OK.
It was good to see almost everybody.
We came back with the 20.00 flight which amazingly arrived 25 minutes in advance, on a 55 minutes flight: is there no speed limit up in the air? We had booked a taxi (no train to where we live at this time of the day) but had to wait for it during 35 minutes, grrr... We arrived home at 21.45, and I had to get up at 4am the following morning, flying to Duesseldorf. I should have booked a room at the airport, but it is nicer to sleep at home.
My trip to Germany was really interesting. This was for work. I met customers I had never met before and understood a lot about the market. There was a lot of travelling on this trip but it was worth going. I had a meeting on the Monday morning about 20 minutes' drive from the airport. Afterwards I drove to Wuppertal, where I met Sandrine, a friend from university whom I had not seen in years. It was really good to see her and to visit Wuppertal's Christmas market, even if it is not as famous as Nueremberg's. And I found a hat that my brother had dreamt of having for a long time. On the second day, I drove to South Berlin. The road was extremely foggy most of the way. Suddenly I found myself under a glorious sunshine, very briefly, and realised I was on the top of some hills or mountains, and then down and back into the fog again. I had a meeting in South Berlin first thing in the morning, after which I drove back to Duesseldorf to catch my plane. There was almost no traffic jam so I arrived at the airport earlier than I had planned. I even managed to get the 16.30 flight, instead of the 20.00 flight. I am SO GLAD I was flying to Birmingham, and not to Heathrown, as most flights to Heathrow were and are still cancelled, due to very dense fog.
Well, I'm home for good. Well, until the 7th January, when I am off to Munich.
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