Business Class and Lost Baggage

After many fits and starts, I finally arrived in Paris yesterday. Unfortunately, my luggage appears to be taking the scenic route. So here's the story.

I was originally scheduled to return to Paris on February 28th. Plans were changed to depart on Saturday, March 8th so I would be available to testify on D's behalf in divorce trial on Friday, March 7th. However, the trial progressed slowly so I didn't testify, and the earliest date that the trial could be continued is April 3rd. In the meantime, a routine mammogram was followed by a second mammogram, then by a needle biopsy, then an MRI and finally an "extensional" biopsy on Thursday, March 6th, so at least we made good use of the delay!

On Saturday, Eleanor drove me to the airport in a torrential rainstorm only to find out that the flight to Philadelphia was delayed by at least two hours. It wasn't clear whether I would make my connection in Philadelphia so, rather than be stranded there overnight, I had the ticket agent re-book my flights for Sunday evening. I counted on a relaxing evening (hey, I've never been packed this far ahead for anything!) which it basically was: I took a nap. This turned out to be a good thing since I stayed up until 2:00 a.m. in order to call both car service and landlord (8 a.m. in France) to let them know of change in plans. Didn't reach either but left messages (and sent emails). Also the change to daylight-savings time tonight put me one hour closer to French time! (There's looking at the bright side, says Pollyanna.)

I was originally on two USAirways flights (Hartford to Philadelphia, then Philadelphia to Paris). The re-booking put me on USAirways to Philadelphia, then Air France to Paris. Since the first flight was scheduled to leave Hartford at 1:47 p.m. on Sunday, arriving in Philadelphia before 3:00 p.m., there should have been no problem connecting with Air France flight leaving at 7:55 p.m. And I would have been happy to spend the afternoon in the nice Philadelphia airport. BUT NOOOOOOOOO . . . it didn't quite work out that way.

The USAirways flight was delayed and delayed and delayed so I spent the afternoon sitting at Gate 27 at BDL, waiting for updates on the airplane, which was waiting in line for maintenance in Philadelphia before it flew to Hartford to take us back to Philadelphia. (Ironically, the later USAirways flight from Hfd to Phil left before my earlier-scheduled flight did.) Fortunately, I had a good book to read (Oliver Sacks' An Anthropologist on Mars) so I was fairly relaxed most of the time. When it became clear, however, that I was going to arrive in Philadelphia at the last possible minute to make my connection, I asked the USAirways person at the gate whether she thought it made sense to keep the current arrangements. I was particularly concerned about whether my luggage would get transferred. She reassured me that it would be a "legal" connection and that there should be no problems. Famous last words.

I finally arrive in Philadelphia at about 6:40 p.m. but have to change terminals (from F to A, the furthest away) by bus. Then I have to walk/run to the gate. When I show up (at 7:10 p.m.), the Air France person says that the flight was closed 10 minutes earlier. But I'm already checked in, I protest. OK, he says, but you'll have to wait until I finish checking in this group (another screw-up by USAirways, apparently). So I cool my jets until after 7:30 and am finally assigned what must have been the last seat on the airplane: in BUSINESS CLASS! Unbelieveable. Well, thinks I, maybe my luck is changing (hah, that's what you think!).

OK, business class turns out to be quite nice. very attentive service. free champagne and wine, none of which I can take advantage of (I take the water and the orange juice). nice hot face cloth. great dinner (considering it's airplane food): lobster salad, saumon en croute with mixed vegetables, three kinds of cheese, bread, fruit tart for dessert. The best part of course is the wonderful, wonderful seat which can be adjusted to recline the back and raise the feet, like a recliner chair. It reclines completely for sleeping, although interestingly I don't sleep any more in this seat than I normally do in steerage. I watch a sweet little film: Juno.

Monday, March 10th. Arrive in Paris Monday morning (once again amazed at the completely free trolleys conveniently located at entrance to baggage area), but of course my luggage hasn't made the transfer. (This whole experience is reminding me of a similar experience David and I had once when we tried to fly from Hartford to New York to get flight to Paris - including nearly missing connection and lost luggage). So go to baggage claim office to fill out the usual paperwork. Conduct entire conversation in French. At the end, I ask for "une agrafeuse" so I can staple all the papers together. I have "learned" this word so many times but this is the first time I've actually been able to recall it !! Despite the fact that my luggage is missing, I'm feeling somewhat pleased with myself. :)

Pass through customs (with nothing but my carry-on bags!) to meet driver from First Way who ferries me into town. Charming young French man, chatters away to me in French, I have to ask him to slow down a little as I'm jet-lagged! He asks me how long I will be in Paris. When I tell him 12 weeks, he asks me what I do while I'm here. Well, says I, je suis les cours a l'Alliance Francaise et, apart ca, je flane. (Flaner is my all time favorite French verb. It means "to wander aimlessly." !!)

We drive through the 20th and pass by a number of streets/parks/churches that I have walked by - it's great. Even out in the far reaches of the city, things look familiar. Feels as though I have come home. Into the 11th, through the Place de la Bastille, down the rue Saint Antoine and I'm back in my old neighborhood.

We park near 149 rue Saint Martin and slosh through the pouring rain to the building. The door is opened by my landlord, Danielle (Dany) Frances, who is charming, welcoming, completely French and very much her own person! We walk up to the 1st floor (which would be the 2nd floor in the US), where there is an elevator! We let the driver take the elevator with the bags, and Dany and I walk up the remaining stairs. (Of course, the whole reason for having a driver from the airport was so he could schlep the bigger suitcases up to the apartment. So much for that idea.) I'm on the 3rd (French or 4th US) floor.

The apartment is charming. More on this later.

I'm too tired to even think. It's raining and my luggage is lost. Against all my rules of "how best to overcome jet-lag," I lie down and sleep all afternoon. When I awake, I'm still tired but think about going out to the grocery store or to a bistro to get something to eat. However, I'm not at all hungry so I basically don't do much of anything: reorganize some of the things in the apartment, unpack the few things I have in my carry-ons, have some left-over trail mix (nuts, seeds and raisins) that I had bought in the airport, and make myself a cup of black current tea with the one tea bag I find in the kitchen.

I also have that wonderful "I've been traveling for two days" unshowered feeling so I strip down, throw my turtleneck, socks, trousers, and underthings in the washing machine and take a shower with the hand soap that has been left in the bathroom. Of course, I have no lotion, no powder, no toothbrush! Fortunately, I do have a t-shirt that I threw in my carry-on at the last minute so I don't have to sleep completely au naturel. :) By morning, all of my things are not only clean but dry! I know that I'm always talking about how great life would be stripped down to the bare minimum but this is ridiculous! I wonder if this is a try-out for China/Africa??? I'm feeling quite down but realize this is primarily due to lost luggage and inability to "nest" in the apartment.

Tuesday, March 11. Amazingly, I go back to sleep at about midnight and wake at 8 a.m., having woken only once during the night. Also amazingly, I'm still not hungry so don't feel compelled to rush out. Finally, I decide I really must buy an adapter so I can plug in my cell phone charger (if my phone is dead, how will I find out about luggage?). Sally forth to Leroy Merlin, the French version of Home Depot, which is also amazingly right around the corner and which I remember from visit last fall. It really does help to come back to the same 'hood!

As long as I'm out, I decide to hit the supermarche "Ed" (a chain) which Dany has recommended as being moins cher than the G20 (also a chain) where I am used to shopping as there was one a few doors down from other apartment. Well, now I can say, been there, done that, not doing it again. Forget "Ed." Can't find anything I like or want. Pick up a few things nonetheless, including shampoo and lotion in case luggage doesn't arrive for another day or two (or never!).

Back to apartment to plug in cell phone for an hour or so. Then venture out to the G20 that is near this apartment (they are all over the place) where I get all the basics: coffee, milk, grapefruit juice, muesli, yogurt, goat cheese, Wasa crisp . . . Also a brosse a dents and dentifrice because I can't stand it anymore. Schlep up to the premiere etage with very heavy bag where I am very happy to use the ascenceur to ascend the rest of the way.

Now that I am fully provisioned, I settle in to await news of the lost luggage, whether one day, two days . . . or more (perish the thought). I make cafe au lait and email Christos to see if I can come by later to pick up the things he has stored for me since I left in November.

At about 4 p.m. the phone rings and it is a wonderful woman (I'm sure she's wonderful) telling me that they have found ONE of my suitcases and will be sending it by taxi and that they will continue looking for the other. About 30 minutes later, she calls back and, lo and behold, they have found the other suitcase. So the taxi will be bringing both. I am ecstatic! Of course, this is happening only because I bought the shampoo, lotion and toothbrush! I am suddenly hungry so have muesli and yogurt, the first meal I've had since breakfast on the airplane!

A little before 6 p.m., the taxi arrives and the driver schleps the bags up to the 1st floor and onto the ascenseur. I quickly empty the smaller one and high-tail it over to rue de la Verrerie to pick up my stuff from Christos and Sophie (stopping only to pick up a nice bottle of wine for them). I just want to have everything here! I am able to load most of it into the rolling suitcase with only a few things left in the shopping bag so I can easily get it back to rue Saint Martin. Christos isn't home so I chat for a while with Sophie (or I should say "Sofia" as that is the Greek spelling) - I like her very much. She speaks French fluently but it is sometimes hard for me to understand her accent (as I'm sure it is for her to understand mine!).

Asparagus soup and Wasa crisp for dinner. The soup is from England (Covent Garden Food Inc. brand) but all of the instructions on the carton are in French, German, Italian and something else that I think may be Dutch but could be a Scandanavian language. Go figure. Obviously made for export.

Now it is 11:30 p.m. and I have all but a very few things put away. Maintenant, je suis vraiment chez moi. Time to go to bed.

Noted today:

1. a fabulous pink Vespa (Eleanor, this one is for you!)

2. in the space of 24 hours, I have figured out how to operate the washing machine, the dishwasher, and the micro-onde. I even re-set the time on the microwave. I'm getting good at reading appliance instructions in French! Good vocab lessons too.