We were up and ready by 5:30, slicked up the flat, moved our luggage down a couple of bags at a time in the tiny elevator, and by 7:00 we were loading luggage into a van that Annie scheduled. It was a good ride in the dark and rainy morning to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport for our 10:30 A.M. flight to JFK in New York. Terminal 2 is huge and without help from poorly designed signage, we eventually found Delta check-in. Security went well and we moved through airport shopping into the departure concourse.
It turned out that our gate was on the lower level below the main concourse. So we knew immediately that we would be shuttled to our plane. As departure time approached the place was slammed. They called a gate change for a Dehli flight and things thinned out a bit. When it was time to depart, there was an announcement that we would be delayed because of a tire change on our waiting plane. As time marched forward, they announced that one tire was changed but they were waiting for another to arrive. With the passage of even more time we wondered if the tire was coming from Toulouse!
Finally after a three-hour delay, the tire installation was finished and we were invited to board the busses, in no particular order. We were Comfort+ and should have been in the first boarding group. Oh well. Our seats were reserved and there was room in overhead bins for Kris's bag, so no worries. The shuttle bus was crammed with people like the Métro at rush hour. The 10 minute journey took to us a remote spot at the back of some forgotten part of a terminal. We were greeted there by the sight of our plane parked next to a tall cement block with a gantry that connected it to the plane. There was no elevator, so all the passengers climbed up four flights of stairs to plane level. Apparently, Delta is persona non grata at CDG.
Finally seated on the plane with insufficient ventilation for sweaty stair climbers, who had arrived slowly one shuttle at a time, we waited for push back, but learned that they were still loading freight because the tire change had precluded loading earlier. Finally after close to an hour wait on the tarmac we taxied for miles and were allowed to take off. The flight itself was fine, with a really nice boeuf bourguignon for lunch and lots of movies. We had, of course, missed our connecting flight to SLC and so Delta rescheduled us on to a later flight in coach. Border control and security went fine (Global Entry was dreamy), but JFK is a sucky airport and we had to take a train and walk to another airport that was poorly marked and difficult to find. We arrived at the gate just in time to board and take our tight little economy seats next to folks we didn't know. The last few hours into SLC after such a long day were tortuous: containing extreme gas, twitchy legs, and no room to move!
It was joy to reach the new SLC! Many have complained about the new airport, but let me tell you, it is dreamy by any standard, not just by comparison with CDG and JFK. We decided that when we travel to Paris again, we will fly to London and take Eurostar to the heart of Paris from the heart of London. No more CDG!
Sweet Millie picked us up and delivered us to our clean home (thank you Meags and Phil!) and bed after a 25-hour travel day. As I told Phillip when I texted him, this was better than covered wagon travel, but not great.
