A trip to Paris...

This morning it was off to Paris! We packed up quickly and went down to Asian lady’s and got kebabs and suppli to eat once we got to the train station/airport. We grabbed our bags and headed to the train station. Once we got there we got tickets and went and sat on the benches and ate our lunch as we waited for the train to come. We got on the train and got to the airport. Everything went surprisingly smoothly. We were running only a little behind and then we got in line to check-in. I thought there were two lines but JO didn’t agree so we stayed in the one line and we were behind a group of 3 older guys who took forever then a group of middle easterners who also took ages, meanwhile the other line was diminishing. We had sat in line for a good 45 minutes. Finally I told him we were switching lines because it was down to just one person. We finally got to the ticket desk just as we would have in the other line. We got our bag checked and our boarding pass and we had about 20 minutes to get through security. We walked to the security point and for the first time, the line for security was backed all the way up to the entrance doors. There was absolutely no way we were going to get through before our plane boarded. We stood for awhile trying to figure out what we should do. I saw some people go over to the side talk to one of the attendants and get to go into a different security line. Jamil stayed in line and I went over to ask. The lady said to ask the guy at the front so I went under the tape and the man looked at my ticket and waved me onto the quick security line. I motioned to Jamil and he came and joined me and we got in line. The three older gentlemen were in front of us and they didn’t seem to be in any hurry in getting ready for security and were just slowly taking off jackets and getting computers out. We managed to get through security but they stopped and asked me if I had any liquids in my bag, I said I had cosmetics in a small bag and they acted like there was something else wrong but let us through without even looking anyway. We only had like 5 minutes to get to our gate. Jamil thought it would be a good idea to run, so we did. I felt absolutely ridiculous. He grabbed my bag and I followed him up the stairs. We made it to our gate, panting, and there wasn’t even anyone lined up or any attendant standing at the counter yet. It was the first of many times we would run to catch something for absolutely no reason at all. We waited for a good 30 minutes before they finally began to board. We were first in line and the people who had gone through real security still made it in time. We got on the plane and took our seats and went right to sleep. The flight went quickly and we finally made it to Paris, but we were a good hour late for our scheduled pickup. Once we managed to figure out the strange upward moving ramps that took us to get our bag and found what we thought was where the exit would be we started to look for the blue minivan pickup. It was not as easy to find as we thought. We went to the info desk and asked where the gates were that I had written down from the email. They directed us and we went there but didn’t manage to find anything. I finally broke down and called the Apartment lady and said we were at the airport and couldn’t figure out where we were supposed to go. She asked if my mobile was working and said that she would call the pickup guy and have him call us. I headed to find a bathroom and left the phone with Jamil and told him to answer it if the guy called. When I came back Jamil was trying to figure stuff out on the phone with the guy. We finally managed to figure out that we were supposed to be down a level and went to the gate that the guy was talking about. We walked out of the door and saw the “blue van.” The guy seemed like he was looking for us so we waved at him and walked across to get in. He asked if we were with the apartment pick up and we told him yes. He got really snotty with us said he had been waiting over an hour. I could tell that Jamil was about to punch him in the face. I just told him we were sorry and explained our flight was delayed and we had no way of letting them know. He was still in a huff about it and opened the door for us and we started on our way. We had some confusion on where we were supposed to go and finally got it worked out and headed into town. He explained that he had to make another pickup and we said it was fine. He picked up another girl at the Holiday Inn and then took us to the apartment and dropped us off. We got out and I called Geraldine with Special Apartments and told her we were there. She asked which apartment we were at and I said the second one she had moved us to. She then explained she had sent a second email that had said she was able to keep us in our original reservation, but we hadn’t received it before we left. She said it was fine and that she would meet us there to get us in. She was there within a few minutes and showed us how to get in. There was a little magnetic key that you touched to the door and it unlocked it. It was the same for the second gate in side. Then we went up a nice set of wooden semi spiral stairs to the first floor. She opened the door for us and we looked around the apartment. It was gorgeous. She went through the contract and all the electronics and controls with us then sent us on our way to enjoy Paris.