Heading Home- Part One

Today is July 30th and I am leaving Chambery. It is kinda sad since I really enjoyed my stay here, but I also miss home too. So, it’s time to go. Sort of. There are a few steps to this process.

The day started off with walking down to the train station. I have always noticed there are lots of taxis there and I needed one this morning. I was not going to haul my heavy back pack AND my bike box down to the train station. No way. So, I hired a taxi to come back to my apartment and haul it for me.

Then, it was on to the train. Not just any train though. The GTV. The Bullet train! Non stop to Paris Lyon Train Station in the heart of downtown Paris. In three hours at speeds that were as fast as 180 mph. Wow, that’s fast. And to go that fast, the ride needs to be really smooth, and it was!

Arriving in Paris around 1:30 in the afternoon, I needed to get to my hotel out by the Charles DeGaulle Airport. That was pretty easy since the Paris Metro, their really nice subway system, has a line the goes there. it took some time to figure it all out, and then haul my baggage including my bike box to the right place, but I made it. By then, it was around 4:00 in the afternoon and I really didn’t feel like going back into Paris in the evening to sightsee, so I just hung out in my room and later had some dinner.

My flight the next day did not leave until 10:35 AT NIGHT. What was I thinking? I wouldn’t get into Keflavik in Iceland until midnight! But it did allow me plenty of time to go see some of Paris during the day, so I guess there was a silver lining with the late flight.

So, Tuesday the 31st, I went back to the airport, first to make sure that I knew where my check-in for IcelandAir was located. Then I hopped the Metro and headed for Paris. My primary objective was to go to the Musee d’Orsay (the Orsay Museum) where Van Gogh’s Starry Night Over the Rhone (in Arles) is located and I wanted to see it again.

But first, I went to the Eiffel Tower, because you cannot go to Paris and not see it. No matter how many times you have been there. I thought about climbing the stairs to the top this time, but that notion went away quickly once I saw the line (and the cost!) to go.

Then it was on to the Museum. I expected a long wait to get in, but the line went quick. I methodically worked my way through the museum until I got to the Van Gogh wing. And the Starry Night Over The Rhone was not there! Somehow, I missed it in my methodical way. So I went to the information counter and inquired where it was located. They informed me that it was currently on loan to a museum in London. WHAT!!! Oh well. The Orsay is still worth the effort since it is first rate, and if nothing else, the building itself is such a masterpiece on its own merits.

Next, it was to go by Notre Dame. You can’t get very close to it these days due to the fire, but it is still impressive, even from a distance. The front of the cathedral was un-affected by the fire and looked as amazing as ever.

By this time, It was getting close to 6:00 PM so I needed to get back to the hotel and collect my baggage and bike box and get over to the airport. That part went well and my pre-planning from the morning was well worth the effort.

I got checked in but had to pay extra for my bike box. 77 Euros or $116 USD. This was not unexpected, but they didn’t bother to charge me when I flew over from Seattle so I was hoping for the same again this time. No such luck this time. But they did switch my middle seat to a window seat, not that there is much to see at night. But it was the thought that counted, right?

So I was waiting in the gate area for the flight and decided to get a sandwich and a small bottle of wine for a dinner from the little store in the airport. Iceland Air makes you pay for a meal in the economy class which of course is my class, and I decided not to pay for the meal. Then, I heard the words you NEVER want to hear at the airport. “Gregory Pezoldt, report to the gate counter”. Oh no, that can’t be good. So I went to see what happened. Hopefully, I wasn’t getting bumped. They switched my seat for heavens sake! I told the person at the counter who I was, and this is what he said. “The flight is full, so we decided to upgrade you to Business Class to make some more room”. Seat 1C. The very first row in the plane!

This is the second big surprise from this trip with regards to the flight. Flying over from Seattle to Europe, at check-in, I was told that I was Pre-TSA approved and I could bypass the screening process. That was nice, but I never, ever applied for that status. I have no idea how that happened. Now this upgrade to Business Class. I have to say that I had real mixed emotions about this. On one hand, I have never flown anything except economy before so it was exciting. But on the other hand, I always figured that I would never miss what I never knew with Business or First Class. Well, it turns out, I was missing A LOT! The fancy meal, the fancy wine. More fancy wine. Even more fancy wine. And no cost. Well, I did have to pay the extra 77 euros to ship my bike box this time. Funny how that worked out.

After all of this, I got to Iceland at midnight, collected my bags and bike, got a rental car and got checked into the hotel around 2AM (4 AM France Time). I was pretty wiped out, but here. Stay tuned for “Heading Home- Part Two: Iceland”