My first flight(2 1/2hrs Bangkok to Guangzhou) was scheduled to leave at 7pm on Dec 23rd - we left an hour late(the plane we needed arrived late at the gate). My layover in Guangzhou was originally 2hrs - by the time we touched down I had exactly 30 minutes. I RAN to the passport control counter, got my stamp(after they found someone to occupy the stamping booth), ran up the escalator to security(and waited for them to find someone to come turn the machines on), and finally got to my gate with maybe ten minutes to spare. Got on the shuttle bus that took me and the other late-arrival passengers to the plane, and we took off.
My second flight(13hrs Guangzhou to Paris) left on time and was relatively uneventful until breakfast came, and by the time the cart had reached my row(which wasn't in the very back either, by the way), they had run out of omelettes. The other option? Spaghetti. Who the heck eats SPAGHETTI for breakfast?! And when deciding on the ratio of omelette to spaghetti, who was the idiot who thought, "You know, we'll probably need lots of spaghetti,"? Sigh..so my "breakfast" consisted of a piece of dragonfruit, a bread roll and a glass of orange juice. >:( Layover in Paris was an hour and 20 minutes(I know, I know, terrible planning), and after quickly acquiring my boarding pass, I thought I was in the clear. Silly me. The line for passport control didn't take too long, but the massive mob of people queued endlessly down the corridor waiting for security made it clear that my stress was not yet to be relieved. I now had 30 minutes until my flight, and the line for security was estimated at 40 minutes. Math isn't particularly my forte, but I knew that wasn't a good sign. The airport staff made me wait another ten minutes before I was deemed "eligible" to proceed to the 'urgent' security line. Finally arrived at my gate with 5 minutes to spare, and once again thought the worst was over. Then they scanned my ticket. "Miss, please stand to the side; you're wait-listed for this flight." I don't know why, and I'll probably never know why, but after protesting for a few seconds, I decided it best to simply do as I was told, and stood to the side sweating bullets until they confirmed that they did have a seat for me.
My third flight(1hr Paris to Montpellier) was great. AirFrance vs China Southern? AF hands down. We were served coffee, juice, croissants, pastries and wine. It was lovely. My bag managed to keep up with my crazy arrival/departure shenanigans, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it being unloaded from the luggage compartment as we were getting off the plane.
It was a LOOOOOONG trip, but well worth it. Stay tuned.
No comments:
Post a Comment