Roland Garros 2008 - Day 17 (Départ et voyage)
Today was all about getting home. Nothing I could imagine was more important. It didn't matter that I'd had three hours of sleep. It didn't matter that my back hurt, my knee hurt, my cold hadn't significantly improved. I was getting the hell out of France. I woke up struggling, admittedly, from three hours of sleep, but I was getting everything ready to head out the door. I chose to not shave, and scrambled to get everything into the suitcase. Quickly showered, and I was actually ready to check out before 6:45. I shuffled downstairs, realizing I'd locked the key in the room. I hope I hadn't left anything as there was no going back for it.
Checkout was almost comical. I had 382 Euros worth of room charges. It was all laundry, literally. The room was prepaid, so I didn't have it on my bill. There was one bottle of mineral water from the mini bar and two telephone calls. Those three were less than 30 Euros. It was stunning. I am sure somehow that will come back to bite me on the butt, however, I don't know what alternatives I would have had.
Got to the metro station with a bit of time I thought until my train. I saw on the window that I could buy my RER ticket there at the stop, so I plunked down the 10 Euros for the ticket and tucked it away. I got through the turnstile and onto the platform just in time to watch the train pull away. Still, I was ahead of schedule in my own mind and didn't mind that the next one was 7 minutes out. I got to the transfer stop and was glad of having purchased the ticket ahead of time. There wasn't an RER window anywhere in this level, and I'd have had no way to get onto the train. Well, I could hop the turnstile, but with the luggage, that didn't seem an easy proposition. So, I managed to get onto the train heading toward the airport and knew that I'd be there ahead of my target of 8 AM. My flight leaves at 10, so I knew that 2 hours was adequate even for International Travel when flying business class or using my gold membership on American.
Through security and into the Admiral's Club lounge. All this flying has its own rewards I suppose, and business class International means into the lounge. The ones in foreign airports are always very nice. They offer free drinks, snacks, and very clean private toilets and showers. I had two very strong double espressos, but also two very strong bloody Marys and a glass of a reasonably good port. I wanted to be able to sleep some on the plane, as I knew it would be a very long day.
Boarding was uneventful. I hate flying next to a stranger, though. I should amend my profile to indicate an aisle preference, as window seats are roomier, but they also mean I have to step over people to get to the restroom. Even in business class I feel so invasive to ask for that.
Arrived at JFK about 30 minutes early. That was surprising, but very cool. Clearing customs itself wasn't all that bad. What I found ludicrous, however, was the notion that we'd clear customs and then literally exit a secured area. To make our connections, we had to check back through security, which meant taking off my shoes and the whole thing. I don't understand that notion, and I guess I don't care. It just annoyed me at the time as I was somewhat cranky from less sleep than I should have had.
Something wrong with my phone? I couldn't get the charger to charge my phone and I couldn't tell if it was something wrong with the phone or not. I just know that my phone would be out of juice before I got home. I quickly tried calling Colleen at work, but they said she'd called in sick? I was panicked. Why was my wife out sick? I called the house and she said she had just felt a bit under the weather, and was not really playing hooky from work. I was glad she was OK. I knew I would be home soon enough.
The flight from JFK was odd. I had a window seat on the side of the tiny jet with two seats. A woman and her son had thought they'd be sitting together, when in fact she was in the single seat across from him. They asked me if I'd move and since I didn't care, I moved to the single seat side of the aisle. Then, the stewardess came and asked me if I'd be willing to sit in the exit row seat as someone else was not willing. I didn't care then either, and this actually gave me more leg room anyway. So, after two moves, I was finally in my seat and ready to fly home. The flight was uneventful, though we were a bit slower than they'd expected. Only 10 minutes, but later than expected. I knew that Colleen and her mom would be waiting for me at baggage claim. :-)
Got home and started the process of getting settled back into the routine. I was home, safe, sound, and now ready to become totally manic over becoming a father. A good trip and one that I'd ended reasonably well.
Cheers!