The hotel called us a taxi early in the morning, and we set off in the rain towards Charles de Gaulle airport to the northeast. Traffic was heavy (stopped) coming IN to Paris, but was fairly light heading out of the city.
We arrived at Terminal 3 well ahead of our flight, and had a quick breakfast at the Paul counter before we were able to check our bags. We were directed to await wheelchair assistance in a designated area, and before long Jane was being wheeled through security.
Waiting in the departures lounge, we had some sandwiches and bided our time until boarding began a few hours later. Jane (and I) and a group of six others were loaded onto the Thunderlift, allowing for chairs to be wheeled on and raised up, rather than boarding the normal buses that take passengers out to the planes. Much to our surprise, the Thunderlift not only delivered us to our plane but they actually opened a side door and dropped the group off right onto the plane!
The Air Transat flight was uneventful, and spent playing games on the plane's tablets and watching travel videos. We were in the very front row of second class, for extra leg room, and with a fabulous view of the first class area.....aka the other side of the curtain. Even the food was decent Eight hours later, after one of the smoothest landings I can remember, we were down on the ground in Toronto.....and even a half-hour early.
Then chaos ensued. Air Transat had sent one person to deal with seven wheelchair passengers, which involved a series of elevators to circumvent stairs and escalators.....all while trying to keep the group together. One couple was also trying to make a connecting flight, and spoke only French.....which the only helper did not. I ended up helping to push wheelchairs, first Jane's and then total strangers, just to try to help out.
To make matters worse, the Accessibility line for Customs was clogged, and the new self-serve kiosks were causing mass confusion, especially among the mainly elderly passengers in this line.
Finally through Customs and clear of the lines, by the time we got to the baggage area there was no waiting - for the first time ever, our bags were already there and had been removed from the carousel and stacked in a corner. Here we abandoned the airport wheelchair, and reverted back to the crutches.
Making our way to the ground transportation area, we waited a few minutes for the Park n' Fly shuttle.....apparently, we walked past the first stop, which turned out to be fortuitous - once the shuttle got the second (closer) stop, the line was so long only a few people could get on, and apparently they had already been waiting for 45 minutes. Eek.
One last hurdle awaited, as the automated scanning system at the parking lot refused to acknowledge our coupon and upgrade, as we had been sent to a better lot when the Economy lot was full. We finally got under way after a Supervisor appeared....only to sit in heavy Toronto traffic until around Milton. After a quick dinner to go along the 401, we arrived home at about 10pm local time to happy cats .....or 3am France time! All told, we had been travelling for about 20 hours from hotel to home.
Off to bed with feline snuggles and dreams of our epic vacation!
Coffee and croissants at the airport
Terminal 3 at Charles de Gaulle International Airport
The waiting begins.....
Thunderlift!
Travelling in style
TS 189 waiting on the tarmac
Loading us directly into the plane!
Club Class (First Class) from our vantage beyond the curtain
Back in Ontario!
On the ground in Toronto
Crutchy wore them out!
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