After the last flight, I wasn’t sure how things would work when checking in for France.
Fortunately, all went well. When checking in I gave the agent our passports and a note that read, “She doesn’t know we’re going to France – thinks we’re going to Canada. It’s a surprise.” The agent smiled, processed our paperwork and asked, “Do you ladies drink?” “Yes,” I replied and added, “The only reason we aren’t drinking right now is we don’t want to risk missing the flight on account of public intoxication.” “I totally understand,” he replied, handed us six drink coupons and said, “Enjoy your flight.”
I managed to keep the destination a surprise until about five minutes before we boarded he plane. We had tooled around the terminal, intentionally avoiding the gate, for hours. When we finally approached our gate I said to MiniMe, “Weird. I wonder if they changed gates. This plane is going to Paris, not Toronto. Why don’t you ask the gate agent if fit is really going to Paris? Maybe we should check our tickets.” That is the precise moment when MiniMe discovered we were going to Paris. Good surprise, eh.
Once on the plane the flight attendants were incredibly kind. They brought us warm towels to cleanse our hands; made sure we had wine, coffee and tea; and were, overall, very attentive. The pilot was also a friendly fellow – continually wishing all of the passengers well and advising us we would arrive sooner than planned thanks to a generous tailwind.
Who doesn’t like a generous tailwind? Mary Poppins thrived on them – always traveling any way the wind blew and landing to find all kinds of goodies in her bags. I feel like she and I share some things in common, although the only goodie I’ll probably find in my bag is a notice from TSA advising me that they searched it.
Upon landing in Paris, the flight crew sang Christmas songs to us (very Mary Poppins of them) and graciously welcomed us to Paris. This flight definitely made up for the flight to JFK and, thanks to the very generous tailwind, we were able to arrive sooner than planned at another destination with a generous tailwind – Maverik Midget King’s house. Anyone who knows Maverik Midget King knows he is extremely generous and has more “tailwind” than anybody….well, maybe not if you compare him with Live Longer in a sauna suit.