Last Tango in Paris

October 24, 2021

The printed negative results of out last covid PCR tests were in our room last night se we are ready to go. After a few hours sleep we placed our luggage in the hall at 5:45 this morning, ate breakfast with Steve and Laura, said goodbye to them and many new friends, checked that our luggage was on the bus and headed to Charles De Gaulle airport at 6:45. The traffic at the airport was unbelievable and the bus parked in a bus parking lot and we were greeted by a Viking representative, as were all the others. He checked what we needed to do, led us to the baggage check, then to the security checkpoint and bid us bon voyage. The airport was a total zoo and he made it simple. We must say that Viking has done a tremendous job in providing support at every step of the way, from Marseille to Paris. We, as relatively able bodied old fogies, appreciated the help especially for de-stressing factor but, for others, it was necessary. Sometimes I felt I was back in kindergarten with all the direction, counting and corrections. All was good, We flew to Frankfurt and then caught our flight to Orlando. The long 10 hour flight in economy was relatively miserable. The had meals and display screens with movies, music, TV, etc. but it was uncomfortable. The plane was about 70% full so we were able to switch seats and get some room. Not sure we would have survived a full flight. We arrived in a rainstorm with a low ceiling and low visibility. The landing was great but we had to sit in the plane for a while because the groundcrew had to wait for the thunderstorm to pass. A long line for the passport checks but our luggage was there when we were done. No real customs check as they were just randomly pulling people aside. The rain had stopped and the parking shuttle picked us up quickly and we were on our way home after a little trouble finding the car. Not in the first spot but it was in the second. We also had a 45 minute dead stop on the turnpike due to an accident. I managed to stay awake and we did make it home and went right to bed, "bonne nuit".