May 6, 2024
Day 90: Boubiers to Home
Ah, the dreaded or anticipated, but anyway critical Day 90, the day Europe wants to throw us out, according to the Schengen agreement. We don"t know quite how stringent they are with their calculation or enforcement, but by our own lights we always run it up to the limit. That is, last Feb. 7 while in the air over Paris, we called it Day Zero, and today May 6 is to us Day 90. That sounds right, technically. But in the heart, as mentioned yesterday, Dodie is not ready to go. As for me, once I am home about one month - with the grass cut, firewood cut, chimney cleaned, (and here's a new one) credit cards cancelled due to hacking, and replaced, I will be ready to go again.
During our day with Susan Carpenter, we learned more about the "long stay visa", and we will look into it a bit more. But just how a long stay would fit into our yearly routine and lives generally is not so clear right now. But hmm, we could come in Fall and cycle in the North, head for Spain as winter came, and pass on Mexico. Yes, possible... I do really dread that long plane flight. My tail bone, mainly, is not so up to it. Perhaps the whole issue could be put to bed with the right cushion?
Ian brought breakfast to us early today, so we could include a detour to Decathlon in Gisors as he trucks us to the airport. We bought some shorts there the other day, and they turned out to be a bit small. Dodie would have just abandoned them, but I mentioned the detour possibility to Ian, and we are off. His kindness in this and all other respects has been fabulous.
It took about an hour to get from Boubiers to CDG. WestJet had specified Terminal 2E, but at first there seemed no way in to it. Ian had to swing around, avoid getting spat out of the airport, and have another try for 2E.
Farewell was not so sad, because we know we will soon be back.
Inside 2E, we were at Arrivals. Without signage, but knowing how these things work, we took an elevator to Departures. But where is WestJet? We learned, again without signage, that while they may depart from E, they check in at F. And how to reach F? Yeah, how?
We walked out of E, and were faced with just a bunch of parking lot and car rental. At first we retreated back into the illusory safety of E (Arrivals), but soon sallied forth again. Through the car rentals, and we did reach F (Arrivals!). A bit more asking, and we were at WestJet. And hey, an agent at their entrance had heard of Calgary!
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We checked in OK, and Dodie told them she needed walking assistance. This seemed to fizz a bit, but never enough, as we proceeded, to actually attract any assistance.
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We got to and through Security, though they did not use that word. It was more like a polite "departures this way". After Security, I spied a sign with E and maybe M on it, plus other stuff. Failing to attract any wheelchair, and denied "boarding" on a little gizmo pushing three chairs, because we needed to sign up for it on the side of Security behind us, we just started to walk again.
We walked past another mobility assistance station, but again despite the "wheelchair" designation on Dodie's boarding pass, we could not seem to attract a helpful reaction.
We walked on, now passing through border control, where we did get an "au revoir"!
Next we lined up for a shuttle bus, with dozens of others, crowded in, and travelled 7 minutes, seemingly on a highway, to arrive at ... 2E!!
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All we had to do then was to walk 28 or so gates, and there we were! It had only taken 2 hours to reach our gate. That must be a CDG record!
WestJet's Dreamliner was comfortable, and with a quite comprehensive entertainment system. I watched a bio of Ray Charles, and one about Mountbatten and the partition of India. I learned from this that Mountbatten had no hope of a better solution because Churchill had already secretly promised the partition to Jinnah. Finally, there was "Iceman", about a kid from Denmark who did a de facto triathlon in Antarctica. It was painful watching him not only swim in the freezing water, but cycle on the ice and snow of a glacier.
Dodie still had her assistance request active as we landed in Calgary. A flight attendant came while we were still on board and assured us that if we waited untill the plane emptied, staff would be there to shepherd Dodie through customs and to the next gate. Sure enough, someone had a wheel chair for Dodie. But the agent only went a short distance and dumped us in a holding area. She then disappeared and was never seen again. Eventually I grabbed the wheelchair and zoomed us unguided through the endless corridors.
It could be that when we get a bit older, it will be the airports and not the highways that give us the most challenge.
At the gate we became aware of a lost and disoriented French lady who was in the wrong place. Amazingly, four WestJet employees who were somehow on the case spoke no French. Dodie figured out where the lady had to be, and dispatched me to bring her there. I explained to the lady that despite my "gilet jaune', I did not work there. I was embarrassed that in Canada the lady could not get official help in French. On the other hand, this WAS Calgary!
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Westjet delayed their flight a bit, and by the time we took off to cross the mountains and get to the coast, we were really exhausted. We did sleep a bit, but it can be tough when sitting upright. Our friend Sandra collected us at the airport, and got us home. The drive was a blur to me. I don't think I could have done it safely had our car been waiting at the airport. We got some wood into the stove and collapsed. These trips across a continent and an ocean are worth it, but they are definitely trying. I can't imagine the endurance of our friends from New Zealand, for their extra long flights.
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It is the next morning now, and we have brought in more wood, since the outside temperature is under 10. We are still resolved to be going out cycling (like, tomorrow, not today!) despite cool weather. Our last month in France has made us more accepting of 10 for cycling.
We started a list of chores that need immediate attention, and it already has more than two dozen entries. One of the chores is to pack up for returning to France. It's a good idea to do that now, before things that came home melt in and while we are still thinking about what is needed on the road.
Of course one more chore is to summarize this past trip. We'll get on it. Stay tuned.
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