HHT..travel

So we found out the very end of May that we would be posted to Paris.  Lots to do in a very short period of time.  Especially sell our house!  Can you say..STRESSSS

I'm not gonna sugar coat it... it has been an administrative nightmare for just a year posting! Doctor letters/school letters/passports/VISAs (more on that later) and a tonne of military papers..I was also very worried about my workplace and them finding another clerk as I didn't want to leave them in a jam with all the red tape hiring process of the Public Service.

A few weeks after our posting message came out we booked our House Hunting Trip (HHT) 9-17 June. We knew it was going to be a quick whirlwind trip as it normally takes a day to get there and a day to return.  Most good rental properties in Paris also booked at least 6 months in advance!

We were booked with Lufthansa airlines and had a 6 hour delay in Vancouver...great start!  As it turned out.. someone had died on the airplane that was to pick us up!  What a horrifying thought.

The steward/esses were all friendly and the food was actually decent... as well as the free booze!  The plane however was an older aircraft with very small seating and lucky me gets to sit between Seb and a big guy who clearly had no respect for women!  As I was walking down the aisle to find our seats I was hoping it wasn't the row with the guy picking and flicking his boogers..just my luck! When I went to sit in my seat he had put his headphones blanket and pillow on my chair? I picked them up to hand them to him and he just ignored me? ohh well up into the overhead luggage they went except i left his headphones out that fell on the floor..he promptly picked them up and shoved them into my front folder? I tried to be polite and make small talk.. no use.. It was a long 10 hours from Vancouver to Frankfurt especially with his legs and arms..crossing the line! he even kicked me a few times when my legs were firmly planted securing my tiny leg space..sheesh..ohh how I wanted to pop something in his mouth while he was sleeping facing me with it gaping open! 

Anyone who knows me knows... I am not a good flyer!  Especially with take offs, landings and any kind of turbulance!  On one previous flight I even grabbed the lap of an unknown man sitting next to me... what I grabbed I'm not sure but he was awfully friendly afterwards!  Thank god I didn't react like that on this flight!  Each bump or rumble I know I sound/act like a fool as I always get the looks or people laugh at me. I'm usually red faced, squeezing the seat arms wimpering and panting like a fool.. someone even said it sounded like a big "O"! lol far from it although it is quite the adrenalin rush.

Frankfurt airport is huge! Even though Lufthansa had rebooked our connecting flight and we ran to the next terminal we still just missed our connector since we had to clear thru customs and the lineups were sooo long! So another few hours lounging in the airport... I didn't mind much though as I could browse around and at least say..I've been to Germany..and the german folks were very nice and had wicked accents.. you can also drink beer/wine in the airport!  I was surprised to see they had glass smoking huts inside and bicycles for indoor terminal transportation.  Lufthansa even gave us a decent credit to purchase dinner at any of the restaurants.  I was hesitant as I know that airports are one of the germiest places...but we got a bite and a few drinks and relaxed. 

 the smoking room

this pic is for my friend Heather .. I thought this was chocolate milk and took a big swig...it was Chocolate Buttermilk!

The flight from Frankfurt to Paris was very nice!  You can see alot of the surroundings before you disappear up into the billowy clouds. It was only just over 2hrs and we were landing again.  I was surprised to see how flat Germany and France looked and how much countryside was outside of the main metropolises.  Beautiful! 

 Germany

 Germany

 Germany

 France

 France

We landed and if anyone has ever been to the Charles de Gaulle airport they will know what I mean... it's a hamster village! (in some terminals)  Clear covered walkways run this way and that...how bizarre! but little did I know.. that was just the beginning of the odd french ways!

Scrambling to find our luggage we contemplated.. taxi or train.  We were pretty exhausted so opted for a taxi. The driving chaos begins! Holy frackin crazy ass drivers!  I didn't know you could drive like a demo driver on a public road!  There are lane lines but heck no one uses them..and the scooters/motorcycles ride down the middle and weave where ever there is a space to sneak in! My god! we totally weren't bringing our vehicles!

It was a pretty long ride to our rental appartment.  Apartments are much better and less expensive to rent if you are planning a few days stay in Paris.  Luckily we found one over the internet and booked.  It was in an old building(of course) and much, much smaller than it looked online. (marketing photographers use wide angle lenses to make places look bigger)  A friendly artsy type lady met us and handed over the keys ...exhausted we crashed we knew the hunt was gonna be on in the morning!
...tbc