July 28, 2016
On to Paris
OMG, Air France is on strike! Starting July 27th! That's the day before our departure! And striking till August 2nd. Well, Mark, welcome to France! Although that is a bit of a stereotype . . . but it does seem to happen at the most inopportune times.
Air France is a great airline to fly, especially to Paris, as you get immersed almost immediately into the local culture as soon as you board! But there are a few particulars you need to pay attention to if you are taking a bike. It needs to be pre-approved!
And that was a chore. Exact box sizes and weights are required. And it takes days and many phone calls to determine your final status. Not that it won't get approved . . . I've never had that happen. But the bureaucracy is a challenge, complicated by the fact that Delta handles Air France's customer service in the states! When we uncovered that they had entered our weight (40 pounds) as kilograms (making our 40 pounds 88!), they had to restart the process.
Well, three days before departure, we were approved. Now a strike. However, they are trying to cover the bases. Plus, this is an important flight. Plus, we have premium seats. Plus, plus, plus . . . they tell us they are reducing the number of passengers to reflect the reduced crew size. They offered to put us on a Delta flight through JFK (New York) with a long layover. That means departing Thursday at 4:00 PM versus 9:30 PM. I was not inclined. This was on the Tuesday before our Thursday departure, so we have time . . .
And, about 12 hours before departure, we have our boarding passes!!!! Let the Tour begin!
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