Sunday, January 4, 2009

Flight AF126 or Run, Baby, Run

Yesterday I flew back to Beijing. I was booked on the train at 16:09 in Brussels to catch the flight at 18:55 in Paris. I usually take the train earlier so I don't need to stress about the short connection and have time to see my sister or friends. However this time it was not possible so short connection it was. Very short. I arrived on the platform at 17:45 and rushed to drop my luggage. Fortunately this time there were some trolley on the platform so I didn't have to waste time looking for one. Nicely and with a stressed smile I bypassed every one in the lane for drop-off and dropped the 2 suitcases. I ran to the security only to discover that I had to take a shuttle to get to the gate. So shuttle it was and finally the security check. Despite the VIP access for Business Class there were still some people. But my favourite part, as usual in Charles de Gaulle, I get to go through the full search. So I had to put on the belt the 2 laptops, the photo frame, the DS, the bags, the trolley and the shoes. Imagine the circus it was. Of course, even though it's "random" they wanted to search my bags and check for explosive. It's systematic with me: each time I fly via Charles de Gaulle I get searched. Am I stressed? No, of course, at this point what can I do? It got even better when the girl mis-used the machine to detect explosives and they had to re-start it. In total I spent 15min there, waiting. To be fair for once the staff was friendly and polite. After this delay I ended up being the last passenger to embark; 2nd time in a month it happens to me :)
Once in the aircraft, I finally relaxed mid-way through the dinner and enjoyed watching 2 movies: Mes stars et moi, a French comedy, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the latest Woody Allen with Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz.

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