A-N-T-I-C-I-P-A-T-I-O-N!!!

OR

Tossin’ ‘n’ Turnin’ ‘n’ Stressin’…

“Did they call?”

“Nope.”

“Weren’t they supposta' call today?”

“Yup.”

“So… when are they gonna call?”

“Dunno.”

“But…But… What do we do now?”

"We Wait."

"But...But...But..."

"Hey, your motor's running-'But-But'... 

Look, It’s 7:30AM EST, they open at 9AM EST - If they don’t call by 10,

I'll reach out.”

“OH… OK.”

This, bit of the dialogue occurred after a night of Tossin’ and Turnin’, Stressin’ and Sweatin’ over the flight situation reported in the last post, which included restless fits about high water, Crowded Eiffel's, getting to the airport late, forgotten passports and whatever other nightmare you can imagine.

After hearing Air France pilots were striking on our departure date, Chucky spent half the night researching any flight possible, only to find that nonstop flights were near impossible and seats on everything else were scattered at best due to the short booking time.  This resulted in last night’s stress and this morning's dialogue above.

Finally by 10AM, she won’t let it go until he calls Viking Air Department.  After waiting on hold for 25 minutes we finally reach the delightful and VERY patient Gwynn who confirms Air France has authorized "no-charge" changes as long as they were in the Delta, KLM, Air France alliance.  This of course negates all his late night research involving non-alliance carriers with direct flights like American Airlines, XL France, Iberia, etc. 
So now the Seriously Patient Gwynn held his hand for 45 minutes going through all the flight combinations to find one that had the least in-flight time, fewest connections and right seating.  

Although she couldn’t guarantee seats until ticketing, he could select seats later, {but of course the “Cheap Seats” were already booked due to the close departure dates} so he had to pay extra for the ones he wanted – BUT… all is right {almost} in the Dragon Lady’s world. 

Of course connecting in Atlanta reinforced the decision to CARRY ON everything because according to several pundits, connecting in Atlanta statistically increases your chances of landing in Paris with your bags landing in Milwaukee.

The good news - we fly out of Ft Lauderdale instead of trucking to Miami – the not so good news – we land 3 hours later because of the connection.  Oh Welllllll.

And… the transportation worker’s strikes in France are even more eminent which may affect not only getting to the Airbnb flat from the airport but their train trip to Amsterdam… time will tell and so will he.  

Oh and the Sanitation Unions are on strike and reports of trash stacking up all over Paris has us anticipating a very odoriferous visit to the City of Lights... and smells. 

Trying to keep the Pre-trip diatribes short, well pick up later with the Packing Ballet Drama… and you know there WILL BE DRAMA.

Ciao Pour L’instant,  

Uncle Chuck & The breathing easier,

Dragon Lady