Our driver was not picking us up until 10 am so we decided to take one last walk around Firenze after breakfast.
We had walked before dinner last night through the park along the Arno just to see what things looked like in the opposite direction from what we were used to. It was a nice neighborhood, and along the Arno were little outdoor bars where one could sit and enjoy music, a sandwich or other light fare and wine.
We ate at the little bar next to our hotel, walked back down the Arno and then came in for the night.
Our walk this morning included some window shopping in a guitar shop for RT, and a look at the outside of an old church called Sante Famiglia (Holy Family). We ducked into a shop that featured unfinished furniture and plenty of paint, and other materials for crafts. So we got a taste of what the area where we were staying was like.
We arrived at the airport in plenty of time to go through security, grab a sandwich and get on the small CityJet to Paris. They made us check our bag, which RT hates. One interesting thing is that we got to the gate and the took us on a shuttle for about 30 seconds to the plane. That was weird.
The airport in Paris turned out to be exactly as my friend Fr. David described it: something of a nightmare. We arrived into some sort of a tunnel with no signs or monitors pointing anywhere, and the security guy was no help at all. We finally figured out that we had to go down a couple of ramps to the terminal. We were in terminal 2G and after running to the info desk we found out we needed to be at 2E. They should be pretty close to each other, right? Uhm, think again. You had to go OUTSIDE to the shuttle and go all around the airport past every other terminal and the train pick up to get there. They were opposite of each other.
We got to the terminal finally and checked the monitors. Our gate was K49 which meant nothing to us, so we ran to another info desk and got pointed in the right direction. We ran around the corner to the passport area and stood in line to get out of France, and then stood in line to go through security to get out of France. We ran to our gate and the guys at the gate asked us security questions too. After a minute we finally got to the plane. I would have to agree with Fr. David whole-heartedly. Worst. Airport. Ever. It is completely unorganized.
After a long, long, long plane ride, complete with three movies, lunch and snack and plenty of turbulence, we finally made it to Atlanta. We texted our son immediately, who texted back that Ole Miss was beating UTEP. That made RT really happy!
Our Global Entry made coming back into the country so much easier. We got to come through the diplomat’s entrance. We got our bags, but they made us put them back on the conveyor for the plane to Memphis.
We went to the Sky Club to rest for a few minutes and then got to the gate for Memphis. The plane took off a little later than expected, and finally we got back to Memphis, got our bags, got the shuttle, got our car and headed back to Mississippi.
It was a long day, but we were happy to be home. We settled in and after being up for probably 24 hours, finally went to sleep. We got up too late for mass unfortunately, but met our kids for Sunday brunch in Oxford. Resting today and back to work tomorrow.
The little airport in Firenze was so cute.
Last meal in Italy! Even their airport food is good.
Worst. Airport.Ever.
Coast of France- Heading out for the long trip over the ocean.
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