A Series of Unfortunate Events - Part I
Sunday, April 22, 2007
The day started with taking the 9:34 am bus to the train station. We forgot to press the bell for the stop but luckily we could still make it on time to take the train from town at 11:05. It's a direct train to Venice. When we arrived in Venice at 14:30, we decided to have some lunch first before heading to the airport. We arrived at the check-in counter at 16:00 and we saw the board showed the expected time at 19:30. Our flight was supposed to depart at 18:10. At first my friend thought it's the time of arrival, which is correct. I was the first to check-in and I asked what the expected time means? The lady said that that's the time the flight is expected to depart. So I said "There is a delay then" and I got a typical Italian reply. "Maybe. We're not sure yet. Could still depart on time" Just great! So we had to hang around the airport instead of walking around Venice town. When it was close to 18:00, there was no call for boarding and no change on the board so we knew for sure the flight was delayed. We continued to wait and 19:30 passed and still no plane in sight. 5 minutes later, there was an announcement and the expected time on the board was updated to 20:30.
The expected time had been updated several times between 20:30 and 23:00 when they announced that the passengers could get refreshments from a cafe. Earlier we heard that the airport in Paris will be closed when we arrive so the flight crew may decide not to fly. Well, they started boarding at 23:30 and told us that the arrival airport will be changed to CDG (north) instead of Orly (south) and a shuttle bus will be provided to take us to Orly. With the airport and subway closed, we were concerned with how/what we are going to do. After all the passengers have boarded the plane, the captain made an announcement explaining the delay and the expected departure time will be 00:30 and arrival in Paris at 02:00. Since the airports are way outside of the city center and taxi fare will be very very expensive, we also asked the stewardess if the shuttle bus can make a stop in the city center. They told us that the company had chatered the bus to Orly only and we have to ask the bus driver ourselves. Sigh! Finally at 00:45, our flight took off.
We arrived in Paris past 2am and found out that there were two busses. One to Orly and one to the city center. We took the bus to the city center. There were night busses running and a couple of us took the bus to head to their hotel. The others didn't have anywhere to go since their hostel check-in was already closed. I only had subway directions to my hotel so I hung around with the rest walking along the almost empty Champs Elysees in the direction of the Eifel Tower. The tower is no longer lit but still barely visible. Past the tower, we decided to walk to the hostel but we kinda got lost with no proper map with us. It was nearly 5am so we decided to go to the nearest underground station. We spent some time in the station deciding what type of tickets to get which will be the cheapest. The guy at the counter was very helpful indeed. I finally got the hotel at 6am and the check-in counter was open and they speak English. :) Got to my room, showered, rest a bit then head out to explore Paris.
The expected time had been updated several times between 20:30 and 23:00 when they announced that the passengers could get refreshments from a cafe. Earlier we heard that the airport in Paris will be closed when we arrive so the flight crew may decide not to fly. Well, they started boarding at 23:30 and told us that the arrival airport will be changed to CDG (north) instead of Orly (south) and a shuttle bus will be provided to take us to Orly. With the airport and subway closed, we were concerned with how/what we are going to do. After all the passengers have boarded the plane, the captain made an announcement explaining the delay and the expected departure time will be 00:30 and arrival in Paris at 02:00. Since the airports are way outside of the city center and taxi fare will be very very expensive, we also asked the stewardess if the shuttle bus can make a stop in the city center. They told us that the company had chatered the bus to Orly only and we have to ask the bus driver ourselves. Sigh! Finally at 00:45, our flight took off.
We arrived in Paris past 2am and found out that there were two busses. One to Orly and one to the city center. We took the bus to the city center. There were night busses running and a couple of us took the bus to head to their hotel. The others didn't have anywhere to go since their hostel check-in was already closed. I only had subway directions to my hotel so I hung around with the rest walking along the almost empty Champs Elysees in the direction of the Eifel Tower. The tower is no longer lit but still barely visible. Past the tower, we decided to walk to the hostel but we kinda got lost with no proper map with us. It was nearly 5am so we decided to go to the nearest underground station. We spent some time in the station deciding what type of tickets to get which will be the cheapest. The guy at the counter was very helpful indeed. I finally got the hotel at 6am and the check-in counter was open and they speak English. :) Got to my room, showered, rest a bit then head out to explore Paris.
