Day 6 – At least the flight path was devoid of traffic.

The day we travel home has arrived – a little too early in the morning for me, but that’s just the way it is. We have a taxi coming for us at 8:00 am, so we could get ready without having to rush. Sue packed most of the luggage last evening, so showers, a little breakfast and then we’ll be on our way.

We went downstairs to check out and settle the bill as morning was breaking in Paris. People were walking the streets and cars were starting to drive by, Our taxi arrived a little early and we were ready and waiting…so off we went.

It’s always interesting to see a big city starting its day. Shops are opening, people hustling about and stopping into cafes for their morning coffees. We just cruised along and then headed towards the suburbs and CDG Airport.

And then it started. Not a rainstorm, not a protest…a monstrous traffic backup.

The traffic coming into the city is expected, however the traffic heading out is a whole other story. What is usually a fairly smooth ride to the airport turned into a long and winding standstill. We were just creeping along while coming upon occasional accidents. The only ones moving were the motorcycles lane-splitting their way through the traffic.

Our driver did his best to keep moving along, albeit slowly. He was so worried about us getting to the airport late, despite our telling him we had plenty of time. It ended up taking us about an hour and a half to get to the airport, so nearly double the usual time. We felt bad because he had to drive back in all that traffic.

The good news was that since many others were stuck out there in the traffic, the airport wasn’t too busy. We met two women who had just finished a river cruise and they told us all about how much they liked AmaWaterways. We made a mental note of their ringing endorsement for future use.

We made our way through check-in, passport control and security in no time at all. Since we did have plenty of time, we headed to the business class lounge to relax and grab a little breakfast snack. It was not crowded at all – probably the result of the traffic delay.

We had about two hours until boarding time, so it was great to have a comfortable place to sit and relax, not to mention occasionally being able to sneak in a pastry or two.

When the boarding time neared, we made our way to the gate. When they announced that boarding would begin soon, all the ‘gate lice’ started to block the way so they could rush to their pre-assigned seats. I’ll never understand that mentality. I guess they hope that sometime the airline will board ‘Zone 3’ first!

We boarded, got settled and then waited to take off. Right on time, we started rolling down the runway and we were off. The flight home was good. We had a little turbulence, but only for a few minutes. Eight hours later, we arrived in Toronto. It was uneventful, just what we like when flying.

Passport control, luggage pick up and customs was a breeze and soon our driver was picking us up for the ride home. Unless you’re Canadian, you probably didn’t know that this was Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. We knew, but we sort of forgot until we were once again in a traffic jam getting out of Toronto.

Good grief! Our driver tried maneuvering around it, but ultimately we just had to grin and bear it for a while. We did take the toll road to get around some of it and connect up with the QEW heading towards the Niagara region. No matter, we were on the way home and wouldn’t be late for anything.

We arrived home while it was still light out and let me tell you, it felt a bit weird being home. The first thing we did was crank up the heat to warm up the house. I guess the last few nights had been colder and the house sure felt it.

So that was it – an entire day of nothing but travel. ‘Hurry up and wait’ was the theme for the day.

All that said, it always feels good to get back home, especially after a long trip. We loved the house in Chablis and the hotel in Paris has become our regular place to stay when there, but nothing beats home!

Thanks for joining along on our journey!