After a quick ten minute ride, we were pulling into the station at the airport. European transportation is awesome! We headed upstairs to find the same confusing check-in system as in Barcelona, but fortunately, we were in the know this time. We had a little bit of trouble scanning our passports, but were able to get it figured out with some help. Then, the lines began. First we had to wait in the bag check line, then the passport control line (why we did this on departure I will never know), then the security line (why was I the only one who had to take his shoes off, no one else did). Thank goodness we got to the airport three hours early. By the time we were done with the lines, it was only an hour and a half until our 10:40 flight.
We headed downstairs to the giant Air France club, which we were able to use with our Delta Sky Club membership. We grabbed a table and enjoyed a nice breakfast, since we had left Disney before breakfast started. Aside from an expansive food selection, the lounge had international newspapers and wifi, a perfect way to pass the time before our flight. From the lounge, we headed to our gate, where we had to wait in a line to get into the gate area, and then fight our way through the herd to board the plane. Even though we were flying on a 747, the world's second largest aircraft, they decided to board everyone at the same time. Once onboard, we had the good fortune to be able to spread out, since the plane wasn't full. Dad grabbed an exit row seat with several feet of legroom, and Mom and I took the window and the aisle of our row. It made for a much more comfortable flight.
Shortly after takeoff, we were served a delicious dinner of either meatballs or pasta, I chose the meatballs. In true French style, the meal came with fresh bread, a vast improvement over our bagged bread on the Delta flight. Several movies were shown overhead throughout the flight, 2 in English and one in French. They also had a self serve beverage station by the middle galley, which was both a great place to get a drink and a great place to stand up and stretch. I passed the time by trying to sleep and playing on my iTouch. Before I knew it, we were being served our pre landing lunch (ratatouille and turkey with a really delicious chocolate souffle type dessert), and started our descent into Atlanta. Overall, Air France was one of the most impressive airlines I have flown. They took great care of us on both of our flights. We had excellent service and excellent food. I can highly recommend them.
Upon landing, we were subjected to the always interesting processes of US Customs and Immigration. We had to pass through passport control, then wait 45 minutes for our bags, then pass through customs where they didn't even look at our forms, then turn our bags back over to the airport, and finally, pass through security again. It was incredibly aggravating. I don't know how the poor people who don't speak English figure out what they are supposed to do. It was bad enough being US citizens. We managed to make it to our flight with no problem, but discovered an incredibly busy airport with huge lines at the gate, and everybody looked angry. It turned out, that there had been a fire onboard one of the underground shuttles, and it had shut down the airport. A bunch of flights were delayed, and people were having trouble getting new flights. We had not been issued boarding passes, so we tried waiting in line, but were promised that our Air France boarding passes would work. Boarding time came, and our Air France boarding passes didn't work. Fortunately they let us stay right by the door as they printed our boarding passes. Problem solved. We hopped on the plane and headed for home.
We had a short, uneventful flight, and arrived in Orlando just a few minutes late. We were worried about our bags arriving, given our tight connection, but they appeared very quickly. The parking lot shuttle showed up in about 10 minutes, we grabbed our car, and headed for home. What an amazing trip!
Up Next: Some Final Thoughts
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