03 March 2009

24 hours in the air and on the roads

I'll leave my mother's house this morning at 10:30 a.m. After changing planes in Charlotte, I'll arrive in Philadelphia at 4:30 p.m. Then I'll take off toward Paris at 9:30 p.m.

I'll arrive in France at 10:30 a.m. (Paris time). After a long wait, I'll get on the high-speed TGV train and ride down to Tours, arriving at 3:30 p.m.

Then there will be an hour's drive to Saint-Aignan, putting me at home at 4:30 p.m (at the earliest).

That's a 24-hour trip, because 4:30 p.m. in France is 10:30 a.m. in North Carolina.

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS in transit. Ugh!

12 comments:

  1. You can do it! Think of Vouvray...

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  2. Man oh man, I was just reading about the airport closures and traffic accidents all throughout the East, especially in Boston, NY, and Philadelphia, yesterday... something like 950 cancelled flights in Philadelphia!?!? I hope yours today are not affected. Bon courage!
    Judy

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  3. As Judy said, Bon couirage! Mais aussi bon voyage.

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  4. I just called US Airways. The phone rep said they don't foresee any problems, but "anything can happen." That's not very reassuring. Anyway, I plan to stick to my itinerary.

    The airline has waived the fee (normally $150.00, I think) for changing a reservation, but if the flight you end up with costs more than you paid originally, you have to pony up the difference. And if I don't go today, I will lose the money I paid for a train ticket from Roissy to Tours on the TGV. Don't want to lose that.

    So off I go.

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  5. I'm glad your flight wasn't yesterday with all those delays. It may be your birthday when you read this-enjoy being 60 and bonne route, all of it!

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  6. here's hoping u don't celebrate ur 60th at a vending machine in the Philly airport! Good luck traveling

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  7. I think celebrating your 60th in France with a wonderful meal and a delicious glass of wine or champagne would be divine. Have a good trip knowing what's at the end of the voyage. Felicitations!

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  8. Rather than spend hours in Charles de Gaulle I'd have headed into Paris on the RER with a change onto the metro to Montparnasse station and got to Saint Aignan a good three or four hours earlier. But there is always some smart Alec........

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  9. You're already en route, so you won't see this until you're back home. Hope all went well and you arrive safe, sane, and sound.

    ...Susie

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  10. Have courage! It takes us nearly 48hrs to get from Perth, WEstern Aust to Montreal and that's MURDER!!!:0)


    Sue Caissy

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  11. Hello Jim Budd,

    The quickest way (but the most expensive) is to take a taxi from CDG to Austerlitz (if it's not rush hour) and then a train to Vierzon, Blois, or Onzain. Somebody still has to drive 90 minutes to pick you up. Making the connection to come all the way to Saint-Aignan adds an hour or two to the trip, or more, depending on wait times. I've done it.

    Taking the RER into Paris takes an hour, easily. And then you have to deal with the wait time at Austerlitz or Montparnasse. It's less expensive but no faster than above. When you get to the train station in the city, there isn't necessarily a train sitting there waiting for you. And it means hauling your baggage -- I was totally loaded down today -- up and down stairs in the meto as well asfinding a place to put it on packed RER and metro trains. It can be ugly.

    All in all, the easiest and least expensive solution is to wait a while at CDG and get the TGV directly to the Tours TGV station at St-Pierre-des-Corps. From there you can get a train to Saint-Aignan, or you can ask somebody to drove over there and get you. Today, I wanted to go to Vouvray to buy some wine on the way home, and Vouvray is only a couple or three miles from the TGV station. Now I have some nice Chenin whites to enjoy on my birthday.

    Thanks for commenting.

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  12. Oh, and all that lugging of luggage and pushing through crowds when you have serious jet lag! Believe me, a nice wait (with maybe some food and a glass or two of wine) at CDG is better.

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