Woke up at 6:30 to finish packing and head to Charles de Gaulle Airport for my 16th flight of this trip. I travel almost 4,000 miles today from Paris to Washington Dulles. (Hate that airport!).
Went to the executive lounge and it was closed - I forgot that they only do breakfast Monday to Friday. So I made coffee in my room to get me going.
Finished packing and checked out a little after 8 to allow myself about 60 minutes to get the CDG. The check-out line at the Marriott was all of the way across the entire lobby and moving at a snail's pace! I was surprised. Finally I asked the concierge about the delay. He got me an "Express Check-out" form and I left that and the key with him and took off for the metro.
I bought another metro ticket last night since I lost my pass so I went right through the turnstile and a train was waiting. I had to use the elevator since I had all of my bags with me - and it was the slowest elevator in the world - so figured there was no way that train would wait. And it was a "direct" train to CDG too! But the elevator finally got me down and I got right on the train! I had looked up the schedules for Saturday and this was one of the few "direct" trains. It makes no stops after Gare du Nord until it gets to CDG. The direct train is not only faster but it's a lot safer as there are some "shady characters" that get on and off the trains in the neighborhoods between Gare du Nord and CDG - actually in the same neighborhood where I was yesterday at the Basilica! This was a good suggestion by Al to take the direct train and I'll remember that for next time. (www.SNCF.com).
I got on the tram from the RER station at CDG and went to Terminal 1. I checked in with United and went to the lounge to await my flight. The flight was scheduled to leave at 12:25 but I left the lounge at 11 since the security at the gate can be a huge line at times. But today it wasn't an issue - breezed right through.
Security and boarding were both uneventful. We loaded on - and the plane was packed. TOok off on time. Drinks - lunch - nap - 2 movies - and a snack before we landed. We traveled almost 4,000 miles. Landed 10 minutes early at Dulles but that airport is awful. We had to walk and walk and walk - only to find out that we then had to get on a bus to get us to immigration. The lines in immigration were HUGE. So after more than an hour, I finally was through immigration, retrieved my bag that was waiting when I got there, and went to get my rental car at National.
Picked out my car from Emerald Aisle and headed down the causeway to 495 and then to 95. Traffic was awful in a couple of places. Arrived at Chris' house in Fredericksburg a little after 5. It was good to see him.
Did 3 loads of laundry so I'll finally have some clean clothes. About 7:30 we went to a great italian restaurant in downtown Fredericksburg. Too much to eat for me - plus I was fading fast.
We got home about 9, I updated email and put the final load of clothes in the washer, and then went to bed. A long, long day for me.
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