Soaring, Flying

Whenever everything goes right for me in an airport I feel as though the security people et al are not being vigilant/attentive. Because how often does one make it through security with nothing happening at all? It's strange.

So, I had planned in advance to make sure the hotel I stayed at was connected to the airport, not that it ended up helping me with my baggage struggles. I may have sent home two boxes of stuff, however my bags were still really heavy and I basically had to walk across the entirety of Terminal 2 in Charles de Gaule airport. But I made it and boy was I glad to get my suitcase checked! So long sucker! Until Philly! It ended up weighing 23.5 kg, and I just converted that and it's 51.8 lbs, so I realize the lady at the Air Canada counter was very nice. Maybe she took pity on how sweaty/exhausted/out of breath I was after walking what felt like miles through Terminal 2.

I made it through security with no issues, and then I had an hour and forty-five minute wait for my flight, not too bad. But you know, I think this whole "no water" thing is a conspiracy created by the water bottle companies. I mean, would it be so difficult to have a person take a swig of their beverage or something? I had to pay 3 euros to quench my thirst and then when I arrived in Canada I had to throw my unfinished bottle away! 3 euros wasted and I'm still thirsty! Ridiculous! 

I boarded my flight and it was magical, taking only about 1.5 hours to get from Paris to Montreal! Amazing! I left Paris at noon-ish and arrived in Montreal around 1:30 PM. The flight was actually nice, aside from the lack of legroom, because they had these entertainment video touch screen things that allowed you to choose whatever movie/TV show/music you wanted to watch or listen to, so it was a good way to pass about 6 hours of flight time. I watched Identity Thief with Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman which was pretty funny, and I also watched Argo with Ben Affleck, and that really brought out my positive feelings for Canada. We were served 1.5 meals and a bag of pretzels, and the food was eh, but I was very hungry so I didn't turn my nose up at it. Finally, finally we arrived in Montreal, ten minutes early. I was honestly hoping there would be a delay or something to decrease my layover wait time, but it's whatever. It was interesting doing the connecting flight to the US thing because there was a separate section for us. 

Back in the USA

As I said, I had to go through security again where I had to throw out my ridiculously expensive unfinished water, and then I waited by a sign with people's names, including mine, waiting for my name to flash to signal my checked bag was checked and then I could go through US border patrol/customs. The guy was pretty friendly, joking about alcohol that I didn't bring back because that would be illegal. Haha. And then I was off through the duty free stores, where I was tempted to buy a moose hat, but didn't, and walked to my gate where I will be waiting until my flight, scheduled for 7:59 PM, starts boarding. I'm interested to see if that will be the actual departure time. Bets?

But actually we didn't leave until 8:20 PM, and it was an uneventful, uncomfortable flight. I did manage to sleep though. We arrived in Philly at around 9:30 ish, but it took a while for me to find my suitcase, and then I had to find my parents, who were backing out of a toll booth... And voilà! My European adventure is over and I am now back in my humid home state, adjusting to the new time difference, and unpacking everything.

These past six months have really been an adventure and in all, I'm truly glad to have had this experience, and I realize how lucky I am.