Leaving, London, the sound of money and Giving Things Away

11-Sept-07

Yesterday a taste of fall weather sent me into a panic while I packed my bags. What if it’s only 60 degrees (or less!) in France? After all, I will be there until mid October. When the sun is shining it is so hard to imagine being cold, or wet. I repacked for the third time.

"One carry on, only. Your purse is ONE, your backpack is ONE, your computer is ONE, Ka-ching!"

Rain gear, leggings to go under my skirts (while being reminded by my daughter that I am the only remaining human to call them “leggings”. Well, what are they, then?), layers of long sleeves and woven cotton scarves to tie around my neck.

I went online to get phone numbers for taxis in Colorado Springs, stumbling across some reviews by people who had been stood up for their appointments for rides to the airport. I certainly didn’t want to pay for parking for over a month, but missing my flight wasn’t a stress I cared to deal with. Instead I made an appointment with a transportation company (www.arideinluxury.com). They sent a Lincoln Town car to pick me up, and the driver was early, courteous and he carried my bags for me. All for $35.00. I liked it a lot.

Fast forward to Colorado Springs Airport, a small and delightfully uncrowded place without all the lines and, at least for me, no hassles. All my packing and unpacking (I obviously have issues) and I still checked a big red bag weighing 46 pounds and a tote with my sundries and a few travel books. I had a backpack with my “blankie” and travel pillow, a book about writing in Paris and most of the inside junk from my purse ( gum, phone, datebook…you get the picture), my laptop and a small rollerbag with my itinerary, international cell phone and instructions, Michelin maps, French phrasebook, exercise DVD’s, journal and everything else I thought I couldn’t be prepared without. (OK…I am a little embarrassed about printing out the entire 246 page list of t-mobile hotspots in Europe for internet connection). I also had an adoreable red backpack, with my digital camera, extra sweater and socks for the flight, magazines, a baggie with lotion, eye drops, bandaids, ibuprofen, lip gloss…you know, even as I type this I’m wondering if I was a boy scout in a past life…always prepared. Actually, I think the real truth is that I don’t like to be uncomfortable or inconvenienced. I don’t like to be “without”…

So I said earlier that I didn’t set out to choose a flight on September 11^th, but it really worked in my favor. The airport was deserted. No lines at the ticket counter. The flight to Chicago was empty. I guess most people are more superstitious, or respectful than I thought. So, I board and settle in to my own row, and here’s a surprise…an air traffic control ground hold of 1 ½ hours to Chicago. I had planned to meet Meg in Chicago and have dinner, but between the delay, the afternoon traffic and finding each other (OK, I walked across the street to the Hilton for a glass of wine), she made it just in time to pick me up and drive me to the international terminal (5), and see me off through security. I never got to eat, although she admits she hugged me good-bye and immediately went and ate a cheeseburger without me!

My Air India flight from Chicago to London was also empty, and I was feeling pretty lucky as I settled into my three seats, perfect for lying down to sleep. All the European airlines hand out free wine and beer, and I was cracking up because their beverage service cart had soft drinks, juices and a big bottle of Johnny Walker Red. Is scotch, like, de riguer? I had a white wine and tried to figure out how fast I could eat the snack…”chiwda”, which totally resembled those canned shoestring potatoes, but crushed into little pieces, with raisins, nuts and curry. Kind of a good salty/sweet mixture, but was it really good or was I just starving? Hard to say. I could only eat it a pinch at a time, and I fear most of it ended up down my shirt or in my lap! I ate lamb curry for dinner and I was down for the count, although they apparently played movies all night long. I went to sleep with “Spiderman 3” and woke up to “Shrek 3”.

Huge tailwinds pushed us into London Heathrow in under 6 hours, and I was dreading a 5 hour wait until my Air France flight at 2pm to Charles de Gaulle. I know, it sounds like a crazy itinerary, but the airfare was cheaper to LHR than CDG, and I originally planned to use Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) to Nantes, France and pick up my rental car there. Auto France (www.autofrance.net) has offices all over France and you can pick up and drop off at any of them for no extra charge. Unfortunately, as I did my research after the fact I found out this:

1) If you check luggage, they charge you.

2) If you use a credit card, they charge you.

So my really cheap flights weren’t so very cheap, and their limit on luggage is 15 kilos (that’s only about 33 pounds, TOTAL) and I have never packed even one bag under 33 pounds, much less two… in fact I think my purse weighs more than 33 pounds! I definitely was screwed. I decided to blow off the $75 bucks and found an airline consolidator (www.airfarestore.com). I bought a roundtrip from LHR to CDG for $200 on Air France.

So I wake up in London (Heathrow ) on September 12th. Only 5 hours to wait for my Air France flight! I changed money, cleaned up, and had something to eat. Then the big surprise. If you are flying inter-europe, there are baggage limits. My checked luggage from the US was overweight here! You get , like, 20 kilos. Ka-Ching! Pay up! And, One carry on, only. Your purse, no matter how petite, is ONE. Your backpack is ONE. Your computer is ONE. So I buy a tote bag to try and fit it all in one bag. Ka-ching! Unfortunately my new little backpack with wheels, won't fit into the tote, so I gave it to the cashier at the luggage shop. She was thrilled. My 5 hours dwindled to nothing as I swapped everything from bag to bag. I get the impression there is a big lesson here for me, about dragging around too much stuff, ya think?