April 25-26—SeaTac to Charles de Gualle to Dinner with Gavin and Elaine
Saturday was a long but good travel day. After all the hype in the papers about long security lines we changed our arrival time to SeaTac just in case. So we walk off the ferry, meet our driver in front of the Coleman Ferry Terminal, drive 17 minutes to SeaTac and... right, no lines. Luckily, we had time to meet with a Delta ticketing agent so he could correct a computer glitch with my ticket. Somehow my last name was included twice and so I couldn't get a boarding pass, because the name on my passport didn't match my ticket. Ya, my passport only has my last name once—of course. Eduardo, the Delta agent, was cheerful and corrected the error and we were off to TSA Pre√, except we didn't bother, because there was no one, and I mean NO BODY at the regular TSA line. We walked right up checked in with a TSA agent and he gave us an expedited card to indicate to the other agents that we had TSA Pre√, and viola, we had three hours to burn before our flight.
At Charles de Gualle, we expected long lines, because they instituted a biometric procedure that has slowed down Passport Control. Well, this also was a shocker. The huge room with the rat maze all airports use to make travelers walk up and down and back and forth to an entry point was there and we ran the course and stood behind 3 people going through the biometric thingie. Two French agents were there to assist and within 5 minutes our passports were scanned and we had our pictures taken and that was it. We took a taxi to our hotel and had three hours to freshen up and have a little rest before meeting Gavin and Elaine for dinner at La Marine at 7PM.
I sure hope the rest of our 5 weeks in France go as smoothly as the start of this holiday!
 |
| The flight was smooth and uneventful, except for one distressed baby screaming in first class. Event- ually, she passed out and so did we. |
 |
| Our flight route 30 minutes after departing SeaTac. |
 |
| Pre-dinner snack. |
 |
| Ravioli dinner on Delta 80 to Paris. |
 |
| Me, Marie, & Gavin on one of the many pedestrian bridges that cross Canal St. Martin. Elaine, Gavin's wife, took this picture and we'll include one of all of us after they send it to me. |
 |
| Does this look like April 26th? |
This is a restaurant Gavin and Elaine like and have come back to several times during their month in Paris, and all I can say is, they chose well. Fantastic and friendly service and delicious food!
 |
| And here we all are! |
