Charles de Gaulle airport is one we love to not like. One disembarks and runs up and down escalators just to arrive at a jitny bus which drives a slow serpentine path to another entrance. More escalators and long walks through immigration (to leave the EU) and finally to departures. The priority lounge at CDG is lovely. Quiet. Restful. On to Bengaluru.
When the time came to cue for the departure gate, Indian style procedures prevailed. The longest priority line I have ever seen, and every document and visa was examined. It took ages.
However, everyone managed to get on board (as opposed to the unfortunate no-shows off loaded from the first flight in the grey Amsterdam morning.) Off we went for nine hours in the air.
Air France, how you have fallen. The inflight magazine was one long dull advertisement. The food was embarrassing. If this was the first introduction to Indian food for the novice traveler, it was a shock. Cardboard, nasty, uninspired. Breakfast was some sort of gucky wrap thing...I used to look forward to Air France flights. The food was so good.
The staff was polite and pleasant; but gave us a black and white photocopy of the customs form instead of a colored original. "This is unacceptable,"says the worker bee with a head bob that made me wonder if he was going to burst into a Bollywood routine. Thus we had to rewrite our forms...but it seems not one other soul had to; I am still baffled. Then there was the meat. In cans. From home.
We were honest. Yes we had tuna and ham with us. a few cans. So we went to the Declarations. and waited. and waited. and waited. Remember it is 1:30 in the morning. we waited some more.The single clerk was busy in a molasses sort of way over a boxed LCD screen. We had our little bag of eats all ready. Finally, a man without a uniform wandered up and asked if we were waiting. We explained. He took our declaration slips over to a uniformed fella on the other side of the wall, conversed, and came back to tell us to cheat. To change our forms to nothing to declare and go away. Otherwise the mountain of forms for us to fill out for 4 cans of tuna and one canned ham would keep us there til dawn. We scribbled and left. But I know in my bones they would have scanned our bags and found the cans if we had been dishonest. Then all sorts of hellish events transpire.
Our host had arranged a taxi for u. We were, without a doubt, grateful for not having to fuss with transport at 2 am in a strange land. We got all loaded in and drove through the night to our hotel. In the dark Bangalore looks like any other city around the airport. Uninspiring. Not one OOOO Look!
But maybe we were too travel worn to care.
Smooth registry at our hotel, and a huge comfy bed. We fell into bed about 4am and set the alarm for breakfast. Day one is finally ended.
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