Day 2 Incheon to Paris

Woke up unassisted at 6am after a comfortable sleep on a hard bed. Up at 7:30 and on to breakfast at about 8. The in-floor heating had caused us trouble (too warm) early on but we must have adjusted. After breakfast and packing we did a walking tour of the neighborhood. The commercial buildings were all festooned with garish advertising and signage. To the north were rows and rows of apartment blocks. We walked into a more pleasant new, in progress residential area. Okay going one way but on the way back the wind made it decidedly uncomfortable - 4°C.

After vegging out at the hotel we waited for the 11:30 shuttle back to the airport which we took with the French couple. We walked around on the public concourse, checking out all the eateries and selected one where we had stir-fried pork with veg and rice. Very nice, but very little meat. We had some kimchi on the side for extra zing.

We entered the secure zone hoping to find better bookstores than outside, but in vain. Instead we discovered a real treat - a free Rest Area on the upper level. This featured large contoured recliner seat perfect for dozing off in. Very good except that one bloke kept snoring, somewhat diminishing the restful experience.

As we arrived at our departure gate we noticed that it was snowing! Wet stuff that melted as it hit the ground. Along with Koreans, most of the passengers were Frenchmen returning from a vacation in Vietnam. The snowfall intensified as we were boarding, so much so that we were delayed on the ground for an hour. After that it was clear sailing so to speak - a smooth flight. Flying is a geography lesson, many familiar place names come up on the route display - Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg etc. Russia is a very big country.

It kept amusing me during the fight to see how many travelers seemed to be new to the game because they couldn't work out how to open the lavatory door. Some would take over 30 seconds.

Due to the earlier advice of flight pushed back by two hours and the on-tarmac delay, we didn't get into CDG until just before 9pm. We passed through CDG relatively easily - no queues except waiting for baggage. We were amazed to see that there was no customs control whatsoever - it must have operated on an honour system. From there we easily found our way to the CDGVAL shuttle to take us to the RER station. A huge station, but with very few ticket machines - I can believe that there are long queues here at busy times. Had a bit of trouble with the machine - it would not accept notes and would not accept my chipped Visa card, but it did fortunately take the Mastercard. €8.50 is fairly steep for a 30 minute journey though. I will never complain about Sydney Rail fares again. We got on the RER train but Joan almost didn't make it - she was behind me when the doors started to close. Another passenger (a tourist I think) came to our rescue as we prised the doors back open.

Arrival at Gare du Nord was uneventful, but getting out of that place was a chore. I didn't like it - seedy looking people loitering about and it was dirty. We eventually found an exit that took us to a taxi rank. The driver, while not rude, was brusque and barely helpful. He took on a nice detour ride - I reckon 3km for a 600m journey. And of course they charge for each bag. We got to our hotel just on 11pm. Now to bed to do it all again tomorrow. Note to Joan: let's stay at the airport next time. On the other hand it was good practice for when we next pass through here in May.
Bed just after midnight.