Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Charles de Gaulle airport

We have spent the best part of this morning at Charles de Gaulle airport, terminal 2F.  There is no way to describe the sheer volume of this airport.  It is huge, and even appears to have runways, or at least planes on split levels. As an indication of the scale of the operation, it took us ten minutes by bus, to get to the airplane.  Then, with three bus loads of passengers it took almost 50 minutes to complete boarding. The flight itself was relatively smooth sailing and was completed within an hour and a half.  The scenery was incredible as we flew over the snow capped range of mountains making up the Dolomites. Our arrival in Venice went much smoother than that in Paris.  Our porter was there to meet us to take us by minibus to the wharf where we transferred to a private water taxi to take us to our hotel.  This was so much fun, and a nice contrast to my arrival last visit which was via train. The Hilton Molino Stucky is where we are staying.  Situated on the island of Guidecca the hotel facilities were originally part of a flour and pasta mill owned by the wealthiest family in Venice, under the direction of Giovanni Stucky. We have a beautiful suite, with a view overlooking the Guidecca Canal.  Courtesy of Frank being such a long time supporter of the Hilton chain. After checking in, we went for a walk, seeing the immediate area adjacent to the hotel, then returned and had a drink on the roof top terrace bar of the hotel.  Beautiful once we found a smoke free spot.  We watched a number of large cruise liners depart, thinking how lucky we were that these hoardes were leaving as we arrive.  Giving us more potential to explore this beautiful city without the tourist mele. Dog count for the day: 4 in Paris, 11 in Venice. 22.10.2012

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