Aurevoir Paris!

Charles de Gaulle airport continues to challenge us.  We were dropped off in prime position, did battle with the tax refund machine, until the guy behind the glass counter took pity on us.  Then we went to check in.  Again we have been seated separately.  An annoying quirk that we are attributing to using points to book tickets.  So, we again did battle to try to get seated together....we have had some success in the past.  Time will tell how successful we will be this leg of the trip.  Amongst all of the discussion, boarding passes, luggage to check in, the gentleman forgot to tell us details of the Etihad Lounge arrangements.  So once through security we spend the best part of half an hour or more traipsing along the concourse asking for directions to the Etihad Lounge.  No signage to help we eventually struck a helpful gentleman who put in a phone call to check for us - and advised us the American Airlines Lounge is what we needed.  A compass and a cut lunch later we made it.  Now, we only need to allow half an hour to walk back to our boarding gate and all should be fine.  CdeG is a huge place.  Not easily navigated when you have no clue where you are, or where you should be, limited language skills and almost buy perfume (liquids) when these should be reserved for your last stopover.  So, all in all, I think we are happy yo be departing Charles de Gaulle.  Aurevoir Paris.  3.11.2012

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