It was a long trip, but I finally made it! Here's a quick summary:
- To MSP Airport on April 4th at 2pm
- Left for flight to Paris at 5pm
- Landed in Paris on April 5th at 8am
- Then the 'waits'........
- 6-hour layover at Paris airport (including 2-hour delay due to national strikes)
- 1.5- hour flight to Lyon, France
- 5-hour layover at Lyon airport (including 2-hour delay due to national strikes)
- 1.5 hour flight to Biarritz, France, landed at 7pm
- Grabbed my luggage and an Uber within 10 minutes of landing
- Checked into my hotel in Biarritz by 7:30pm
- All in all, I think it took me 23 hours from door to door!
- A quick 30 minute walk to the beach for sunset, then back to the hotel
- Well-deserved 2 hour nap, and ready to hit the town at 10pm
- Dinner & wine in Biarritz at Bar Jean
It was quite the 'hurry up & wait' whirlwind tour, but feels good to be on solid ground and ready to truly start my journey. Today will be another day of exploring the seaside town of Biarritz, before taking a 5pm train/bus to my Camino starting point in the the town of St Jean Pied de Port.
A few observations:
- Note to self - in the days leading up to a 23-hour travel day, on the way to a 600-mile hike across northern Spain, it's probably not a great idea to take a 3-day trip to Vegas with some of your knucklehead buddies. Needless to say, I was a bit worn out before I even started! Oh well, you only live once, and I wouldn't do it any other way!
- The Paris airport is a nightmare - crowds & crowds of people, and all the different lines, terminals, etc. Not a fun experience.
- Nothing political, but I hate national strikes. As I'm sure you've probably heard, there is a proposal to raise the retirement age in France, so there are strikes across the nation, including baggage handlers & air traffic controllers. While I feel lucky to have made it despite the strikes, it certainly caused some delays in my travel.
- I'm not certain there's such a thing as 'line etiquette' in France. People just literally try to move ahead of you in line, while you're patiently waiting your turn. It's particularly irritating on planes, where people from the back start moving ahead of you before you even get a chance to stand up.
- Language is going to be a tough barrier. It was on my 'to do' list to learn some basic language skills, but I didn't prepare as well as I would have liked. It was particularly noticeable when I finally made it out of all the airports and to Biarritz. It was tough to communicate. Google Translate just might be my new best friend for the next 2 months!
- Despite all the travel delays and grind, I do love to travel!
I'm finding that it's taking awhile for all my pictures to synch from my icloud to the computer, so I only have a few pics to share at this time. Hopefully, they'll catch up and I can post more later.
To give you some perspective of where I am in this world.....Biarritz, France, a seaside town on the Bay of Biscay.
Here's a sunset shot overlooking the beach in Biarritz. My hotel is about 1 block behind me from where this picture was taken.
Dinner at Bar Jean - Veal stew, bread and French red wine....
Here's a selfie of me on a point just off the beach, with Biarritz in the background. Nice smile, I look a little weary & confused from travelling!
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