the trip back from hell
after such a wonderful weekend, i couldn't see how anything could go wrong. it did. in a big, big way.
having found a new, quicker route to the airport, we left in ample time, we thought. apart from the first few kilometres behind a slow car on some tiny country road, we had no problem. on the motorway, there was noone, and we did a steady 140kph. so it was with slight apprehension that i noticed that we were not, as we should have been, at the airport by 2pm. we were not even in Toulouse by then. check-in closed at 2.15. we got into Toulouse, and time was steadily growing short. my father was doing way over the limit (90kph for a 50kph area), so i told him to slow down. which he did. to exactly 78kph - or so say the cops who flashed us. great. they stopped us at the roundabout near the airport. it was 2.15. i ran with all my bags, hoping against hope. the check-in had just closed, but the lady was nice and checked me in nonetheless, despite boarding having started.
i was a bit out of it. had never been stopped by police before, at least not like that and not with a serious deadline looming. and i hadn't been able to wait to see how much of a fine my father got, or even to see whether they'd take away his license (which they can do over 20kph over the limit). i was upset. and that's when i realised i'd forgotten my sweater. no big deal, but still. however, just before they closed the doors, the flight attendant came and handed it to me. which meant my father still had a license. thank god!
back in GVA, my luggage failed to materialise. didn't make it onboard, i thought, but i wasn't the only one. we'd been waiting in the lost luggage area for 5 mns when the bags showed up with those of the following plane. they'd obviously stopped the belt before the last luggage had been through...
and then i missed my bus.
having found a new, quicker route to the airport, we left in ample time, we thought. apart from the first few kilometres behind a slow car on some tiny country road, we had no problem. on the motorway, there was noone, and we did a steady 140kph. so it was with slight apprehension that i noticed that we were not, as we should have been, at the airport by 2pm. we were not even in Toulouse by then. check-in closed at 2.15. we got into Toulouse, and time was steadily growing short. my father was doing way over the limit (90kph for a 50kph area), so i told him to slow down. which he did. to exactly 78kph - or so say the cops who flashed us. great. they stopped us at the roundabout near the airport. it was 2.15. i ran with all my bags, hoping against hope. the check-in had just closed, but the lady was nice and checked me in nonetheless, despite boarding having started.
i was a bit out of it. had never been stopped by police before, at least not like that and not with a serious deadline looming. and i hadn't been able to wait to see how much of a fine my father got, or even to see whether they'd take away his license (which they can do over 20kph over the limit). i was upset. and that's when i realised i'd forgotten my sweater. no big deal, but still. however, just before they closed the doors, the flight attendant came and handed it to me. which meant my father still had a license. thank god!
back in GVA, my luggage failed to materialise. didn't make it onboard, i thought, but i wasn't the only one. we'd been waiting in the lost luggage area for 5 mns when the bags showed up with those of the following plane. they'd obviously stopped the belt before the last luggage had been through...
and then i missed my bus.
posted by The Archaeologist @ 5:54 PM
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