Here's the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
It really started two days prior to our departure date. Jude didn't sleep well (she seldom does before travel).
We had a good day before departure and got to lay one last time under the Mediterranean Sun out on the balcony.
The night before we departed Jude didn't sleep (again!), this time due to a stomach bug that wouldn't hit me until an hour before our taxi arrived.
We were up at 04h15. 05h30 Taxi. My stomach is starting to go and Jude is bleary and weary beyond belief.
We got to the airport and the doors were only then opening at 06h00. We waited another 10 minutes for the police to arrive so they can check our documents. Then we waited for the Air France counter to open up to take our baggage.
All our boarding passes and baggage tags were generated at a kiosk before we saw an Air France person. 2 minutes to get our baggage onto the conveyor belt and then through security. Nothing slows us down through security and we're soon in the waiting lounge 30 minutes before boarding.
The flight is supposed to be for working personnel, but we see nothing but tourists trying to move to gawd only knows where. Most (all?) people have masks.
Into a rather full plane we pile and we're wheels up at 07h45.
Banking high over Nice for one last view and north we speed with the Alps on our right side. It was a beautiful site.
Some seemingly short time later we're descending and we are on the ground in Paris at 09h10.
Shock of shocks, we wait 45mins to get through passport control! Good thing we travel with all our documents.
Passport control is how the authorities keep connecting passengers out of the city. Strict controls are encountered everywhere. We watched as Americans, English, Spanish, and Argentinians were turned away and sent over to an Air France counter to either be sent back to wherever they came from, or to some transfer destination. We even saw one Frenchman who was trying to go to Orlean (via Paris? really??) be turned away and to be sent back to Marseilles.
In our case the immigration agents could easily verify our address matched our cartes de sejour and we were welcomed home with a smile and a kind gesture.
We collected our checked baggage and were out the door to grab a taxi. The taxi was to be driven by someone from China (can't make this stuff up). On our way off airport property the driver noted all the Air France planes on the ground. All being confined, I asked. We laughed.
Home quickly and walking into the house I remember we needed to get some TP. We'd left the house pretty bare. Ugh.
But before I could go out we stripped the bed and threw a load into the laundry.
To the store I go for TP and lunch goodies. Then lunch and TP on hand I headed out a second time to get more food and a few essentials, only to encounter a long long line (social distancing, of course) to get into Monoprix. Fortunately the line moved very quickly and 10 minutes later I was getting some of the things we needed.
Home again, and working through a second and third laundry load we're getting rather tired.
I vacuumed the floor to get up the dead insect carcasses that had fallen like soldiers in a night battle that raged for four months.
Then ironed the sheets and remaking the bed and, well, looking forward to opening a nice bottle of vin nature.
Soon we were tucking into the roti chicken I'd picked up, pre-cooked, at Monoprix. Teeth brushed and into bed we dove. Dog dead tired we were.
The following day was much better. We only had to clean the air vents, to do three more loads of laundry, clean around a few more things, change the table cloth and... things were looking better and the apartment was finally warming up.
We're in a much different place, now, one week on. Rest and food has helped.
What a crazy adventure!
