Tuesday, November 16 – Return Home

We had a wake up call for 6:15 and packed up everything and had our bags in the hall by 8 AM as required. Since we had a 1:15 pm flight, we left for the airport after a nice breakfast and a chance to say hi to the other folks we had had many dinners with.

I don’t think I mentioned COVID tests. The first thing and last thing we did on the ship was to provide a saliva sample for PCR testing. We also had gotten EU vaccination passports via the internet before we left and they were necessary at restaurants, shops, museums, etc. I actually have entered my US Vaccine QR code into my Apple Wallet, and I think that worked also.

I can’t say enough good things about Viking airport transfers. We were in a van to Charles De Gaulle which arrived underneath where the people were. A Viking employee came in and explained that we were in a different terminal 5 minutes away and we would be met there. As agreed, we were met by Amina, and she led us through the labyrinth and up the elevator. Then she took our passports to a self serve machine and printed our boarding passes and baggage tags, and then went with us as far as the baggage drop, making sure we showed the right papers (vaccine passport, PCR test results, affirmation of health, etc.) and once the bags were on their way, she said “au revoir”. Superior service. We were through that by 10:15, an hour after leaving the ship.

The security personnel at CDG were having an “industrial action” on the 16th (aka strike), so for the next two hours or so, we were in a line to get our passports stamped and then another half hour to get carryon checked. We then walked directly onto the plane which was already boarding, roughly 3 hours after we left Amina.

The plane left finally about 45 minutes late, due to waiting for passengers and removing luggage of a passage who wasn’t on the plane. The only good item was they moved the third person out of our row, so we could spread out slightly. This was great because a “big bouncer” passenger was ahead of me, so I could avoid his assault by stretching out sideways.

Anyway, we got back about 45 minutes late, but Global Entry speeded us through immigration and our luggage was waiting for us. We walked toward the bus loading place and I saw a C&J bus pulling around. I hurried out and caught him, so we didn’t have to wait an hour for the bus. We got back home before 7 PM, fed the creatures, unpacked a bit and went to bed. Very successful trip.