Iron Curtain & Ironman: Paris! (and Coming Home) (Day 15)

Hola todos,

It is with an exhausted and saddened, yet satisfied, heart that I write this trip's final post. But before you can't read from the tears blurring your vision, let me tell you the story of how I got home...

The First Part

My parents were also leaving this morning to catch a train to Salzburg (the hometown of Mozart!) so we all woke up early, packed, and said our goodbyes. Their train was much earlier than my flight, so I had time for a final quick stroll through parts of the downtown area. And you know how I love my early morning empty European city walks!

I was very surprised at how many people were up and about at 6 am. Vienna was a livelier city at 6 am than some of my other visited cities were at 7 or 8 am! It was a work day, and it was quite light out already. But still... that's early!

It was time to catch the train to the airport. I was able to easily connect to the airport train from the subway and it was an entirely uneventful journey. (Which is perfect!) And because my flight had a layover in Paris, there was no passport control or customs to deal with at this point.

I got to my gate with plenty of time to spare and hung out at a cool cafe for a bit, updating the blog and catching up on emails.

Although I purchased the tickets that don't let you pick your seat for the return flight home (#BabeOnABudget!), I still managed to snag good seats on both legs. It's the little things, sometimes!

As I said, I had a layover in Paris, so the first leg of the flight home was just a quick 2-hour hopper.

Paris

Okay, so a quick story here: When I was booking my return flight from Vienna, I was given two options: I could go through Paris with a 1.5-hour layover, or I could go through Paris with a 6 hour layover. On first blush, both options seem miserable!

1.5 hours is not enough time to go through an international airport, deal with passport control and customs, find your gate, AND go to the bathroom (which is, like, the most important step). So that was a non-starter.

6 hours is almost too much time... I didn't want to just sit in a corner near an outlet to charge my devices, or sit at a coffee shop and read, or sit in a chair and try to sleep for SIX. HOURS.

But.

I thought that 6 hours might be just enough time to sprint through the airport, take the train to downtown Paris, see the Eiffel Tower, take the train back to the airport, go through passport control and security, and board my flight.

So that's what I did!

Let me first say that Charles de Gaulle (CDG, the main international airport in Paris) is massive. It took me so long to walk through the airport to the train, and there were sooo many people.

I bought my round-trip train ticket into the city center and back, got on the train, and headed off!

It took about an hour to get into the city from the airport, and I knew I wanted to budget plenty of time for the return trip to the airport, so I had limited time in the city. I successfully transferred once to get to the Eiffel Tower stop and when I climbed the stairs out of the subway, I could see it above the buildings!

 

I got a pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant) and walked to the extended lawn/park area in front of the Tower. I sat down in a beautiful park, enjoyed the beautiful weather, and at my delicious croissant in front of the Eiffel Tower! Wild.

I didn't want to cut it too close at the airport, so before too long it was time to head back. I crossed the Pont d'Lalma bridge and accidentally found my favorite view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris:

I am sorry to report that no crepes were eaten on this journey, although I did totally debate one while heading back to the subway.

I got back to the airport without any issues, but it is a good thing that I gave myself plenty of time: the passport control line I had to get through took forever (probably the slowest passport line I've ever been in at an airport) and then I had to cross the huge airport again (via internal train) to get to security, go through that whole rigamarole, and find my gate.

(I was kind of sweaty from the Tower adventure, so I also took a wipe shower before boarding. The perfume samples in the duty-free shops didn't hurt either! Subscribe for more weird travel hacks.)

The plane home was a huge jet: 3 seats on each side and four in a middle aisle. I managed to snag a window seat (the best for sleeping, in my opinion) and got settled in for the trip home.

Thanks for following along with this trip! I'm definitely feeling some travel blues, but you know that I'm already planning my next adventure. Where should I go next?

Besos,

Tina the ExploraDora