After some overnight rain spits, my last day in Auxonne dawned sunny but breezy. Since I knew I would be taking a train and bus from Melbourne Airport back to Taggerty this year, I decided to check my Myki (public transport) card, to see if I had any credit left on it, and also to check whether I could use it on the regional bus route from Melbourne to Taggerty. Despite numerous attempts online, I could find no definitive answers to either question. But I saw that I would have a couple of hours  transit time at the Southern Cross rail station in Melbourne, so I would have plenty of time to enquire in person there.

I now thought it might be about time to start packing, with a few hours left before leaving for the airport, but that was easy because Rita had already filled half the suitcase with her extra stuff, and I never have much to pack anyway. I then took Rita around the boat showing her various things for the handover, given that she is staying on-board for another couple of months.

Then it was time for Rita to drive me to St Epurery Airport at Lyon. It was a bit of a teary farewell at the airport, possibly because we realised it was going to be a few months before we next saw each other. Then it was time to check in the baggage for the trip to Melbourne and get ready for the first leg of the flight to Frankfurt. As when I arrived in Lyon three months ago, there were no customs or passport checks for the flight to Frankfurt. I got a window seat in the last row, with the only empty seat on the plane right next to me. As we taxied out to the runway, the rain (which had been threatening for the past few hours) arrived in force. But we were soon in the air and on our way to Frankfurt.

A couple of hours transit time in Frankfurt made for a very relaxed transition, with no worries about running late for anything. On the way out of Frankfurt, I went through passport control, which was a very quick process with no questions asked. I started thinking about how I might use the Bilateral Treaty between Australia and Germany next year, to spend a few extra months in Europe, over and above the 90 days allowed under the Schengen Treaty.

The end of the day saw me boarding the Singapore Air flight to Singapore, and my first disappointment with Singapore Air. Last year, they removed salted peanuts from the nibbles they supply with drinks and replaced them with insipid cereal substitutes. This year, they have done away with the drinks trolley from which they served welcome drinks in the past. Now they just carry around a tray of pre-poured water, juice, beer and white wine in plastic cups. This disturbs a 20-year tradition I have had of ordering a Scotch'n'Dry as a way of relaxing and letting me know that I really am getting away from wherever I'm leaving from. Most disappointing, as were some other aspects of their general service. Hopefully, this was just an anomaly. Indeed, as I re-read the menu towards the end of the flight, I noticed that "Spirits" was still on the menu, so maybe it just means I have to ask for a Scotch'n'Dry instead of it being readily available on the drinks trolley.