We had a quick breakfast and headed off early this morning to drive to the Lorraine TGV station to catch the TGV to Paris CDG airport. There were many people being dropped off for the train, so we had to stop some distance away, and then I walked to the station building. It gave me some practice carrying the Alphorn in its cardboard carry case. It was a bit awkward, but not impossible. However, as I stood on the platform waiting for the train, I started to wonder where I was going to put the Alphorn on the train. By now I had realised that it would be too long to fit in the suitcase rack, so I thought I'd just have to wait and see what was available on board. When the train arrived, I was right in front of the door and so was one of the first to board. I found my aisle seat, and saw that the window seat was empty. So I put the Alphorn in that seat, and sat in mine and waited to see who else would board the train. After lots had boarded, the doors closed and no one had come to claim the window seat. So I relaxed and left the Alphorn in that seat. There was just one stop between Lorraine and CDG, so I'd just have to see what happened there. When we got to that stop, a young woman stopped next to me and indicated that I was in her seat (the Alphorn was actiually in my window seat!). I must have looked suitably sorry, because she quickly told me not to worry as she found a vacant seat on the other side of the train. We smiled at each other, and I thanked her profusely in French, and then we all relaxed and settled down for the journey to CDG.

When we got to CDG airport, I waited for all alighting passengers to leave the train and then got off carrying the Alphorn. I then headed for Terminal 2C. Actually, I made a mistake and ended up in 2A (which was all Air France flights). So I asked someone where Singapore Airlines departed from and they directed me to 2C. Luckily, I found an empty trolley in 2A, so carrying the Alphorn was not as onerous as I expected. I soon arrived at the Singapore Airline check-in desk, and soon had my boarding cards and had placed the Alphorn in a large cage trolley for oversized or fragile items which was conveniently located at the check-in counter. Check-in procedures were hassle free, and much much quicker than the debacle last year during the customs staff strike. I was soon at the Customs counter, where I had decided to do an experiment. Even though I had the Receipt for my Carte de Sejour application, I held that in my left hand and presented my passport in my right hand (ready to lift the Receipt in my left hand if asked why I had overstayed my Schengen allowance of three months). But the Customs Officer just lay my passport on the scanning screen, then passed it back to me, and wished me Bon Journee! I don't know whether he didn't see or didn't care that I had stayed 5 months, or whether the scanning process had already shown him electronically that I had a Carte de Sejour Receipt.

After a short wait in the departure lounge, we were boarding the plane and soon in the air. Unlike last year's flights, this flight was packed. As soon as the seatbelt sign went off, the guy in the seat ahead tried to recline his seat. But he was having some trouble and after calling the attendant, they worked out that the recliner was broken. So they moved him to a seat up the back of the plane, and I relaxed in the knowledge that my knees would not be crushed for the entire flight by a fully reclined seat.

Soon after takeoff, we were flying over Austria, where there was still some mountain snow from the previous winter, or maybe some early snow for the upcoming winter.

We then left the alpine regions, and while dinner was being served, we flew over the farmlands near Belgrade. Soon I was asleep for the long trip to Singapore