Having driven my little tractor up to Vicki's place on Friday, I now drove up there in the HiLux so that she would have a second venicle when needed over winter, in exchange for her driving me to the airport tonight. In past years, this has been an afternoon trip, but this year Singapore Airlines have changed their schedules for the Melbourne-Paris route, with the plane not departing Melbourne until nearly midnight. After thanking her for the ride, I wandered into the terminal with less luggage than usual because this year I was only taking a large backpack instead of a suitcase. So no worries about being over the weight limit of 30kg.

All the check-in facilities are now automated for Singapore Air, so it was a very speedy process to check in the single bag and then head off to the Departures area and the Customs clearance area. When I placed my computer bag on the tray I asked if I needed to take out my laptop, and the officer said that was no longer needed. So I headed off to the screening area and walked through, but I set off the lights. It was then that I realised I still had my phone in my pocket (since I would previously have placed it in a tray with my laptop  and iPad). so I went back to put it in the tray with my computer bag, but it had already entered the system. So the phone got a tray all of it's own! After I went through screening again, I waited for my bag and got talking with another traveller, whose bag had been taken out of the line for further examination. When my bag came through, I grabbed it and put my belt and coat back on and headed for the Customs gate. There were virtually no queues at this time of night, so I was through Customs very quickly.

However, as I walked along towards the Departures gates, I could feel that something was missing, and quickly realised that I had left my phone in the second tray in the baggage scanning area. No worries, I thought, I'll just go back and get it. But as I traced my steps back, I realised I had already come through Customs, and there was no way that I could go backwards through the Customs area. At this stage, I hadn't panicked, but the thought had crossed my mind about how I would cope on this trip if I didn't get my phone back!

At this point, I saw an Airport Officer and explained the problem to her. She pointed to a phone on a nearby column and said "Ring the baggage clearance area and they'll bring your phone through to you!". Clearly, there are lots of people who leave stuff on the baggage clearance conveyors if they've installed a dedicated phone to find everything and bring it through Customs. So I rang on the phone, but it kept going to a message bank. I brought to to the attention of the Airport Official and she just said "They must be busy - just keep ringing". So I kept ringing, and eventually got through. I explained the situation and the guy said "Just stand by the phone, and I'll bring your phone to you". Within a few minutes be arrived, and held out an iPhone 14+ and asked if it was mine. Perhaps I should have said yes, but instead I described my iPhone 7+ to him, including the 20 euro note under the transparent cover. Within a few more minutes, he arrived with my phone and I was a happy little chappy!  My 20 euro cover has now proved to be a positive identification, along with it being my mobile bank, and a way to get people to look at the phone when I am taking photos of them!

Since I had got to the airport relatively early, I had a couple of hours to kill before flight time. So I was very happy when the lady at the check-in desk told me that I could go to the SilverKris Lounge before departure (presumably since I was elevated from Silver Elite to Gold Elite KrisFlyer status after last year's flights). As I sat there and relaxed, I was reminded of my nephew Matt, who makes a lot of overseas flights as part of his role as a Wheelchar Basketball referee and referee's coach, and on the Executive Council of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation, who regularly meet in Geneva. Every time he flies he posts a FB photo of a glass of bubbly in the Lounge (at left) so I thought I'd do the same with my glass of red wine (at right).

Eventually the flight was called, and I reluctantly left the Lounge (but not before another glass of red and a good free feed!). Given that we left so late at night, they didn't know what meal to serve us on the plane. But eventually they served us an early morning dinner (which I just picked at), then I checked out the movies and saw that there were two new releases (A Man Called Otto and Tar) that I had been hoping would be shown. So I watched Otto (with Tom Hanks) and then grabbed some sleep as we flew north.

After arriving in Singapore in the early hours of the morning, I was faced with an eight hour wait for my connecting flight to Paris. However, this was softened by the fact that I was admitted to the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge at Changi, which made the wait infinitely more tolerable. Indeed the long wait allowed me to get various bits of work done that was having trouble finishing in Taggerty. Firstly, I was able to catch up with lots of outstanding emails, and received one from the Murrindindi Shire indicating that they were putting in a bid for the Federal Big Battery program with several other Shire Councils, and Murrindindi had nominated Marysville as their chosen site (following up on the work I had done for the Shire last year). So here's hoping that their grant application is successful. I also managed to gather together all the banking infirmation for allow me to catch up on the transactions that need to be fed into the online software by our accountants for TUTI. So a very produtive 8 hours that passed relatively quickly. And I also managed to check comments that were posted in response to my post from the Melbourne KrisFlyer Lounge!

Before heading for the departure gate, I dropped by my favourite electronics store in the airport to see if I could get a new cover for my iPhone 7+, to replace the one I bought at that store many years ago. However, when I said it was for an iPhone 7+, the staff simply laughed at me (very politely, because we were in Singapore), since all of their covers were for iPhones 12 and above. Maybe it's time for a new phone, but the old one is still working perfectly for me. So I'll try finding a cover online at a later date.

After the plane backed away form the terminal, it took 45 minutes for it to taxi to the start of the takeoff runway. Indeed, it took so long that I fell asleep twice on the way to the runway. But eventually we left the ground, and after a small meal, I took the opportunity to watch the second of the movies I wanted to see, which was Tár starring Kate Blanchett. I had heard lots about this movie, but I was still surprised by some of the unexpected twists and turns.

After the movie, I then got 6 hours sleep on the flight to Paris (having learnt over many years how to get to sleep in an Economy Class seat!). When I awoke, I saw on the flight monitor that we were 25 minutes late on our expected arrival time and pushing against a 50kph headwind. Because of the change in Singapore Airlines schedule for the Paris flight, I was scheduled to land at 2115h, which was too late to transfer to a TGV train, so I was forced to stay overnight near the CDG airport. The hotel in which I was booked (Ibis Styles Roissy) was a little way from Terminal 2, and they run a Shuttle Bus, but with no services beyond 2230h. So I was hoping that my late arrival would not cause a problem.

We arrived at CDG at 2145h, and I realised that my first problem was that we had arrived at Terminal 1, not Terminal 2 as we had in several previous years. But we got through passport control very quickly, and my bag was waiting for me on the carousel as soon as I got to the baggage collection area, so I thought I might still have a chance of catching the Shuttle Bus. Luckily, I remembered the way to get to the CDG Shuttle Train to get to Terminal 2, and I boarded the train at 2215h. As we moved away from T1, I saw that it went to Terminal 3 before going on to  Terminal 2, and I remembered something from my Google searches that said the Shuttle Bus went from T2 and T3. So, to save time, I got off at T3 and followed the signs to Ibis Styles Hotel. But when I got there, the staff told me there was no Shuttle Bus running to Ibis Styles Roissy (the second of the Ibis Styles hotels near CDG). However, they told me I could get there by local bus 349, and showed me where the bus stop was located.

So I waited at the bus stop for about 20 minutes for the 349 bus, during which time I practiced saying Ibis Styles Roissy (using Google Translate for assistance on my phone) as "Eebis still rwozzie" so that the local bus driver might understand where I wanted to go. After two attempts, he understood my French and took me to Entretien Nord, where he then directed me toward the hotel. By now it was drizzling, as I set off on my walk (luckily I had all my stuff in a backpack, and was not dragging a suitcase behind me). As I walked, I saw the hotel sign across a field, which was actually a construction site with an unlit road connecting me to the hotel. So, despite the drizzle, I continued walking along the lit road to a nearby village, and then turned left to reach the hotel. At 10 minutes to midnight, I walked into the hotel reception area, just as most staff were getting ready to clock off at midnight. Since it was now 37 hours since I started the trip at Taggerty, I was only too happy to hit the sack.

I woke at dawn, due to jet-lag, but thought it was rather appropriate given that it was Anzac Day back home, and many people there have also got up at dawn to go to a Dawn Service. So I read for a while, then set my alarm and went back to sleep for a couple of hours. I enjoyed a relaxed breakfast down in the dining room, then packed my bags and took the 0945h Shuttle Bus back to the CDG rail station at T2, where I was to catch a train to Auxonne, via Lyon and Dijon. Since I had been through those stations several times in the past, it promised to be a familiar journey. Because the TGV ticket from CDG to Lyon was only 10euro difference between 1st and 2nd Class (no idea why), I treated myself to a 1st Class ticket for the first leg to Lyon. The only difference seemed to be somewhat wider seats and a bigger overhead luggage rack (which was perfect for the backpack). I kept thinking about a story we read in French class at Taggerty a couple of months ago about a bus journey on an old bus where the 2nd Class passengers had to get off and push when they encountered a hill, while the 1st Class passengers could stay on board. So I sent some photos to Vicki to share with the class!

Having not been in France in Springtime for many years, the surrounding landscape was a surprise to me, and the prolific canola fields were a sight to behold.

While the TVG was fast when it was moving, it still managed to be 30 minutes late when it arrived in Lyon. As a result, I missed my connecting train to Dijon. A mild panic set in when I looked at the departures display board and could not find another train to Dijon that day! So I joined a long queue of people (who had also missed connections) at the SNCF ticket office. A young SNCF guy was asking screening questions at the entrance, and when I mentioned my missing Dijon train, he quickly consulted a timetable on his iPad, and advised me that there was a train soon going to Paris Bercy via Dijon. So I scooted away to the correct platform and boarded that train (with a sigh of relief). The change of trains at Dijon was hassle free and I was soon on the way to Auxonne. When I got there, I experienced some typical French rural hospitality. As I got my backpack down from the luggage rack, I was having some trouble getting my arm into the strap of the backpack. The guy in the seat behind immediately rose and guided my arm underneath the strap. We had a laugh together, and then a quick Merci before I alighted at Auxonne gare, to be met by Rita.

When we were in the car driving to the port, she told me I had received two letters. Did I want the good or the bad news first? The good news was that GAN Insurance had agreed to cover the cost of a new fridge in the campervan as a consequence of last year's theft. The bad news was that the Dijon Prefecture had rejected my application for a Titre de Sejour and that the Recipissee that I had been issued last Septemeber was now null and void. So, we are back to square one!

It is times like these that make me glad that I am writing a blog of our travels. If everything went smoothly on our travels, then it would make for boring reading. A little bit of drama and a few setbacks add some spice to the story. When something goes wrong now, I don't think "Oh, woe is me!". I think, "Now, there's another story for the blog!". It was beautifully summed up in a story I recently read in The Marginaliean newsletter, when they included a quote from writer Jorge Luis Borges (who was blind for the last 30 years of his life and career):

"A writer — and, I believe, generally all persons — must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art".

I don't regard this blog as "art", but I sure agree with the philosophy.