Our last day. We had some great experiences and saw some great sights. However, we are excited to go home, see the boys, and sleep in our own beds.
We woke early to finish packing, clean the apartment, and get on the road to do some last-minute souvenir shopping. Driving Paris City roads was quite the experience. It was the craziest traffic we have ever driven in. We got used to the various types of road signs to help us on our routes. An ambulance with sirens blaring had two police motorcyclists driving ahead, weaving through the traffic, and hand signaling drivers to move over. We felt like a mouse running around a maze, that’s for certain. We finally made it to the Notre Dame area and stopped at Les Maison Des Crepes. Russ ordered a ham, cheese, and egg and the girls split a ham, cheese, tomato, and lettuce savory crepe. Delicious and filling. We visited a few shops, happened upon a few more historic sites (such as the narrowest street in Paris), then it was off to ORLY Airport.
Google Maps was a lifesaver but didn’t really help much when trying to find our way through the airport parking to return the car rental. Thank goodness for a kind attendant who spoke enough English to get us headed in the right direction. After checking our bags, we noticed Brooklynn’s boarding pass didn’t include the second leg of our trip. That should have alerted us of things to come, but we were so focused on making sure she got from Iceland to the US we didn’t give it another thought. We went through security, arrived at our gate, and only had to wait a few minutes before boarding. We were off!
Arriving in Reykjavik, we stopped for a slice of pizza, then went through customs to get to our next connecting flight. As Brooklynn scanned her pass to go through the gate the light turned red and the doors wouldn’t open. She had been selected to go through extra security. If we hadn’t been in such a hurry adding her second leg of the trip, we might have noticed the SSSS code marked on her pass. If we had realized, we would have taken her backpack and carry-on with us.
Brooklynn was taken, along with a long line of other passengers, through an extra screening process. The sign said we needed to wait for her at the boarding gate as there are two exits from security. However, everyone seemed to be coming out of the exit near where we were standing, and what parent wants to leave their child behind, so we chose to wait by the door. A good 20 minutes pass, no Brooklynn. More time goes by and still, no B. Russ checked down by the gate but didn’t see her, so we continued to wait. Boarding time, still no B. Russ checked again, finally, there she was! At the same time, Alecia was making her way to the gate because she had a discussion with a guard who told her by law the plane could not leave without B but could leave without her. Fortunately, Russ was headed back at the same time and met up with her. He grabbed the luggage and we raced to the gate for departure. Alecia determined she has no desire to ever be in The Amazing Race. Haha!
Brooklynn made friends with two other women, also selected to go through Security, and flying out on the same plane. They shared that they were taken into a little white room by themselves with two Security Guards. One unpacked everything from all their bags, in front of them, then swabbed the luggage and random items. The other Security Guard checked their person for anything unusual and swabbed their bodies. Then they each had to repack everything and were sent down a back elevator. Good golly!
FYI: The women B made friends with had just spent a week in Iceland and they LOVED it!!! Hot springs, waterfalls, they are at a restaurant that was located in a greenhouse. Beautiful. They served them shark and whale and then had a good laugh because after they sampled it all they disclosed that the locals don’t eat any of it. We don’t watch Game of Thrones, but evidently, there are some mountains they were able to see and take photos of that are spectacular! A country to keep in mind. 🙂
After a total of 12 hours flying time, we finally arrived at Sea-Tac. Ryan picked us up and took us back to our car. By the time we got home, we had been up about 26 hours straight. Exhaustion kicked in and we collapsed in our own beds. We created some great memories and had a great time, however, it’s good to be home.
Helpful hint for those planning a trip to Paris, get a weekly Navigo pass. It was great for unlimited use of the Metro. We had one for use from a Wednesday afternoon through Sunday evening and it totally paid off.
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