I took Bart and got to SFO at six a.m. and I was the only one at the counter. I put my passport in the machine and it printed out my tickets. Two employees were there and the woman handed me my tickets and I said where was the third one? She said it probably was in Paris as the plane was a commuter. Then she laughed, the third ticket came out. Then we were talking and they asked about Virginia as she needed a wheelchair and where was she? I said she was taking Uber and suddenly we heard, "Are you talking about me?" We laughed and got her tickets and then the man with the wheelchair came by. We got to security and ended up with 15 security people and the two of us. I foolishly thought we were going to go through in a flash! Wrong! They hassled me, took off my tiny leather belt, of course, the big hiking shoes were left on. Whatever! Got through and was putting on my belt and wondered where Virginia was? Got up and looked in the interrogation room. Three guards were checking her out, blouse up, pants down and so on. A pat here and there. As I looked in I got a nasty look like keep away. Ten minutes later I looked and the three guards now had pen lights and were pushing at Virginia's hair, peering in the sides of the neck brace she had on due to falling down and cracking the top vertebrae. The wheelchair attendant just shook his head. The security grudgingly gave her clearance!
So off to the gate and I got us coffee. We got on the plane and taxied to take off. The captain announced we are third on the runway. We are second on the runway, we are first. Silence. We have a red light on the fuel line and cannot turn it off. (Did they hit the console?) Just asking. So we taxied for a mile around the airport and finally stopped. Two repairmen got on and eventually, the captain said the fuel filter needed to be replaced. After an hour we saw them replace the filter on the left wing and the captain said they had to run the engine for five minutes to ensure everything was all right. Then five minutes to do the paperwork and we were off at last.
Got to Minneapolis, no problems, on the next flight, seven hours to Paris. Dinner was great, they gave me a plastic cup about six inches high and asked if I wanted some red wine. They poured almost half a bottle into my glass! We had a great dinner, coffee, and dessert and they filled my cup up with the other half of the wine bottle! I was happy, watched two movies and slept a little.
So we are met in Paris with a wheelchair and Virginia had her three-wheel push cart. I ended up pushing the cart, difficult as it didn't want to go straight! The young man pushing the wheelchair went 40 miles an hour and I tried to keep up. We went a block and then an elevator down, a block then up and down and up and we took an air train and then a few more blocks and ended up at a gate that was empty. He said our flight was at nine p.m. - 12 hours later. We got mad and said we landed in Basel at 10 a.m. He checked and had been given the wrong gate so back halfway, then a bus to an outlying building and were told to sit in a waiting room for another bus. Half an hour later a little bus for handicapped came up, ended up with three of us on it! Drove even further out and ended up on a second floor in a waiting room, eventually called and had to walk two blocks between buildings on a ramp. Took an elevator to the second floor and I said why don't we just go with the other passengers to board the HOP! commuter airline? We had our tickets. So to the second floor, everyone else was at the gate to board the plane. The ticketing window on the second floor was also on a strange floor layout. Halfway down the second floor was an open elevator. The wheelchair and the pusher got in and told me I had to run it when they got to the first floor. The elevator came and I got in and pushed down and it jerked, pushed and jerked. Figured out it had to be depressed all the time to work. Then I was told to get with it as a truck came up with the room/box on the backend. We and another couple got on and were driven to the door on the rear of the plane. The box/room lifted up and connected to the door! We got on the plane and were the only ones there. They then left the rest of the other passengers on the plane. We had an hours flight and finally made it to Basel. It was only 11 a.m. and the room was ready and we needed a rest after all that! We were happy, they had one of those German coffee makers you fill with water and put in a coffee packet and it brews a perfect latte or whatever you want. We used that a lot!
Next day a tour of Basel and then boarded the Viking ship to visit France, Germany and the Netherlands. The flight home was a direct flight, about 11 hours on Dutch Royal Airlines. The plane was completely full so I ended up by a window instead of an aisle but maybe the best to lean against the window and relax.
Virginia and I were to get to the airport by six a.m. for our Delta flight to Minnesota, on to de Gaulle in Paris and then on the HOP! commuter airline to Basel Switzerland.
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