Journey as Metaphor
Journey as a Metaphor of Life in the USA and Europe
I travelled from Miami Florida USA to Nantes France
Airline. American Airlines. Score 2/5
Trains. RER B. CDG-Montparnasse 2/5
Metro 4 to Montparnasse 2/5
Montparnasse to Nantes TGV 4/5
Miami airport check in 3/5
Security Miami Airport 4/5
Flagship Lounge Miami 4/5
Flight Miami to Philadelphia Airbus Neo Z class 3/5
Philadelphia airport American Express Centurion Club. Food 4/5 Service 3/5
Philadelphia airport American Airlines Club Food 2/5 Service 2/5
Philadelphia to Paris American Airlines 787-8 seat 1L Service 2/5 Food 2/5
Paris arrival Immigration 4/5 Luggage retrieval 4/5
Paris airport 3/5
Montparnasse Station 1/5
Nantes Station 3/5
Weather along the way 1/5
As you can see, it was not the most pleasant of flights. If you are allowed to miss an airline, I would say I missed Qatar Airways. I willing to fly an extra 10 hours to get to Paris via Doha, if I could fly Qatar Airways again.
The American Airlines flight attendants are bordering on rude and you see that the service is done with reluctance.
The airline travel has picked up to such a degree that all flights are full, ticket prices have climbed, friendliness has decreased, impatience has increased, intolerance on the rise.
Money lies at the bottom of all these, at least in the USA, which once feigned friendliness, now unfriendliness and rudeness is the normal, especially in areas where political right believers live.
Pandemic has done a number on the psyche of every single person, no one missed out on that. Then came the economic crunch. The unexpected inflation and lack of money to spare and the wages which are not sufficient to live. And the punish the sufferer mentality which underlies the conservative thinking, one good example is that Republican (for non americans, they border on fascists, European or Asian style) lawmakers did not want to restrict the price to the consumers of the necessary medication, Insulin, which had gone from $11 to $120 a vial, they believe that weight loss is what the patients must do, if they cant then they are responsible for the price of Insulin. Bizarre thinking .. not in touch with reality would be a weak compliment to these people.
The economic struggles on top of the social struggles on the bed of political divisions fueled by extremely right wing politicians all that is coming to a head in USA.. leading to an unfriendliness, intolerance and impatience. There has to be a social revolution from within to stop this physical and social violence.
The food at the flagship lounge was good, with a flute or two of Piper Heidsieck champagne. I look at the workers, almost all of them immigrants mainly from Spanish speaking counries to the south. They are friendly but struggles to fit into America evident in their faces.
In Philadelphia airport I headed to the American Express Centurion Lounge to taste the food of the Israeli chef Michael Solomonov. It is truly a treat . How lovely it would be to fly to PHL taste Solomonov’s food and then take the QR flight to DOHA ? My next international flight regardless of the destination would be on Qatar Airways QR
My side of the aircraft was attended by a suitably chubby Indian from India who did not take long to acquire the bad aspects of Americanism and was not a showcase for friendliness. H was barely communicative and did his job like a robot (perhaps the robot might have smiled more?)I was not expecting any miracle at the food level, and it was not memorable. I did enjoy the champagne.
There used to be a time (at Qatar Airways it is still the case, when at the end of the journey the Purser comes to thank you for your business. On American airlines, you don’t get to see the Purser or Flight Manager or whatever fancy title they give themselves.
At CDG, the non-French flights arrive at terminal 2 A and a short walk to the Immigration which at 11 30 was manned by two agents who were busy chatting with each other. The police looks at the front of the passport and then stamps me in, not even bothering to take a good look, the French had always been like that.
Time to find an ATM to get some Euros on hand. The ATM charges about 4 euros to use them but the first one was out of order, the second one the same but the third one bore fruit. The character of the people at CDG are so totally different, than to say Miami as to be expected. A large group of Mecca returned pilgrims on their way back to Algeria, Africans with huge luggage waiting to check into flights into former French territories. There is no heavy Asian presence here as one would see in New York airport or at London.
The train journey from CDG to Denfert-Rochereau with almost everyone having luggage in crowded coaches was far from pleasant but one just puts up with it. There used to be buses (Le Bus for example) that took you from CDG to Montparnasse station but now one has to be baptized into this French experience by inconvenience.
At D-R train station you change to the Metro 4 or 6 but beware, French Metro stations were built long before people had carry on luggage.. so there are stairs and steps. Plenty of them.
Here began the changed face of French hospitality.
Normally I travel with minimal luggage but this time I was carrying lots of presents to people at my destination, so I had a suitcase and a soft case and it was not easy to manoeuvre them along the long passageways.
A young woman asks me in English whether she could help. I gladly accepted and she helped with the suitcase. At Montparnasse station, a young man asked me whether I needed a little help which I accepted with relief. The metro ride from D-R to Montparnasse was marred by the long corridors and the difficulty to get through the ticket gates. I followed another person who had managed to get the doors opened to let in her luggage and I snuck behind. The metro was not crowded and within minutes we were at Montparnasse Bienvennue metro station and a very long walk to the railway station, along subterranean tunnels. My destination was Nantes. I saw that an earlier train was leaving in about half an hour but it was difficult to find or get an SNCF official to help you change the ticket. Now everything is done by machines and I was fumbling about making change, trying to pay the penalty of 15 euros . An elderly lady came to my rescue, who spoke in French and maneuvered the instructions and the credit card instructions (how long to leave it inside the machine for example) and I was able to change my ticket, pay the penalty and rush through to the platform no 5 where the TGV train was waiting and found the coach no 2 and my row was empty so I chose to sit at the single seat facing the direction fo travel with a large window.
The weather has been anything but helpful, blustery , rainy and I was happy to be ensconced inside the comfort of the TGV speeding towards Nantes.
The French, civilized as they are, do get two weeks off during the Easter period and in France those two weeks are staggered. The Paris region do not start their Easter Holidays (no affiliation to religion at all as the French are totally secular) long after the actual Easter had passed and the Bretagne region started it the day of my arrival.
The train moved smoothly forward and came to a sudden stop at Angiers, half an hour shy of Nantes. I could not understand the announcements but a young lady resting in the empty seats nearby, spoke in English and informed that there has been a fire on the tracks and we are unsure of when we would continue our trip towards Nantes and she kindly texted my friend who was waiting at Nantes station. She gave me periodic updates and we left long before the expected time as the problem had been resolved. Soon I arrived at the Nantes Station.
Never before in my life have I seen a French Railway station this busy, more like Ernakulum station in Kerala, chock block full of people, cant even more an inch forward, woe is me, with my luggage. Finally was able to shovel through the crowd while a cold rain beat hard on the roof as well as my head.
The wind was blowing hard, the cold rain hitting hard but I felt a great sense of relief to see my friend waiting for me. We crossed the road and took the tram to his house with a change in between. Nantes has a good public transportation system.
I had left the house in Miami at 11 30 am (17 30 french time) and exactly 25 hours later after multiple changes and transactions, I arrived at Nantes in France. My friend informed me that in two hours we would be leaving to have dinner at a local restaurant, La Loca to which we would be walking from his house.
A difficult journey
The best aspects were
Flagship Lounge Miami
American Express Centurion Club with Michael Solomonov’s cuisine.
Unexpected help from four French strangers
My friend waiting for me at the Nantes train station despite the weather.
While the Americans have become less friendly, the French have become friendlier
Ah Well.
