Day 1: Sunday, 10 August 2014 - Did He Say We Landed In Paris?

12:10pm: I slept through breakfast, which is fine by me since I ate WAY too much food yesterday and had an upset stomach all night. When they announced we'd be landing soon, I quickly used the lavatory, and put on my shoes. We should have landed around 11:00 am, but it didn't register with me that we were landing an hour late.

As we descended, I lifted the blind on the window next to my seat to watch the scenery go by. I am sitting next to an enormous engine!

We landed with a quick and fast stop, causing the water bottle next to me to go flying, as I forgot it was there and didn't move it. 

The flight attendant came over the loudspeaker to announce that we had landed in Paris. Since we had been flying to London, I assumed it was a gaffe on the part of the flight attendant after a long flight. It's happened before. 

I asked the nearby passengers if the guy actually said we had landed in Paris, and two answered yes, and that we DID land in Paris! I slept through all of the announcements that we were being diverted to Paris due to bad weather in London keeping us from landing, and that we needed to refuel.

I've always wanted to go to Paris again, but this wasn't how I meant!

So, that makes it 1:10pm instead, since Paris is an hour ahead of London.

Now, we await fuel, and a flight plan back to London. 

1:45pm, Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France

It is strange being on a plane, yet not flying anywhere. This is only the second time I ever remember being diverted to a different airport. Everyone is standing, or walking about. A couple is making the rounds with their toddler, who is just at the walking stage, trying to keep her occupied. She's adorable, smiling at all the strange people who are so much taller than she is. The flight attendants have been passing out coffee, and telling us it should be about another hour.

2:15pm, Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France

They just announced that they've turned the entertainment system back on, if we'd like to watch anything. This makes me think we will be here awhile. Also, I noticed that, despite my phone and iPad being in Airplane mode, they are now displaying Paris-local time. Hmmm…

2:26pm, Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France

The captain announced we are fueled and ready to leave. However, the local traffic control says it will be approximately an hour and 15 minutes before we can leave. This is the sort of thing that makes me always plan to arrive at least a day earlier than I need to be anywhere!

This is cutting into my time to spend sight-seeing in Cardiff today, though. I'm supposed to leave Tuesday to head back to London. Maybe I will stay another day, and leave Wednesday instead. I'm still going to wait and see how other things unfold.

2:37pm, Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France

We got cleared for take-off, and are taxing through the airport toward a runway! Traveling back in time only an hour. I wonder how long the flight is. The pilot said the flight is only 40 minutes.

3:52pm, Heathrow Airport, London, England

Oh, my god, we finally made it! I managed to get through the passport queue without waiting (bless Delta for the Fast Track pass), find the WC and brush my the fuzz off my teeth, find my luggage, buy a bottle of water, price SIM cards fir the iPad, top off my Oyster Card (for the Underground), buy the Heathrow Express ticket, navigate my way onto the train between terminals, and make it to the platform for the Heathrow Express with only 13 minutes to wait fir the train. Not bad!

I decided against a vending machine purchase for a SIM card because they didn't have any micro SIM cards fir a tablet. I don't need all the phone minutes and texting for my iPad.

While waiting for the Heathrow Express I met a nice young girl (she's probably 13 or 14) who came on her own from Dubai for a two-week dance and performance class. She got delayed in customs for being under 18 and traveling alone. She said you have to be 12 or older to travel alone in Dubai, so they didn't know you had to be 18 in the UK. 

The Heathrow Express took the promised 15 minutes to get to Paddington Station. I'm not sure how it happened, but the train I needed to take leaves from Paddington! No massive transferring of Underground trains required. I was SO happy to know this. But the last train for Sunday evening left at 17:31, and it was 17:15. I had to buy my ticket in a hurry and find Platform 3!

Here is where the universe attempted to mess with me. The ticket was 42 (yep). No problem, I had 45 in bills, and some coins. The machine took the first 20 just fine, but absolutely refused to take my second one. I asked for my money back, planning to use my debit card (I used it earlier to buy my Heathrow Express ticket). The machine gave me 10 in 1 coins, and 10 in 50p coins! Ugh. Then the machine wouldn't process my card. Ugh! There was an ATM was right behind the train thicket dispenser, so I got cash, then tried the machine with new bills. That worked! Whew! I found Platform 3, where the train to Swansea was waiting, walked down the platform a bit, got on the train, walked through two cars, got off the train to walk down three more cars, and finally found a seat near luggage storage. 

I retrieved my plug converter from the suitcase so I could recharge my iPad, and virtually collapsed in exhaustion into a seat. I realized I haven't had food in 13 hours. No wonder I was starving! But I didn't want train food, so decided to wait until I got to my hotel in Cardiff to eat.

Also, the Great Western train I was on lacked wifi. Darn. 

8:20pm, Cardiff, Wales

I made it to my hotel! I was so happy to exit the Cardiff Central train station to find my hotel staring me in the face, only a block away.

My room is nice and clean, and has a great view of downtown Cardiff. And the stadium is only two or three blocks away. It looks simply massive from here. 

I'd been on planes and trains for two days now! Although I felt like a grungy mess, I didn't look quite as bad as I felt, so I went to the hotel restaurant for food. Also, I hadn't had food since they fed us dinner on the plane last night!