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jasepl · Member Joined: 26 Jul 2008 Posts: 4257 Location: bund-bay

So this is a story of three trips: one that should have been, one that wasn't and one that finally was.

The trip that should have been

The original plan was for me and by BFF / brother-from-another-mother Zo (Mr Delna, for those keeping track) to go to Nantes, sandwiched between a couple of days each in Paris and Annecy,

I was looking especially looking forward to this, and was willing to do a one-stop instead of a non-stop, because Delta would soon be gone from Bombay. And besides the fact that I like flying Delta, there was the additional blow of no longer having a choice to get to Nantes.

After Delta, it's going to be AF-AF or 9W-AF and that's really not a choice at all. Crying or Very sad

I happily booked our tickets several weeks before our trip, even though Delta's fare was much higher than a comparable routing on AF. The trip looked like this:
-- BOM-AMS-CDG on DL/AF
-- GVA-AMS-BOM on KL/DL

Plus, to faire des ponts:
-- Paris – Nantes by train
-- NTE-GVA on DS

Just a matter of waiting a few weeks and we'd be off.

Then my grandmother died.
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sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Jason, welcome back. I am sorry to hear about the bereavement. Sincere condolences on the loss, I guess this would have kept you off the forum for a while.
Sincerely, Sumantra.

abhijith16 · Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2015 7:20 pm Post subject:

So sorry to hear about your grandmother.. My deepest condolences. Sad

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jasepl · Member Joined: 26 Jul 2008 Posts: 4257 Location: bund-bay

A ridiculous amount of scrambling in an amazingly short time later, changes were made and some tickets were cancelled and yet other tickers were re-booked and appointments re-scheduled. Then we were set for

The trip that wasn't

There was no point cancelling our tickets completely and re-booking on another airline at a ridiculous last-minute fare, so we figured we would try and just change dates on the main flights and deal with the internal short distances separately. We also had a bit of flexibility in that the cremation etc were after five days, so that all family members had enough time to get there from wherever in the world they lived.

We ended up with:
-- BOM-AMS-CDG on DL/AF
-- GVA-AMS-BOM on KL/DL

Plus we bought separately (finally using those Lying Poo points):
-- CDG-MRS on AF
-- MRS-NTE on AF
-- NTE-LYS on AF

This was going to be long, exhausting and no fun, but there was very little choice. So we also spread it out and the original weeklong trip became 12 days.

This meant Zo and I were set. But now my mother's ticket needed to be figured out. Delta was full by then, so she decided on BA, which would also give her the chance to stop by London on the way back.

The next night, with surprisingly little traffic, we were at the airport about 2.5 hours before departure. Check in, security, immigration etc were all quick and uneventful.

Now was time for the argument : where to sit and wait. Those two wanted to go to the lounge; I just wanted to get to the gate and stay put there.

They won and off we went towards the "new" lounge. That place turned out to be completely full, with no place to sit at all.

So it seems I won after all, and we decided to screw it and just go to the Delta gate (from where we would split up when it was time for boarding).

We were exiting the lounge when my mother declared that the other lounge will definitely be less crowded and we should go there. Before I could ask what on earth she was talking about, she was going down the escalator that is right by the main lounge entrance. We knew that didn't lead to any lounges, but there was no choice but to follow her.

So down the escalator we went, and emerged smack bang in the middle of what can only be described as the Jetfugee Camp:

(Above : the Jetfugee Camp, ie the lower-level gates where all the 737 flights depart from, ie 99% of Jet's fights)

It took a few minutes to marvel in horror at the scene and then finally there was acceptance and we made our way to the gate. Our flight was delayed a bit, but nothing to stress over. Soon it was time for my mother to make her way to the BA gate, so she left.

A little while later, I started feeling weird. Very quickly, that turned into extreme discomfort and I started thinking that I probably was not going to be able to get on the flight after all.

Two more minutes and this unbelievable pain just came out of nowhere and it was clear. Zo took one look and figured it out and went and told the Delta walli at the podium that we're going to have to cancel and made a couple of calls to Delna / driver etc.

The airline immediately did their bit and arranged for someone to take us back landside. That wasn't an easy task, because, turns out, the only way is to do everything in reverse:
- go back upstairs
- back to the immigration counter, where they stamped a big “cancelled” - - over our exit stamp
- back to security
- back to check-in

And Bharat Sarkar involvement means that they actually make you manually fill in all kinds of registers and make random notations on boarding pass, passport and bits of paper. Very 1995 of them.

The security idiot was taking so long and I was in so much pain, that I started screaming at him. Then it took him only 20 seconds. Idiot.

Back in the check-in area, a couple of Delta staff were waiting and they said they had taken care of everything except luggage. Since that wasn't completely in their hands, they had been told by customs / airport officials that it could take up to 2 hours to get the luggage back. And that if we just left, then the rule was that the luggage would have to be destroyed. I have no idea why

Delna was there by then, and there was no way I could have sat around waiting, so her and I took off, whilst poor Zo was left to wait.

We went straight to the hospital. Turns out I had to have my appendix removed. What fun!

It took them 6 hours to return the luggage. Wow.
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The_Goat · Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2015 8:19 pm Post subject:

Whoa! There you are back again! Finally!

Sorry to hear about your grandmother. Accept my heartfelt condolences.

Hope you are ok after your appendix removal.

I hope you aren't in France right now. Its bloody hot and is predicted to get worse Mad

. But we at least have something of a summer this year.
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I don't know which is the more pampered bunch : AI's widebodies (the aunties) or Jet's widebodies (the planes).
-Jasepl

jasepl · Member Joined: 26 Jul 2008 Posts: 4257 Location: bund-bay

Thanks all for your condolences.

I obviously wasn't able to make it to the funeral. Not that there was much of a funeral - she had made it clear to everyone who'd listen that she didn't want one. Just a quiet cremation with family in attendance and a big celebratory dinner with her favourite food and wine.

As for being in France now - I wish I were there. Or anywhere else that's boiling hot, and not wet and nasty like Bombay. Ugh.

But I did eventually make it a few weeks later. That's coming up in the nexct part : The trip that finally was!
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sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Jason, this was one hell of an experience. `Jetfugee camp': the lower level from where 99% of Jet's flights depart - from the bus gates...hmm...no love lost between Jet Airways and you, in spite of the vacation from the forum Smile

The situation you were in, is not one in which any of us would ever dream of being. A long-distance foreign travel is something most of us look forward to, with some excitement, and you have to have your appendix removed in the midst of it all, with cancellations and irritating officialese all around: I am sorry to hear about all this. I hope the next part will have better tidings.
Cheers, Sumantra.

avbuff · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 5031

Welcome back!

Good to see you after a while

ameya · Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 8:04 pm Post subject:

Glad to have you back on the forum. We all were speculative of what all would have happened to you and the reasons why you are away.

Condolences for the loss and I hope you are feeling well now and the treatment went as planned.

Destroy luggage ! is insane! You should have declared emergency there - then it would have been airports responsibility to take you to the hospital and fetch the luggage and so on.

Eagerly waiting for the next part
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sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

Great to see you back in good health and what an adventure you had at the airport.

Condolences for your loss and hope family is coping well with it.

This makes me think which is the biggest hospital around Sahar area that can take in a plane load of people god forbid if there is any emergency situation?

Sri_Bom

The_Goat · Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 11:37 pm Post subject:

avbuff · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 5031

jasepl · Member Joined: 26 Jul 2008 Posts: 4257 Location: bund-bay

avbuff · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 5031

@jasepl

you don't know seven hills??? The Heiress of Bollywood was born there ..... Abhishek and Aishwarya bachchans daughter ......

As for emergency cases ... well lets assume even if you die (May you have a lengthy life to make fun of all airline sin India); I'm sure one would need to get you a 5 star deluxe stretcher and not some cheap steel ones as your dead body would not feel comfortable on the latter.

jasepl · Member Joined: 26 Jul 2008 Posts: 4257 Location: bund-bay

Karan69 · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 1334

Welcome Back Jason,

First and foremost Condolences for the loss of your Grand mother

and hope you have fully recovered to entertain us as always after your appendix operation

Look forward to hearing more from you

Karan

jbalonso777 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 1:12 am Post subject:

Jason, great to have you back!

But the circumstances are unfortunate Sad

I am so sorry to hear about your loss! I can relate to losing Granny - except that I was 13 when it happened to me...

Hope you are fine too!

Trip looks like a pain so far eh. I wonder what's in store for us!
Looking forward to it!

Regards
Jish
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jasepl · Member Joined: 26 Jul 2008 Posts: 4257 Location: bund-bay

Eventually, things were right again, and hopefully third time lucky, I planned again. I had to change travel companions and also the overall plan. This time it got extended even more and became a 15 day affair. That's the longest I've been away from Bombay at a stretch in many years!

The trip that finally was:
- BOM-ZRH-GVA on LX
- GVA-NTE on DS
- CDG-ZRH-BOM on LX
Plus a little surprise!

I didn't bother writing about the flying bit about this trip, because it's more or less the same routing that I've taken so many times before, and written about in far too much detail already.

So, in short, we Swiss'd it to Geneva for a couple of days in Annecy. Then flew Sleezyjet to Nantes.

We had planned a week of R&R between finishing up in Nantes and leaving for Bombay. The exact plan was never really finalised, but we knew when we had to return home. We were on the edge of Brittany anyway, and I like the region, plus it had been a while, so we decided to explore the area, but keep the plans fluid.

The original basic idea was to do a coastal thing, from Nantes west to Brest and then ending up in Rennes to take the train back to Paris.

Laziness, drunkenness and tardiness intervened, and we ended up doing something almost in reverse:

- train from Nantes to St Malo
- hire a car and day-trip to Cancale and Mont Saint-Michel
- drive to Brest
- drive to Quimper
- flight to Paris

Plus there was an unplanned side-side trip that turned out to be the best experience!

Note a couple of these pictures are clearly not mine, and it's obvious which ones aren't. My picture taking skills leave a lot to be desired.

St Malo:

There was an old couple with a pram walking ahead of us along the walls. The ran into someone who immediately bent down to look into the pram and started oohing and aahing about how cute and pretty and lovely…. When we caught up to where they had stopped, it turned out the pram didn't have a baby, but a dog!

Only in France!

The buttery salty sugary flaky goodness of the Kouignette:

Of course, in Brittany, one must devour several crepes:

St Malo was pleasant, albeit not terribly exciting. I suppose that can be said about the whole region, but then that was the intent of taking those days : do very little at a very relaxed pace.

We hired a car in St Malo and the next day decided to make a little detour hors-région to Mont Saint-Michel, which is a giant tourist trap, but one of the nicer ones (stopping in Cancale on the way back)

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jasepl · Member Joined: 26 Jul 2008 Posts: 4257 Location: bund-bay

As I said, we hadn't made any firm plans for the Tour de Bretagne. So that night in the hotel, we were looking through the interweb trying to decide what to do next, when we stumbled upon a brilliant option: The Channel Islands.

Turns out the Islands have an airline called Aurigny Air Services, and said airline has a flight between Dinard Airport (just a few minutes from St Malo) and Guernsey. Perfect!

And my visa that was now finally about to expire in 10 days, so that meant everything was just in the nick of time.

Seats were available for the next day's flight, and there was also a return flight after a day. Within two minutes the flight was booked. We also found a nice hotel and that's it… We were set.

There are two ways to get to Dinard Airport from St Malo. Either by road, or a quick ferry across the Rance river and then a short cab ride.

The ferry would have been fun, but the timings didn't line up with our flight.

And everyone seemed to be obsessed with the road that goes over a barrage that has been built across the Rance river (sort of like a dam to generate power etc). So we decided on the by road across the Barrage de la Rance option, and also to just take a cab.

The ride was pretty quick, but I didn't see any reason for all the ooh and aah about the barrage. My pics below:

A couple of turns and a roundabout later, we were in a little village. The cabbie turned into a side lane, which seemed odd, because it literally was just a small tree-lined lane in between a few little country houses, and no indication it was actually leading anywhere. Suddenly the trees cleared and the airport terminal appeared!

It was a little baby terminal! With no sign of life, but the driver assured us it's always like that, since it averages less than 1 flight a day!

This was going to be even better than we imagined!!!

Inside the terminal, a couple of people:

Check-in (was not open 1 hour before departure)

Soon enough, two people showed up. Turns out they were the only two people who worked the landside of the airport!

In no time at all, everyone was checked in. Total load today : 7 passengers!

Boarding pass:

After a bit they were ready for us to go landside. The door marked "2" was opened and we went through.

There was a desk with a sign saying "Douanes" which is meant to be immigration / security but it was unmanned. Hmmm.

Oh, Door "1" also led to the same place, but "bypassed" the immigration desk. Haha!

A couple of metres ahead, there was an x-ray machine and people started removing their things to prepare for the security check. The same lady who checked us in said "Ah non non non… Plus de securite pour Aurigny!"

That was interesting. So far, no exit immigration and no security.

Then we went and sat down in the small departure gate area, that could seat about 50 people. Our plane wasn't there yet, so we had a little bit to go.

Then the man from the check-in came with a "Police Nationale" cap and epaulettes and asked to see everyone's ID. Unsurprisingly, 5 or 7 were EU citizens, so just a glance of the ID was necessary.

Then last came the two Indians… Hahah! I'm not sure if he ever saw an Indian passport before. I have an ID, so that took only 2 seconds. My friend, on the other hand, needed an exit stamp. And the keuf didn't know where it was. He stood there for a couple of minutes, thinking something. It suddenly must have dawned on him, because he excitedly said "Bouges pas" and came running back with stamp in hand!

Yes, this was going to be fun!

Soon we heard the familiar sound of our plane approaching.
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sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Fascinating, Jason. The high and low tide parts (pun un-intended) sound exciting. Tourist trap...hmm.
And la Rance: hey, this is what our Geography teacher taught us in the IXth standard as the first place where tidal power was commercially generated!
The Channel Islands with Aurigny sounds exciting...I look forward to it!
Cheers, Sumantra.

ameya · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 10:52 pm Post subject:

wow. . eager to see the next post

nice pics. . super route . .
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jasepl · Member Joined: 26 Jul 2008 Posts: 4257 Location: bund-bay

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Aha Jason, we were waiting for this. You got a Britten-Norman Trilander! Lucky you, to get a one-of-its kind aircraft on the short hops. Beautiful pictures. We look forward to more.
Cheers, Sumantra.

Nimish · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 12:45 pm Post subject:

Wow Jason - what a horrible series of tragedies - hopefully things are looking up for you now. Loved the TR so far, and do try and share some insights into LX's service on ZRH_BOM!
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ameya · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 1:13 pm Post subject:

Wow. . to be honest this was the first time I heard of Trislander - what a plane it is from the looks !

jasepl · Member Joined: 26 Jul 2008 Posts: 4257 Location: bund-bay

The Tour de Bretagne moved on westwards to Brest and then southeast to Quimper.

Now we were in hard core Brittany.

Scenes from Quimper

The pigs were visiting

Like almost everywhere in Europe, the cathedral is a dominant part of the local sights and architecture

Road signs in French and Breton

Of course, we sampled (a lot) of the local cider. Yumminess.

My weakness : baked goods. Including the local speciality:

Patisserie

And of course, even in the middle of effing nowhere:

That image. Really? Really really?

Just like everywhere else in the region : pretty, pleasant, slow-paced. And soon it was time to start heading back home to Bombay (via Paris). This time on AF’s new-ish LCC-ish arm, Hop (operated by AF’s old arm, Airlinair).

Quimper’s Cournuaille Airport. Makes Baroda’s Harni look like Atlanta.

That is literally the whole airport.

And that’s the whole of the inside. Maybe a dozen steps from one end to the other.

The big sign says “Open”. Ha!

Waiting area after security.

Our seats on the plane with inflight mag

It’s all done manually here. Even little Baroda has motorised air stairs.

Taxiing out

Quimper from the air

Inflight snakes (and sparkling water)

Approaching Paris

Nous sommes arrivés à Orly!

Our plane

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sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Jason, it is nice to see you posting a multi-part progressive TR, and that too, at a pace at which we love it (regularly!)
Lovely pictures from Brittany! These are places exotic for many of us.
Local cider: did you stop at the textbook definition of cider, or did you mean something more interesting, since France is known for the latter.
Indien..Gandhi...The Air India Maharaja, come on Jason, Air India and the Maharaja are still iconic, it is still a decent brand name, in spite of the airline's dark years in between.
Nat comparison of Quimper and Baroda!
And a nice pun on snakes, with the sticks (when transliterated from the chaste vernacular, `one kills the snake, and the stick gets saved as well').
Sparkling water: I remember your comment about soda and sparkling water, and your favourite airline's interpretation of the same.
Was that a new AT7-6?
And Orly to Roissy?
I am guessing that there should be at least one more part, or two (in case there is a neat summary, with the typical Jason-esque wit and humour).
Cheers, Sumantra.

stealthpilot · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 2325 Location: BLR, DXB

Long time no read anything from you .... and this almost THE becoming a TR.
Yikes! Glad it's all sorted and trust you're back 100%

- Must have been a hassle getting out of the airport. I can imagine how medieval the immigration paperwork/stamping process was.
- Jetfugee camp Laughing

- I don't get the destroy luggage bit. As long as they remove it from the aircraft what's the threat. Weird how things work.

- wonderful wonderful pictures!!!
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