Paris

The CGD airport is not only huge, but immensely long, and hard to navigate!

There is no motorized transport for people that need assistance. One could order a wheel chair, as I did (since I'm temporarily suffering from tendenitis in my left ankle), but it was nowhere in site at arrival. The plane parked in the middle of the field, thus the passengers had to disembank by walking down stairs, and then hop on a bus that took almost 1/2 hour to reach the arrival terminal.

The traffic was incredible not only on the field, but all the way around the entire airport. I had to climb 2 floors to reach someone to talk to and when they took their sweet time to serve the long line of waiting customers, I decided to walk, otherwise I was risking loosing my connection for Italy. Needless to say the European flight were departing from the opposite end of the airport. So........hopping along, I finally got to the gate, and.....to my surprise, the flight number was not even posted, although it should have been time to board it!

Another flight of stairs brought me to a lounge, where finally I was able to find out that not only the flight was delayed by about 3/4 hr, but that I'd better wait at the gate, otherwise, I could not hear any broadcasted announcement.

The crowds were incredible and, of course, the few seats at every gate were all taken, while the unlucky passengers parked themselves on the floor. It was fascinating to watch the comings and goings, and the wondering looks of such a variety of passengers. The Italians were fretting all over the place, nervously asking questions, while a lot of Americans were quietly sitting down reading their pocket books and only occasionally looking up, waiting for the flight information to be displayed.

We finally boarded the Alitalia flight for Milan 1 hr later, but, once on board, we sat (with open doors) for another hour before departure. The
captain kept us informed, but the hostesses never even offered a drink during all this time. I always knew that there is a difference in service among airlines, but this trip really revealed a striking one!