Header reference: Douce France – Charles Trenet

I am writing this article from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, Departures hall, waiting for our flight to Oman, to reach then Kochi, Kerala, India.

Why are we still in France, when our initial flight was planned last Monday? Excellent question...

We had planned to stay with my family for a few days nearby Paris, in the picturesque Vexin region (Vincent van Gogh, Charles Daubigny, Claude Monet and their impressionist friends’ countryside pied-a-terre). We got really lucky, and were able to get Dimitri’s backpack on the same day of our arrival – it just wanted to stay a bit more in Copenhagen. Jean and Paul even did the trip to H City, with Matthieu and his family attending remotely. Leaving Europe for a few months is a perfect excuse to binge in all the delicious food France (and my mum!!!) has to offer. I love you, Hamburg, but… 🙂

Weighting a few kilos more, rested, full of love from my amazing parents and brothers, Dimitri and I were ready to take off, on Monday evening.

Dramatic goodbyes with my parents, our little bags on our backs (under 10 kgs each, we reached the objective!), your two “adventurers” go to the check-in desk, naively confident about their preparation.

“I am sorry, miss, but you made a mistake in the passport number on your visa application. I cannot accept it as such.”

… What?

Travel issue #2: it turned out that I mistook a I for a 1, so my visa was invalid until corrected. French citizens, good to know: your passport numbers follow the pattern 2 figures + 2 letters + 5 figures. Beware of the 1 / I and 0 / O!

Then starts a cheap sitcom episode: my parents, who were heading home, turned over and got lost in the labyrinth-parking lot and stuck in disfunctioning elevators; Dimitri paid 150 euros in phone fees just to keep on landing to the Indian visa assistance voice mail; once free, my parents’ poodle Dana the Ferocious made an entire Qatar Airlines crew late, because the charmed hostesses were too busy asking questions about her to my mum:

• Hostesses: “It is adorable! Is it a poodle?”
• Mum, proud: “No, it is a caniche.”
• Hostesses: “Are you leaving? Where are you heading to?” *hoping to have Dana in their flight*
• Mum: “No, I stay here in France, this beautiful country.”

Well, my visa denied, we followed my mum’s advice, and stayed a bit more in France, this beautiful country.

600 euros extra costs later (40 euros for my new visa + 150 euros for the phone additional fees + 400 euros for the plane ticket changes), we are back at Paris Charles de Gaulle for the 5th time in a week. This time around, it seems to be working fine… for now!

Wish us luck, see you in India!