Sunday Morning: Remember when hotels supplied proper toiletries? You know, like toothrush, comb, toothpaste; the things one really needs if they’ve forgotten something? Nowadays it’s 2 Q-tips and a shower cap. Guess what I forgot to buy at the airport after losing my suitcase: yep, a toothbrush. Heavy sigh.
Checked out at 4am, walked to airport to be in plenty of time for whatever sea of confusion and delays awaited. Turns out, even tho my ticket said be there 3 hours in advance, the airport doesn’t open until 5am. Splendid. On the plus side, having absolutely no luggage whatsoever means I can bypass all desks & kiosks, and just stand in front of the security gates. (I’m grasping at ‘on the plus side’ straws I know. Throw me a bone here)
Made it through security a breeze. Now to do some shopping. First stop: charging cables for cell phone and tablet (by the time I move back to Canada, I will be able to knit some sort of electronic blanket with the miles of charging cables I now own). Then make-up (I know, I know: vanity, thy name is Lainey). That was a lot more work (and money) than I had anticipated, but what’s a girl to do? Being so focussed on my appearance, it wasn’t until I had long left the main shopping area and was at my gate that I realized I had not bought actual necessities of life: a toothbrush, deodorant, and a hairbrush. Crap. Popped into a mini-Boots. (You know how my earlier posts about Kirkwall were heavily themed around waste management? Well this cruise seems to be quite toothbrush-focussed.) Of the miniscule selection of toothbrushes in this shop, all those with firm bristles were cheap, and the soft bristled were £7! I refuse to pay £7 – I’ll just brush lightly. Don’t tell my dentist.
Arrived v quickly in Paris and again, with no luggage, zipped through the airport. An aside: got my first stamp in my UK passport – v exciting. I was met by the lovely rep from Uniworld at the same time as I received an encouraging call from Jas at British Air in London – they have my suitcase. Given that it’s only 10am and flights from London are 40 minutes, they feel confident they can deliver it to the boat by the time we leave the dock at 6pm. I’m just happy they have it – I really thought I would never see it again.
More to come (as a teaser: had my first encounter with a fellow passenger – let’s just say she and her husband sound delightful).
