Escape from Paris: Guest Blogger - Adam Gavin

We were very sad to see the Gavins leave last week. I've related the story of our Thanksgiving weekend, and the Gavins brush with rioting firemen while making their way through Paris on the way to Chateauroux. Surely, their final days in Paris would be uneventful!? Au contraire mon frere.... Adam's email follows:

Andy,

Even though our trip back had some unexpected stops along the way, we are safe at home.

First of all, we took the Roissybus to the airport at 7:45a which would get us there 2.5 hours before boarding. We were tooling down the freeway when all of a sudden another driver began honking and waving and almost forcing the bus to the side of the road.

The bus driver got out and began screaming at the other driver -- but it turned out we had smoke billowing out of the back of the bus and the guy was trying to aid us.

Being French, the driver got back in and we continued on for a few more miles. In the words of Napoleon: what's the big deal about a little snow in St. Petersberg this time of year? Let's press on!

But soon the driver had to pull over again; maybe it was the smoke or maybe he had to get to a bus drivers' riot. Either way, we were all stuck on the side of the freeway (side being questionable since he didn’t get all four wheels off the road) waiting for another bus to pick us up AND the French Gendarme to escort us to the other bus when it came.

The French on the bus were fine with the waiting for the other bus, but when they were told that we had to wait for the police, you would have thought that the driver told them that Zidane played soccer like a poodle. They were so pissed and dismissive of the cops showing up anytime soon.

At this point, Maureen was getting agitated at me (for saving 20 euro by not scheduling a personal shuttle to the airport) and concerned thinking we were going to have to call you to come pick us up. Nevertheless, the next bus came along with the police and we were on our way.
One last thing before I go. We had our own “Hamburger” moment. We were in a restaurant in Paris having dinner. We asked the waitress for a bottle of water. She looked at me quizzically and I repeated myself a number of times, including saying aqua. Finally she said “Oh, wa-TER”. When we looked at each other and just laughed.

Thanks to the Ericksons for making our trip so special.

Adam