Thursday, February 12, 2015

My impromptu flight to France....

So, whenever I'm at the school between activities, I like to pop down to Kindergarden. I've subbed in a lot of the classes so I know a lot of the kids. They are super cute, funny & let's face it.... no kindergarden teacher is ever going to turn away an extra set of adult hands in her class! 

Today was a little different, however: the kids weren't IN the class following a teacher so much as they had TAKEN OVER the hallway & classroom!!!

When I walked through KG2 (the older kinders), they were in the midst of a big discovery unit about traveling our world! I was immediately grabbed by 2 cuties (travel agents, it turned out) who asked me, "Where do you want to go see?" They pulled me into their "offices" where they helped me fill out my vacation planning form. 


Next, I was directed to passports & ticketing where another agent assisted me with a passport application. 


Since I would be traveling to France, I was told I would need a visa stamp in my passport. She directed me to "step around the corner" for the proper stickers. 

Sadly, cameras are not allowed in this area (you know how strict those officials are....), but I did get a picture of my final passport w/ visa sticker attached.  


I'm never happy with the passport photo. I think I blinked in this one....

Anyway, I had to re queue for a plane ticket... & it was quite a bottle neck as one of the agents was "on break"... Or maybe it was actually shift change. I did notice that some of the "agents" became "passengers", & vice versa. 

Finally, with ticket & validated passport in hand, I was directed to "security". 


My carry on luggage (lunch bag) & personal item (purse) had to be x-rayed while I would go through the metal detector. 


The security officer on duty was very strict & took his job very seriously. I got "buzzed" (he really did make that sound!) as I walked through because I still had my phone on me.

Oops. I put the phone on the x-ray belt & tried again. I got "buzzed" TWO more times before he would let me through! He didn't like my badge or my bracket (a JawBone)... said one had too much metal & the other was an electronic device! 


Smart kid!

But, he still "wanded me" on the other side because of my necklace. This time, I passed inspection & was allowed to collect my luggage. 

I didn't have long to board my flight, and I was almost late! All that security had me running to the gate. The flight attendant led me right to my seat & helped me stow my luggage under my seat. I was in seat number 1 right behind the pilot. 

I took a quick selfie with my fellow passengers.


If you've ever flown with me, you know I'm "a talker". So, it didn't take me long to find out that my fellow passengers were on their way to Spain, Canada, & Argentina! Oh boy!!! 

As with any international flight... It's always hurry up & wait. (We didn't appear to have a pilot!) But we were able to entertain ourselves with the inflight entertainment system. 


As you can see in the photo, we are still on the Tarmac (look out the porthole windows!) so the screens aren't showing any movies yet.... only the map of our location on the ground. However, a quick look through the menu showed that "Frozen" was an option, so my new friends & I agreed that this was a top rate airline. 

Finally, our pilot arrived. He was a very experienced flyboy; we had no turbulence & I swear the landing was sooo smooth, it was like we never left the ground! 

I'd like to say my stay in France was a slow lazy affair, but to be honest.... it only left me wanting to plan another visit soon. Before I knew it, I was back upstairs helping Olivia's class with their quilt squares project. 

Sadly, I have no pictures of the quilt squares. 

I blame it on the jet-lag....

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