After spending 6 wonderful days in the Basque Country, experiencing places never seen, activities never tried and visiting family members for the first time since 2017, I was excited to start my “new’ life in New York City—for the next six months.
A short flight from Biarritz took me to the Charles de Gaulle airport where I would have two to three hours wait-time. Thank God I had that kind of time…I was transported to Terminal M and then walked an inordinate amount of steps to the gate at the very end of the building. With my heavy carry-on I was drenched in sweat but of course, it couldn’t possibly be THAT smooth. Oh, no! The gate had been changed to another terminal (Terminal L)…you would think NO problem. It is the one next to this one…but Oh, no! This required a train (vs a bus). Amazing. After all was said and done, I had about an hour to wait and needed every bit that time to re-generate and cool off.
Arriving at JFK was fine. Once I got to immigration I saw a very long line and no line for Global Entry. Finally, something I had done in preparation was going to pay off. Really??? Of course, not. I got turned away because my card had expired. Unbelievable. Now I was the LAST one in that very LONG line.
The taxi ride which took me over a very long bridge. It was raining and there was major traffic. I am convinced that all the drivers on the bridge made a one-lane highway into a two-lane. It was exceptionally narrow. As we got off the bridge, the driver asked me to put my destination address on his phone. When I told him at the airport he appeared to be in control and understanding as to where I wanted to be taken. I compiled with his wishes but he kept fooling around with his phone as he was driving through bumper-to-bumper traffic. A while later he asked me to once again put in the address. I did so and then pulled out my phone to help him. When we finally got to my destination he left me off on the corner since it was a one-way street and he didn’t apparently have the wherewithal to go around the block. I walked through a construction zone, a bit apprehensive, and finally saw my home away from home for the first time. It felt good.
