Back in the USA

Our limo picked up us at the hotel right on time and shuttled us to Charles De Gaulle airport. We were escorted thru the first class check in and then to a private lounge - all in just a few minutes time.

We enjoyed the lounge and had a farewell crousiant and espresso before boarding our flight.

Our flight back was comfortable, uneventful, and landed on time.

We really had a great trip back until we hit Philadelphia Airport where things headed south a tad. To go thru customs in PHL you get your bags from the plane, clear customs, give your bags back to the airline and then have to stand in an hour and a half line to clear thru the security checkpoint again.

Since I had some wine that I purchased in CDG Paris Airport (in the secure area) that I had carried onto the plane - I now had to unpack luggage and find space to pack it inside my checked bags. (hope it doesn't break or I'm going to have to eat my clothes)

Seriously - cant this all just be done in a secure area so that you dont have to clear thru security a second time?

The customs and immigration people were nice and professional but the TSA folks.... We'll lets just say I think that some of them were turned down by McDonalds first.

Thank god we had 3 hours between our arrival and departure flight so that we didn't miss the connection. We pretty much needed all 3 of those hours. (and I thought we would be able to catch and earlier connector - ha)

Then when we got on our connecting flight we were number 25 to take off so we spent another hour or so sitting on the runway waiting for our turn to take off. Gotta love flying in the good ol USA these days. Our flight landed an hour late

After traveling on smooth highways, well run railways, on-time ferries, and simple border checks it is sort of a shock to get back to the richest country on earth.

Oh well - I really do not want to end the trip on a rant so lets just say.....

WE'RE BACK!!!!!

PS - The wine made it and is fantastic.