Croatia Spring 2008

Having been traveling since yesterday afternoon (Pacific time), it nearly killed us to miss our extra tight connection from Paris-CGD to Zagreb by seconds.  Very frustrating to see them close the door in our face.  We knew it was tight but figured AirFrance wouldn't have booked it if it wasn't possible.  And the woman in the Seattle airport said we just needed to catch a tram to our gate and we wouldn't have to go through security again in Charles deGaulle.  Well, it wasn't a tram, it was a bus.  And it went all the way around the airport, stopping several times, letting dozens of people on board, and when it finally reached our stop, we got out only to discover we DID have to go through security again.

The AirFrance desk person told us she was doing us a favor by rebooking us on the evening flight to Zagreb with no extra charge.  She said everyone else had made the flight (who is everyone else?  We didn't dawdle--we ran.  If anyone else from our flight made that connection, they were in front of us on the plane and got out sooner.)  She tells us she that because this is not AirFrance's fault, she will not be able to give us a phone card to contact our Zagreb hostel and tell them about the change in arrival time.  Fortunately, I have a few Euros I brought along so I can use the internet terminal to let them know not to give away our rooms. 

Go into Paris for lunch (18 Euros each for an all day Metro card) and a bit of a walk down the The Champs-Elysées and along the Seine.

Back to the airport, check in with the customer service desk to see if there is anything we should/could do differently on the way back (also a tight connection) to make sure we don't miss our flight.  Nope--they tell us we did everything right and that the connection time was impossible.  Thanks AirFrance!

Catch an evening flight to Zagreb.  Get into Zagreb around 9:00 pm and manage the airport bus +  tram system to get to our hostel by 10:15.  We've now been up for 30 hours.  But there is a bar right below the hostel and we insist on a celebratory beer since we finally made it to Zagreb.  Hooray!