Thursday, April 22nd

HOME!!!!

That's the goal for today. I arrive at the Nogent High School at 5:20 in the morning, and everyone is already there, American and French students alike. There is much hugging and crying. The Americans had such a good time, and the French were such good hosts, nobody wants it to end. But deep down, most of us want to be home also. The luggage is loaded aboard the bus. I swear it weighs twice what it was when we arrived. The bus finally pulls out of the parking lot about 5:40 to much cheering. There are very few dry eyes among the American students. That tells you what a good time they had.


The ride to Paris is dark and quiet. We catch a beautiful sunrise, which is accentuated by the ash in the sky from the Icelandic volcano. We hit the morning rush hour in Paris, and finally arrive at the airport about 8:30. Unfortunately the security officials won't let the bus pull up in from of the terminal, so we have to drag the luggage a considerable distance. I though I was so smart traveling with only a large duffle bag. Not so when you have to carry it forever, and the students are all pulling their HUGE suitcases on nice sets of wheels.

We get our boarding passes and make our way through security. We have to show our passport to get the boarding pass. We have to show the passport to leave French customs. We have to show the passport at airport security. We have to show the passport to board the plane. The passport is going to be worn out before we even get home. The beauty of flying Paris to Montreal direct is that there is no chance of loosing the luggage. The disadvantage is that we travel through three countries, France, Canada, and the US, each with their own sets of security and customs regulations.

We finally board the plane and departure is about forty-five minutes later that the scheduled 11:55 AM. The plane is full with 340 passengers. I don't see an empty seat anywhere. The flight is very uneventful, and very long. We touch down in Montreal at 1:35 PM. Factor in the time changes, and we were in the air about seven hours. We gather up the luggage, which seems to take forever. Then we pass through Canadian customs. The school bus is waiting for us, and we finally arrive at Potsdam High School at 5:00 PM. Seems early, but remember, our body clocks are still on French time, which means the brain thinks it is 11:00 at night. But the adrenalin rush has kicked in, and we are all wide awake greeting parents and friends.

Now, get home, get some dinner, get some sleep, and get to school the next day. There will be plenty of time Friday to share all the stories.

In a couple of days I'll post some of my reflections on the trip. In the mean time, I need to get my internal body clock back on New York time.