So I was going to be on vacation for a couple of weeks, headed to England for Christmas and New Year's with family. Paris was just supposed to be a two hour layover..
Things started off pretty quiet. Was going to be flying out on the evening of the 22nd from Philadelphia.
This is what my itinerary looked like PHL-CDG-MAN, powered by a combination of Skyteam carriers. Awesome..
After a wait at the Delta line for a bit I find out that my ~6pm flight has been moved to ~10pm. That meant I wouldn't make my connection from CDG to MAN. I wasn't too worried, they offered to rebook me on a later flight from CDG to MAN, meaning I got a bit more time in CDG to enjoy the environs of a French airport. First time transiting through France so I wasn't too disappointed.
Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport
Got to Paris unscathed. 12pm local. Flight to Manchester at 6pm. Plenty of time to wander around aimlessly and absorb the overwhelming 'Frenchness' around me. Not the nicest airport I had been to but definitely had a very 'designer' vibe to it.
On account of my original flight having been delayed, Air France was nice enough to offer me a meal ticket. Here's me, with what it got me the remains of what it got me at the cafeteria. (A chicken salad sandwich used to reside in the empty casing you see to my right).
Feeling nourished and excited about my short flight to Manchester, I proceeded to the gate indicated on my boarding card. Couple of hours to kill, walked around, read my book.
I realize at 5pm that my 6pm flight is no longer showing up at my gate. Weird. Walked to the larger monitors, same thing, no mention of my flight. But it was here a few minutes ago, surely I can't be unlucky enough to have two delayed/cancelled flights on the same trip?!
After an hour long wait at an Air France information desk I am told that my flight was indeed cancelled (no surprises there) and that I would have to go to another desk to find out about if there is another flight I could be put on. A quick survey of the flights out of France that night told me that I was going to be sleeping in the airport this 23rd of December 2010.
