SECOND SPECIAL EDITION FROM ATLANTA – 7:36 AM local time
To be clear, let’s make a list :
- We left Atlanta. We had navigation issues, so once we reached the canadian border (2 hour flights), we turned back (2 hours again).
- We landed in Atlanta and waited in the plane while the instruments were checked and repaired (about an hour).
- We left Atlanta again. After an hour, the instruments turned out not be repaired. We turned back again, which took an hour and a half (we needed to dump some fuel).
- We landed in Atlanta again with the promise that we would be well taken care of, because we deserved it.
- We waited for 2 hours with promises of hotels, food, next flights… We heard potential departure times of 7AM, 5PM, 2PM, and now it seems we will leave at 4:30PM. We hope we aren’t getting what we deserve. We also hope they will change the plane this time…
SPECIAL EDITION FROM ATLANTA – 1:30 AM local time
After taking off to Paris and around 2 hours of flight, we’ve been told that we are turning around to change planes, because ours seems to have lost navigation. If we had stayed in the US it would have been fine but apparently, to cross north Atlantic, it’s not. We will arrive much later than anticipated in France, but we don’t know when!
NORMAL EDITION – 10 PM local time
This morning, we packed our bags! Our friend Jeannine gave us one of her old suitcases to transport our surplus (a hammock and a ton of food!) and she was supposed to pick us up for a last tour of Louisiana.
We emptied the fridge, packed our stuff, and in the middle of the morning, the landlady asked us if it was ok if two painters came to repaint the room while we finished. It was strange but they were nice, and meeting them, craftsmen of medium education level and ex-military, made us realize how different our countries are.
When Jeannine arrived, we put our stuff in her car and went for a ride. We saw a few nice neighborhoods and the other side of City Park. Then, we went to see lake Pontchartrain, which is the one that overflowed and flooded during Katrina, because it’s really shallow, and even more, the surface can get pretty windy. We first went on the levies and then on the causeway going right in the middle of it (a few kilometers of plain straight road, from where you can barely see the banks ).
Finally, we went to the airport in New Orleans and everything went perfectly. We connected flights in Atlanta and to follow us, we are on flight 84 with Delta, from ATL to CDG, departure on the 13th of December at 22:59.