Today we are back at the airport. The online status for our bike indicated it arrived last night, so with reckless abandon we took an Uber to the airport. To get back into the baggage area there is a protocol where someone from the handling company has to come get you, as you are bypassing security by going through customs in reverse. Today as we came through, following another passenger, he helpfully pointed out that we were tailgating (totally appropriate from a security point of view). The worker escorting us simply replied “yeah, I know them.” So on the positive side, we are on first name basis with the staff here….

Our bike must be having fun in Paris, as it wasn’t on its expected flight. Now we are waiting for an update for the next chance for it to get on a flight. If it looks like we will not make it out of here before Sunday, we will find an Airbnb near a church and take a day of rest. It is a good thing we hadn’t made reservations as with previous trips. If we start riding on Monday we will be starting our 3 week bike trip behind by half a week. We will probably need to adjust our route in order to make it to Amsterdam in time for our flight home. This year we won’t be riding 1000 miles.

It is a bit frustrating and discouraging, but it is important to maintain perspective. Given the real problems in our world, our little mishap doesn’t even register. The staff here has been helpful and courteous. The people we have spoken with on the phone and via Twitter have also been professional. We are grateful for the people, just not grateful for the situation. Maybe for our next trip we will only consider direct flights.

It will all work out.