Planes, Trains, and a $10 Pepsi

ACTUALLY, THE TITLE should read No Planes, Trains, and $10 Pepsi. For the first time since we have lived in France, my plans were directly affected by la grève -- this one involving the baggage handlers at Orly Airport in Paris. I was supposed to take an afternoon flight on Easy Jet Thursday afternoon, but after learning of the strike and confirming my flight was indeed canceled, I rushed to Antibes to catch the train. Kerri dropped me off at the station just in time to catch the 2:46pm train. 6 hours later I was at my hotel and 15 minutes after that I was sitting at Akash (my 'standard' Indian restaurant) ordering tikka masala.

So I got to Paris despite the strike and we actually had a fairly productive day of meetings on Friday. That evening a group of us decided to go for a quick drink at a local cafe near the Sorbonne (our meetings were at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand if you happen to know the area). Most of my colleagues ordered beer or wine, but I opted for a large Pepsi (needed some sugar). A couple friends joked that the Pepsi would be the most expensive thing on the bill. They were almost right. Take a good look at the glass on the right -- you can't see it but there is mark near the top that reads: 50cl. Well, those 50cl's cost me €7.90. The only thing that made me feel better was that the beer my colleagues ordered was a €8.50. Suckers!

Later that evening after a very good meal I checked my email to find that the strike at Orly was still on and that my flight for the next day was canceled as well. So I was stuck catching the train once again. I know that the train is a very civilized way to travel, but I'm the kind of person who only enjoys the train if I'm psychologically prepared for it. If I've planned for a 1 hour flight I'm not going to get excited about a 6 hours train ride. Luckily, I had the following two things in hand to make the trip a little easier.

Now all I have to do is find out how to get my money back from EasyJet.
CJS