Up at 5:30 am dressed and ready to. 6:30 we were going to be picked up by the Paris Shuttle bus company to whisk us away to the airport. It sounded all too easy! Until the bus arrived and the driver did not speak any English.......the shuttle bus company prided themselves on having English speaking drivers for our comfort.
Driver: Torny Yenzen?
Tony: oui!
Driver: Charles de Gaul airport?
Tony: no, Orly airport to Naples
Driver: Non! You go to Charles de Gaul!!!
Tony: Non! Orly airport!!! We are going to Naples with Easy Jet
Oh dear! I think we have a problem. I could hear Tony and the bus driver conversing at the back of the bus. MERDE!!! (said unflappable Tony) It turned out that there was a complete stuff up with the trip to the airport. They had made the mistake and thought we were going back to Charles de Gaul airport but we were going to Orly airport. So the bus driver proceeded to tell us he would take us to a taxi and drop us off for the taxi to take us to Orly as he was only going to Charles de Gaul airport.
He dropped us off in Montpanasse, which was a little closer to the airport and drove off. There we were on the street with our luggage in the dark looking for a taxi. There were 2 other people waiting before us.....they didn't speak English either but we learnt quickly that if we wanted a taxi we had to wave profusely to let them know we wanted to be picked up even though we were at a taxi rank with a sign that said 'Taxi'.
It didn't take long for us to get a taxi maybe it was because we were waving like crazy at anything that drove past. And off we went again to the airport. I kept thinking 'it's all part of the holiday experience'.
The security at Orly airport was so tight there were military personnel with machine guns and we had to show our passports a few times AND I got frisked....there's a first time for everything! It was a lady who frisked me not a cute Frenchman! On the plane it was a free for all seating as we flew with Easy Jet....cheap airline. You could sit anywhere. Now I know why everyone was lining up so early to get on the plane.
We picked up our Fiat Punto and headed south to Sorrento. It took us about an hour to get there. Whilst I had white knuckles for most of the way as there didn't seem to be any road rules for other cars and bikes.... seemed to be a free for all too! Tony did a fantastic job getting us safely to Sorrento driving on the other side of the road.
Tony driving to Sorrento.
Crazy bike riders.
The view was spectacular.
Just what we needed after the hair-raising ordeal of driving to Sorrento.
Sorrento is a very pretty little town built on the side of a cliff so there we lots of stairs to encounter. I thought the shopping was just down the main street but there were more shops down alleyways and streets behind. I couldn't believe how many kids fashion shops there were. Needless to say I've been jotting down ideas in my sketch book for new styles to make when I get back home. Some shops are open from 9:00am to 1:30pm then from 5:30pm to 9:30pm. Which sounded very civilized to us.
There are bikes everywhere.
We met up with Peter and Karen (my brother and his wife) and had a lot to talk about our travels so far. So dinner was a very lively affair.
We are going to Pompeii today and probably do more sightseeing of Sorrento.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Driver: Torny Yenzen?
Tony: oui!
Driver: Charles de Gaul airport?
Tony: no, Orly airport to Naples
Driver: Non! You go to Charles de Gaul!!!
Tony: Non! Orly airport!!! We are going to Naples with Easy Jet
Oh dear! I think we have a problem. I could hear Tony and the bus driver conversing at the back of the bus. MERDE!!! (said unflappable Tony) It turned out that there was a complete stuff up with the trip to the airport. They had made the mistake and thought we were going back to Charles de Gaul airport but we were going to Orly airport. So the bus driver proceeded to tell us he would take us to a taxi and drop us off for the taxi to take us to Orly as he was only going to Charles de Gaul airport.
He dropped us off in Montpanasse, which was a little closer to the airport and drove off. There we were on the street with our luggage in the dark looking for a taxi. There were 2 other people waiting before us.....they didn't speak English either but we learnt quickly that if we wanted a taxi we had to wave profusely to let them know we wanted to be picked up even though we were at a taxi rank with a sign that said 'Taxi'.
It didn't take long for us to get a taxi maybe it was because we were waving like crazy at anything that drove past. And off we went again to the airport. I kept thinking 'it's all part of the holiday experience'.
The security at Orly airport was so tight there were military personnel with machine guns and we had to show our passports a few times AND I got frisked....there's a first time for everything! It was a lady who frisked me not a cute Frenchman! On the plane it was a free for all seating as we flew with Easy Jet....cheap airline. You could sit anywhere. Now I know why everyone was lining up so early to get on the plane.
We picked up our Fiat Punto and headed south to Sorrento. It took us about an hour to get there. Whilst I had white knuckles for most of the way as there didn't seem to be any road rules for other cars and bikes.... seemed to be a free for all too! Tony did a fantastic job getting us safely to Sorrento driving on the other side of the road.
Tony driving to Sorrento.
Crazy bike riders.
The view was spectacular.
Just what we needed after the hair-raising ordeal of driving to Sorrento.
Sorrento is a very pretty little town built on the side of a cliff so there we lots of stairs to encounter. I thought the shopping was just down the main street but there were more shops down alleyways and streets behind. I couldn't believe how many kids fashion shops there were. Needless to say I've been jotting down ideas in my sketch book for new styles to make when I get back home. Some shops are open from 9:00am to 1:30pm then from 5:30pm to 9:30pm. Which sounded very civilized to us.
There are bikes everywhere.
We met up with Peter and Karen (my brother and his wife) and had a lot to talk about our travels so far. So dinner was a very lively affair.
We are going to Pompeii today and probably do more sightseeing of Sorrento.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
It wouldn't be travelling without a few hiccups getting to and from airports right ???
ReplyDeleteHave you seen the little old ladies with their sewing machines IN their actual shops - LOVED it.
Have a lemoncello (or several) for me, Dee x
Hey Dee
ReplyDeleteExactly....is all part of the fun traveling. Yes I have seen the ladies sewing....just amazing. I had a lemoncello last night. That one must have been for you.
X