Paris - Day 1

This morning, at 6:10 in the morning, I arrived, right on time, at Charles De Gaulle Airport in the outskirts of Paris. It had been my first time flying alone, and though I lacked the big red card hanging around my neck proclaiming me an unaccompanied minor, the crew were wonderful. The flight had been extremely pleasant, aided by the half empty plane that passengers to sleep sprawled across various seats. CDG Airport however, was not so great. For one, even at first, it was confusing. We had arrived in terminal 2E ( there's a terminal 1, 2 A-G, and 3). Following a series of signs for baggage claim, we were lead through the hallways to a tram that would take us to where ever immigration was. When we got there, it was chaos. The small, low ceilinged area was packed with so many people it was nearly claustrophobic. There was a large, overflowing clump of people in the line for international passports, that was constantly cut by stressed looking travelers searching for the line for transfers.  The staff, I must say, were very courteous, but it didn't help the overall situation. It seemed like the airport in Delhi was better at handling the crowds than Charles De Gaulle. People were cutting the line like crazy, and once we finally formed neat lines past the hectic area, it still took at least another 45 minutes before I got my past immigration. Talk about the contrast between Charles De Gaulle and the airport in Singapore! Wow. I had gotten too used to clearing immigration in 2 minutes flat. True to summer holiday tradition, while in the line, I saw another girl who was in my grade at UWCSEA - no matter where you are in the world, you can never escape from school. We exchanged strained smiles about the situation.
Lets just say that following my experience at immigration, baggage claim and the metro (after I finally got my ticket - another 20 minute line), were a lot more pleasant. It was utterly relieving when I staggered into the house with my 30 kilos of luggage.

La Tour Eiffel

Stained glass in Notre Dame

The rest of the day was spent sightseeing - from the outside that is. Following lining up for a whole hour for immigration this morning, I didn't really feel spending an hour in line to get a ticket to walk up the Eifel Tower. Oh well, I have time to go back later.