This morning I woke up in Paris, France and tonight I am going to bed in Tunis, Tunisia. Tunisia was a "protectorate" of France between 1881 and 1956, so French is the second language here after Arabic. But to get back to this morning, I took one final walk across the Seine to see Notre Dame cathedral, then collected my bags, checked out of the hotel, and caught the train to the airport. Three years ago I flew out of Charles Degaulle airport and Air France has "upgraded" its check-in process since then. I had to navigate through crowds of passengers to use the kiosk to check in, print and tag my own luggage, weigh my suitcase, put it on the conveyer belt, and find my way to the security lines. I miss the old days
... read more