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Published: September 4th 2015
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I had been accepted to grad school in Paris, and moving day was upon me. I was to begin a Masters program at l'Université Paris-Diderot in September. The process of applying to a French university as a non-EU citizen had taken almost a year, but finally there I was, about to move to Paris for a legitimate reason! First, however, I had to make the 3,929 mile journey from Detroit, Michigan to Paris, France. I had decided to bring my cat, Pina, because she would just have missed me too much (or maybe it's I that would have missed her, who can say?). And she did well in the car, so I figured, is a plane really that much different?
I arrived at the airport with two meticulously weighed suitcases, one at 70 lbs, and one at 50 lbs, within ounces of the limit. My backpack was stuffed to bursting, and I had stuffed my pillow in an additional bag, hiding my heavy snow boots and my University of Michigan blanket at the bottom. Because of the cat, I had to be checked in by a gate agent. As she weighed my suitcases and checked the paperwork for
Pina, she could not believe that I (by way of my extremely generous mother) was ready to pay $200 for the cat, $100 for an extra checked bag, and $100 for an overweight bag. So she had me take 20 lbs out of the heavier bag, let me keep it on a side scale as I unloaded it, and condensed the extra items in kind of a vacuum-pack style, squashing them in a bag and taping them down. She then went and got me a big bag to stuff it all in, and told me just to take it as an extra carry-on. Best gate agent ever. All I had to do was drag that deceptively heavy bag across the airport with my already 30+ lb backpack and the cat.
I was extremely anxious to be traveling with a pet for the first time on a 7 hour flight, but almost everything went smoothly. The only exception was going through security. The TSA agents had me take Pina out of her carrier, which I did not anticipate, and then walk through the metal detector with her so they could X-ray the carrier. Bonus: avoided the body scanner. Guess I could've brought some other stuff that I had given away to friends. Pina was not a fan, however. She was terrified being out of the carrier, and understandably freaked out. They swabbed my hands, I can only assume for explosive residue. Then I was called aside to have my backpack searched. "What's that?" asked the agent, pointing to a large green blob at the bottom. It was the cat litter I had brought with me so I wouldn't have to buy any right away. She told me that cat litter and human remains often look the same on the scanner, so she just wanted me with her as she searched the bag in case I was carrying around a cremated relative. I guess people do that? A few scratches aside, we continued on.
The flight was generally uneventful. I had a few drinks, watched some TV, took a nap, a woke up in Paris. I took Pina to the bathroom twice to let her out of the carrier to stretch. I did, fortunately, have great luck with my seat neighbor. His name was Michael, he was from Colorado, and we hit it off. He even helped me carry some of my 50+ pounds of bags I had managed to sneak on the plane as carry-ons. It turned out to be an auspicious meeting, as the line for passport control was the longest I had ever endured. I could barely manage it with him carrying one of my bags. It took over an hour to slowly shuffle through the seemingly endless, winding line only to have a 30-second conversation with a Border Control officer. That part usually goes smoothly if you address them in French and sound like you know what you're talking about.
Michael and I split a cab into Paris. It was a rainy, dreary day. We dropped him off in the Marais, then proceeded at last to my apartment in the 9th. My landlady had agreed to meet me at the door with the key. I emailed her from baggage claim, saying I would be there around 10:30, and she confirmed that she would be there between 10:30 and 11. As luck would have it, I arrived precisely at 11am, so I would not have to wait! Or so I thought. I unpacked the cab, with my two suitcases, backpack, absurdly heavy bag, and the cat. I put everything up on the stoop, and tried to keep Pina out of the rain. And I sat there, on the street, with my entire life surrounding me, waiting in the rain...
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Tanya
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Just wondering who it was exactly willing to pay all that money to Delta?