Day 15 - 27th October - Departure
There was an airport shuttle which cost €5, and included a metro ride. However there was a €1,60 bus which also went to the airport and it was quite fast too. This was strange pricing.
Very cheap youth tickets - 10 for 4€.
The circus in France still allows animals! I don't know if I've ever been to a real circus.
Canal du Midi lock
As you can see I wasn't the only swaku one - everyone was gawking
Lock filling
Boat in lock
Sailing out of lock
Lock
Pro-Prostitution Posters: "The State: the main pimp and procurer in France. It takes everything (taxes, fines) without giving anything in return (rights, pensions...) Support prostitutes and sex workers - No bad women, only bad laws"
Toulouse station
The Relay at Carcassonne had an international press, but not at Toulouse station. Gah.
Coats of arms on station
"Forbidden to urinate. Please respect this place"
I love how "uriner" is a verb
Car transporter cars
I got a mini croissant from Paul at 11am and it was very good. Ahh, les provinces !
This was probably a chausson aux pommes
Note the priority for seating:
1. Those crippled by war
2. The Blind
3. Those disabled due to work, civilian disabled
4. Pregnant women
5. People accompanied by children under 4
I like the idea of priority - how else to mediate when two parties from different categories meet?
Guy on horse
I then got to Toulouse airport, with interesting duty-free shopping.
I like the gulp-sized prune with Armagnac. 2€!
Foie gras, foie gras and more foie gras!
Whole foie gras is allowed in aircraft cabins. Woo!
"Eau de sport" sounds like sweat
"Returns from the hunt"
Various terrines: venison with armagnac, wild boar with hazelnuts, quail etc
Macarons which expired in June 2013 - 8 months later. Ahh, modern technology!
"Celebrating 40 years serving Airbus. Pratt & Whitney Dependable Engines"
I hadn't seen Pratt & Whitney ads before. I guess this was for business visitors to Airbus.
Smironoff Red Label 1L - 14,90€ within the EU and 10,90€ without. Interestingly wine seemed to have no difference in the EU/non-EU prices.
Inside the checkin area it looked like the price rose
Weekly Nutella pack. That's A LOT of Nutella.
We had a good view not only of the tarmac but Airbus's factory:
Bailey's. Compare this to Singapore's prices later.
"Join us. Airbus" and plain white (unpainted) plane
Yet more foie gras
You can buy Paris public transport tickets here. Okay.
There was a lounge you could pay €15 or €19 to enter. I don't know why anyone would do that.
"Denied boarding? Canceled? Delayed for a long time? Airlines have a legal obligation to inform you about YOUR RIGHTS and where to complain"
We have no rights in Asia
"Don't bring rabies back among your vacation souvenirs"
The flight gate was printed on my boarding pass but according to the screens in the airport it hadn't been announced. Hah.
Easyjet's inflight shop isn't actually expensive for some items. They had a 15 pound emergency iPhone charger (though they didn't say what the capacity was - a Skross travel adaptor with USB was 17 pounds 50, and a similar model is £16.75 on Amazon). They put the UK High Street Price for some items for you to compare.
The flight had £4 wine (18.75cl), with 2 for £7. Canned drinks were £1,80 (€2,50). Not too much of a premium considering this was a flight.
The Tangle Teezer was under 'toys'. Okay. It was also under accessories.
Heinz squeeze and stir was marketed as "puree, not powder". Is there a big difference? Maybe only in chunkiness.
"Belvita Breakfast regularly releases carbohydrates over 4 hours to keep you going all morning"
How is this different from other complex carbohydrate biscuits?
"Fakes hide real dangers"
Who forges irons?! What harm do fake-brand cigarettes do above real-brand ones?! The only harm comes from the law.
Air France's self-checkin is not trans-friendly
I was allowed to checkin but I couldn't drop by bag off for more than 3 hours, so I trudged around. Then I got a luggage trolley so I looked some hobo wheeling around my life's possessions.
Traditional Instant Mustard Pork
"Travel is a right for everyone"
Hoho
In Paris airport, I was looking for a place to eat. Turned out some genius put all the shops inside the restricted area but all the restaurants in Terminal 2B. So I had to travel to get food.
Pizza Hut's idea of an "Oriental" pizza was one with Merguez (North African sausage). Everything else was like a normal pizza.
McBaguette - this looked very tempting, with mustard sauce, stone-baked bread and French emmental cheese
The Royal Deluxe was said to be 'recette victime de son succès'. How poetic.
BACON Chicken Wrap
McDonald's had 'pommes frites sauce', which was herb mayo.
I was quite happy with this - 2 taps. One for those who hate motion sensor, but both save water.
Hippopotamus menu. We have one in Singapore.
Strangely they have nems (Vietnamese spring rolls).
Queue for tax refund. The majority were yellow people and I only heard PRC accents.
Eiffel Tower pasta
London Routard guide
French smut novels
I wasn't sure if they were for men or women. One selection was: "j'ai connu toutes les perversions sexuelles" ("I've known all sexual perversions")
They only had The Return of the King. The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers had been crowded out by Percy Jackson. If they'd had all 3 I would've bought all for fun.
??? London souvenirs in Charles de Gaulle
Vending machine for stuff. This was a "petite parapharmacie" (small para-pharmacy). 1 row was dedicated to sex, 1.5 rows to menstruation, 1 row to baby food, 1 row to diapers and 1 row to miscellaneous baby stuff.
Mickey Passport
Mont St Michel biscuits
The shop is called "when the cat is away..." and the sections are called "the rats get dressed", "the rats cuddle" and "the rats play"
Now you know where TWG stole their concept from - Mariage Frères
More macarons
Kodak film. HAH
Cold sandwich. There was some nonsense about pleasure. It was alright - still a ham and cheese sandwich. Apparently some people are allergic to mustard and celery (those items are listed under 'made in a factory that processes:'). That is sad.
There was a cool Pages Jaunes (Yellow Pages) ad: a guy was running from 2 others and jumped onto a trampoline to escape.
I was seated in the cold part of the plane: pulling up my hood and zipping up my cardigan was not enough. Nor did the blanket work. So I turned my blanket into a veil. Luckily I wasn't in France anymore! A few rows down was much warmer.
Somehow I doubt the difference between DFS and urban Singapore is so much
Strangely competitive Smirnoff
Nectar of Nature shampoo and shower gel I'd gotten in Rambouillet (in my rush I'd left my shampoo and soap in the Paris hostel). They were very cheap and good too.