Happy Birthday 30/55 - March 2022: Day 4

[Gill H]

<<Day 3


Today felt odd. For a start, we didn’t have park tickets, so no nipping into Salon Mickey today. That was the downside of staying offsite without annual passes, I guess.

Despite the fact that our taxi wasn’t due till 11, we were awake at 7:30 as usual and soon tackling another delicious breakfast. I can’t stress it enough – this is surprisingly good value for 8 Euros and the quality of the meats, cheeses and breads is excellent. OK, it’s not a cooked breakfast, but hey, you’re in France, embrace it!

Back in our room we started to pack. Remembering that we were hand luggage only, we had to be ruthless and throw away any packaging, and anything we didn’t need. We had some coffee sachets left over from the packet we had brought with us, so we took them down to reception for the staff.

By the way, here are the pins we bought this time – fortunately not much to pack in the way of souvenirs except those and the empty Mickey soap dispenser!

Once we were all ready, we went out for a stroll. In all honesty, the area around Val d’Europe is not that interesting if you aren’t looking to eat or shop. (Although now I’m awaiting comments from hordes of angry locals pointing out the beauties of their area…) So eventually we ended up in the Boulangerie bakery/coffee shop. We did consider the one nearest the RER station, but then settled on the one round the corner, which was definitely the right decision. The displays of cakes and patisserie in this place were something to behold. And I'm sure the 'baguette au lard' was tastier than it sounds!

Our attention was drawn to a stand of little choux pastry balls. Usually these come crusted with sugar and containing various fillings, but these were savoury ones filled with Emmental cheese.

They cost 3.50 Euros for 10, so we bought 10 to share, and ordered a coffee each. The coffees were 3.25 each, which is not cheap, but it was decent coffee and they came with a little sugar chou bun on the side too. Definitely a place to treat yourself to if you’re in the area.

[Gill H]

At 10:45 we went back to our room to grab our cases and check out. As previously, the staff were so lovely to us. I’m not going to pretend the Ibis is the height of luxury, it’s basic for sure, but if all you need is somewhere clean and safe, with a comfy bed, decent breakfast and friendly staff, you could do a lot worse.

Our taxi came promptly at 11am and we had the same driver as last time. In case you have forgotten our drama about being at the wrong terminal – he certainly hadn’t. All the way there, he kept explaining about the four terminals, and once we got near he took great pleasure in pointing out the signs for 1, 2, 3, 4. Yes, OK, we get it, thank you, goodbye!

We had found Orly a confusing airport to arrive in, but it was no less confusing in departures. We had done online check-in so had tickets on our phones, and there was no need for bag drop as we were hand luggage only. However, it took us a long time and a lot of walking to find the right area for security. Either the signposting was inadequate or we just didn’t spot the right signs! Eventually we found the right queue, where several brusque and unfriendly staff were barking instructions at confused passengers. It was a stressful experience and we emerged rather frazzled after eventually reuniting ourselves with our hand luggage.

We walked through into a small shopping area. There didn’t seem to be anywhere nearby to show passports, so we thought perhaps we would only need to do this at the gate. As we had a while to wait, we found some seats and I went to buy a couple of cold drinks. Once we had finished these I popped to the duty free shop for some biscuits for us to take home, and just as I got to the counter our gate was called. We walked a little further, only to find that the passport checking area was round the corner, and there was quite a queue. Fortunately we got through in enough time and headed to our gate. We knew that masks were required on the plane, and had some Disney ones ready, as we had done on the way out. However, we were lectured by some rather irascible members of staff, who told us we would have to go and buy medical ones. We replied that no-one had told us that and it wasn’t written anywhere, and we’d had no problem previously. Eventually they treated us to the famous Gallic shrug and let us off. I did think it was a bit much that they didn’t have any to give out!

We showed the staff our covid status on the app, then our boarding passes, passports and passenger locator form, and eventually we were allowed through the gate to wait for boarding. There was a wait of about 10 minutes before a harassed-looking chap appeared, all smiles and apologies for the wait. He was the first member of staff at Orly who had been nice to us (apart from the staff in the shops), so we happily said it was no problem at all.

As on our previous journey, the Vueling crew on the plane were all smiles and helpfulness, just glad to be able to do their jobs again. We had chosen the window and middle seat of a row of 3, and although someone had chosen the aisle seat, he was actually in the middle of moving to another row when we got there. I don’t think it was anything personal! But it was nice to have a row to ourselves again.

Apart from a few moments of slight turbulence, the flight was uneventful. When the trolley came past we ordered some soft drinks, crisps and lemon cookies, and by the time we’d finished them the flight was almost over!

Back at Cardiff the process was much quicker and easier than Orly had been – one of the joys of landing at such a small airport. As we went through to arrivals, we were each handed a blue box. Ooh, exciting! Something from the duty free? Some limited edition Welsh cakes? Sadly not – it was a box of lateral flow tests each. While they weren’t actually required at this point, they were ‘recommended’. Since we didn’t have any symptoms following our trip, we never used them, but it’s good that they were offered.

We were soon out of the airport and our driver Paul was waiting for us as arranged. The roads were quiet, and in 20 minutes we had arrived home and were saying hello to Cookie.

We popped in to say hello to Mum and Dad, and give them the shortbread biscuits we’d bought for them. Then it was back home to collapse in front of the telly for a while. Later on we ordered a few essentials from our local shop – some milk and a few other bits and bobs. It’s only a 15 minute walk up the road, but there are times when you just can’t be bothered and the £3 delivery fee is worth it!

And speaking of deliveries – we rounded off the evening with an order from the local Chinese, and by 9pm we were so tired we headed for bed.

As for our future plans – we’re now getting seriously into the planning for our November WDW trip, the first time back since 2014. Our much-postponed Japan trip still hasn’t happened, and we’re going to take some time to save up again – and for Japan to reopen to travellers and get back on a more normal footing. But in the meantime, it’s full steam ahead for the 50th anniversary celebrations at WDW.

And with that, I leave you. Thanks as always for reading, and do check out Peter’s excellent videos too. A bientot, mes amis!

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[P&S]

Orly airport sounds like a nightmare and why do some staff have to be so rude

Glad you had a good flight home and extra seat is always very welcome

Thank you for writing this I will check Peters videos as well

[kikimouse]

Love your report. Thank you