Returning to the USA

Thursday October 2, 2025. A long, very long day for us. We are becoming quite aware that getting older and traveling can often be at odds with one another, and this trip home proved the rule, I suppose.

We awoke at 6 am, refreshed ourselves, got dressed and checked out. From the hotel it was a short walk to the Terminal 3 tram station which took us to Terminal 2E and eventually to concourse M. We were reminded from our experience this past spring how incredibly absurd the French have become with their security, at least at this airport. The number of times they checked passports and boarding passes, leading right up to and including when boarding is, well, quite absurd. But we had plenty of time and after numerous long corridors (just the beginning) and many escalators (both up and down) we found our way to the M concourse and eventually gate M49. 

We stopped at Starbucks where Susie grabbed a blueberry muffin and a latte. 

Our Delta flight boarded on time, although the process seemed a bit chaotic. But we eventually got to our seats and settled in for the next 8 hours or so. The staff (all Americans presumably although two of them spoke French) seemed a bit disorganized to me, especially in the announcement portion during the pre-departure. They were very friendly nonetheless and attentive to people's needs. The food was hands down the worst food we've ever had the displeasure of being given. The meal at lunchtime tasted of chemicals and seemed synthetic to us. Fortunately we had brought a bit of fruit on board and had a plentiful supply of our own snack mix.

Time dragged on, as they do on such long-haul flights, and this time I opted to watch my own videos downloaded previously to my phone. Susie crossword puzzled for much of the trip.

We arrived in Detroit pretty much on time, zipped right through Global Entry and then through security which seemed to have become infected with the French tendency to slow the process to a crawl. But we had plenty of time and we were soon on our way to Terminal B and our connecting flight.

There was some uncertainty as we started to board whether we would in fact board at all due to a possible maintenance concern. Fortunately after just a few minutes delay the Delta agent opened the door and in we went. I find it fascinating that Delta has a Priority line for boarding zones 1-4 and then when they board the remaining zones, everyone has to move to another lane. You have to wonder who comes up with these ideas. Plus, it seemed to both of us -- as I'm sure it does to you -- that the most efficient way of loading a plane is to the rear first and then forward. But we're not in charge.

Once on board we soon pulled away from the jetway and went through a series of stops-and-starts on the tarmac before finally getting to the runoff and off. 

It was a short flight to Grand Rapids, maybe 20-25 minutes and we touched down a bit early. We had to gate check our carry-on so we had to wait a few minutes for our bags. We soon had our bags and walked out to meet our neighbor Don who had kindly offered to pick us up.

The day was lovely, warm in the high 70s, and we were pleased to get home to a cool house. 

I scrambled some eggs for an early dinner and Susie pulled a couple of her homemade English muffins out of the freezer. 

It was good to home but not good to be back. Go figure.