Absurd Situation II

A few weeks ago, I had The Original Absurd Situation, trying to fly with a valid passport that expires in less than 6 months. Well, I was able to check in at the airport, no problem, with my US passport. And my parking reservation was fine. And I got to California for a nice visit. But, of course, 

The Saga continues!

I tried to check in online for my return - I'm going to France, and I have a French passport. Should be easy. But No! OK, I have plenty of time at the airport. The very helpful fellow at the Air France desk reviewed my situation, and explained that I couldn't check in online because my original originating flight (from France) hadn't been cleared up properly (it had been cancelled; I was rebooked on another day). I thought (and I'm sure he did too) that he was clearing it up. He got me checked in (and even managed an aisle seat 😁). (Do I have enough asides here (or do I need more?)?) 🤣🤣🤣

I was all set, checked in with my French passport, and thought to ask: I'm American, and I know it's illegal to enter or leave the US using a non-US passport; at security, should I show my US passport, or show the French one that is associated with my boarding pass? He said that he gets this question all the time - the pass through security is just that, it's not border control. So I should use the passport associated with my boarding pass. It's nice to have that all cleared up!

Speaking of border control...

When I was leaving France, transferring planes in Paris, getting *into* the international terminal, there were automatic face-recognition gates. They refused my US passport (too close to expiring), and I went to stand in line for an agent. That line was *not* moving, and people were all riled up (not a good place). I could see the other side, and there was no follow-up for documents (like ESTAs), so I went back to the automatic gates and used my French passport - bingo! Before they had this system, everyone went via an agent - you had to think about which line to us, depending on which paperwork they might want. Now, it's *fast!*

Once I arrived at San Francisco, I used my US passport as usual. There were no demands to see phones, just a quick question "do you have anything to declare?" - easy peasy.

All the rest of my travel back to France, I used my French passport. 

When I got home, I decided that it might be easier to have an account with Air France, so I joined. I also saw that I could apply miles from this last trip, so I did! Well... (wait for it!) My return trip was added, no problem, but the originating flight was not. More curious than anything else, I contacted them, and they looked into it. Yep, my originating flight was shown as "open, not used" 🤯 - so all that shuffling around was still causing problems! Anyway, that got fixed somehow.

I also thought, hey, my flight was cancelled! EU law says I should be compensated (beyond getting rebooked), so I filled out the form. A day or two later, the response is "denied" (in a nice way though) since it was due to a runway problem, not <enter meaningless static noises here>...

But NOW! I have my new US passport! 😅😁🎉

Passport!

We had a little excitement this morning! My renewed US passport arrived!

I hadn't realized that my old one was set to expire in September, and didn't have enough time (4-6 weeks) to get a new one before my trip. So when I travelled to the US, I had a few extra hoops to jump through. Airlines won't let you check-in online if you don't have at least 6 months of validity left on your passport...

Anyway, I got through that 🙄, and immediately (after recovering from jet lag) applied for a new one. 

Incredibly, it took 2 (TWO!) weeks and 1 day! 

I followed these instructions, and checked on the progress:

July 16 - mailed application from Sète 

July 18 - Collissimo tracking said it was delivered to the US embassy 

July 24 - Passport tracking said it was done, and mailed! Let's give them the weekend to get it from France to the US, and that's just 3 days to get the thing made!

July 28 - Collissimo tracking said it's on its way

July 31 - it's here!!!

What's the first thing I did? I added it to my airline account! 🤣🤣🤣

French Train - Example

Traveling by train in France can be great, but also a little confusing at first. Here's a little example of a relatively simple trip...

You can use other apps/websites, but here I'm using the SNCF app. The opening page asks where you want to go...

I entered "Sète" for the arrival, then "Perpignan" as the  departure, then the date I wanted. Notice that I have a choice about the type of ticket - there's "standard" but there's also a reduced price for 60 years or older (circled in blue). Then I clicked on "see prices" (circled in pink)

This gave me a list of possibilities. I can also click to see earlier or later trains. 

Notice that TER trains don't have reserved seating, and so (1) don't sell out, (2) might be standing room only, and (3) tickets can be used on TER trains at a different time on that same day and for the same destination and fare. 

TGV and InterCity trains are reserved. I'm picking the one circled (TER).

This is the information initially provided. However, they don't tell you the critical information you need when looking for your train at the station! The stations have arrival/departure screens that give the platforms for the different trains - the fastest way to find your train is to look for the destination. This is the *final* destination of the train not necessarily *your* destination. (It's the same for buses, BTW). Note that you can also use the train number, but for me, that's just more obscure.
So, to find out the destination, I clicked on the circled "Journey details"

The first train ends in Narbonne (which is where I will transfer). Transfers almost always involve going up or down from the arrival platform, across, then down or up to the departure platform. They're usually labelled "A" or "F" (etc), so look for the stairs/elevators and signs. Check the departure screen first, of course!

The second train starts in Narbonne, and ends at Avignon Centre. I want off before then, at Sète.

If I have a paper TER ticket (perhaps purchased at a machine), then once I know my train is coming soon, I "stamp" it at one of the little yellow machines (otherwise risking a fine). If it's electronic or reserved, I just go to my platform. Usually the platform (quai) will have a screen indicating how many cars, and where on the platform it will be (e.g., car 3 stops at section W). This is approximate (of course), and only really helpful for reserved seats.

Once settled on the train, I keep an eye on the stops, and head to the doors when mine is coming up (there's not much time to get off).

Here's a bird's eye view of the Sète train station (Gare). I can come straight out the exit/entrance (circled in blue), and turn left to catch the city buses (at the "gare routière" - outside of this picture), or I can meet someone in a car at the very-short-term "dépose minute" (circled in pink).