Europe Cheat Sheet! – Here Comes PARIS!

I know!! I know!!

I have been "hatching" on this post for quite some time; it was supposed to be published right after - Touring Europe – A Flight of Fantasy. But, I was travelling around and “Logistically” couldn’t pull off my “Travel” post! Look at the Irony! 🤓🤓🤓

If you haven’t read how it all started, please click the hyperlink above & read it for the “Context Setting”. If you have, maybe, you can still click it and have a “Refresher”.

Now that you're all up to speed... Lemme say it...

When I started this Europe Travel Series,

I secretly wanted the Paris Post to be Parfaite! (Perfect in French!) 😎😎😎

I wrote, re-wrote, must have re-structured it easily 10 times!

I was really really confused what all to cover! 🤔🤔🤔

Should I cover how we ALMOST missed our flight even though we were at the airport 4 hours ahead??…

OR

Should I cover why I decided to pack a 2L pressure cooker for our “Europe Vacation”!?!

OR

Should I just nose dive into Paris to cover How NOT to see Tour Eiffel, How to spot a Flying Butt-Ress! ; Other What Not-s and What To-s??...

The Dilemma Was Supppppper Real! 🤷🤷🤷

Condensing everything into 3-4 mins is no small feat I tell you! After a point, I was beginning to feel… At this rate, this post will never see the light of the day!

Finally I made THE DECISION.

I decided to COVER EVERYTHING since I couldn’t decide! "Deja Vu" - Irony Again!

READY OR NOT, Here Comes PARIS! 😎😎😎

After we magically booked a direct flight to Paris for an unbeatable price of 15k during the Jet Airways-Citibank sale, we were soooo excited!

Parfaite, We thought!

But, we didn't even expect in our dreams that Jet Airways would file bankruptcy in just few Months! They started cancelling flights beginning March; our flight was on 5th April.

Spending ridiculous money on an alternate last minute flight was clearly not on the table.

We pondered if we should entirely drop the trip if we can’t make it to Paris because of Jet.

It was nerve wrecking!

Drama! Drama!

But, Jet Airways did NOT cancel our flight! It was one of the Last to ply, I suppose.

THANK GOD!

If that wasn’t enough already, there was more drama waiting for us before boarding -

Even though we were at the airport 4 hours ahead!

All baggage within limits & tagged. Check!

All passports. Check!

Visa. Check!

Itinerary & Inter Country Bookings. Check!

FOUR HOURS AHEAD OF DEPARTURE. CHECK!

Then what’s the issue??? 🤷 🤷 🤷 You may ask!

Lemme simply say it...

They DENIED CHECKING US IN at the counter!

BUT, Why?

Because, we got a Schengen Visa from Austrian Embassy!

(Which, BTW is valid in all EU countries!)

They Clarified - Even though it's valid for intercountry travel across EU, the Visa should have been taken from French Embassy since our First Destination is Paris!

Counter Personnel: Who is your Agency? They would know this!

Me: Errr...I planned the trip...We didn't use any agency...😐😐😐

[We LITERALLY SAW the Counter Personnel Rolling their Eyes in Disbelief!]

🙄🙄🙄

“This is why we should have used an Agency in the First Place!!!”

I IMAGINED Mr.Husband saying it in my "mind voice" even though HE DIDN'T SAY IT,

BUT, BUT, they were SO NOT RIGHT!!!

My adrenaline had kicked. I began quoting rules LEFT, RIGHT and CENTER that Schengen Visa can be taken for the First destination OR Main Destination(The country with longest stay during the trip)

I showed our Itinerary showing Austria having longest stay, Visa rules in mobile, our Confirmed Return Flight from Vienna as “Corroborative Evidence” that there is nothing here to read between lines!

BUT, BUT, BUT, THEY WERE STILL UNMOVED.

They still “THOUGHT” WE – A Family Travelling for a Trip - With a Legitimate Return Flight – With a self made itinerary in MS Excel - flouted the rules!

At this point, my son was becoming extremely extremely restless. He just simply couldn’t understand what was happening around and why we are still not on that plane to Paris!

To put it bluntly, we were exactly on the same boat!

We couldn’t wrap our heads around what was happening either!! Absolutely Clueless!

Why were we denied boarding? There was NO PROBABLE CAUSE for us to flout! Right!?

The “Lawyer Mode” in me was going bonkers! Mr.Husband is always the calm one, but this time around, he was ALSO LOSING IT!

WE REALLY DINT KNOW WHAT TO DO!!! (IN BOLD FONT 72!!!)

We Just Stood There.

Awkward Silence.

After a momentary pause (Which really seemed like Eternity!) , they took heart looking at our family up & down for the Nth time. They decided to check with the embassy on what to do with our "SPECIAL CASE".

It was German Embassy on Call.

Germans! True to the Love of Rules gave the Final Ruling to our "SPECIAL CASE".

NOT Guilty!

Finally! Some light at the end of tunnel!!

THANK GOD! AGAIN!

And we LITERALLY RANNNNNN through immigration,

To catch our FANTASY FLIGHT,

That WE ALMOST DIN MAKE IT,

For the SECOND TIME!

There are two take away for you folks from that little adventure of ours!

1. Booking International Flights during sale still gives the highest saving! So Keep Tracking!

2. For Europe Tours, get the VISA from FIRST DESTINATION Embassy & save all the hassle!

That's the take away??

JUST LIKE THAT!?

Well,… there is more...

Lemme elaborate the Esoteric Message I realised from our little adventure.

In life, despite our earnest efforts, we might be denied something what's rightfully ours...

We may be forced to pause momentarily, but that doesn't alter the Truth...

Ultimately, 8/10 times the truth does prevail.

Statistically speaking, that's the kind of odd we can always bet on!

That's the kind of odd we must always stand by. 8/10 Times.

With that,... I have clearly exceeded the word count for an average 4 min read.

So,... the Jaw-Dropping-Details of how it all unfolded in Paris is getting covered in Part 2.

Here is a little sneak peek to “PARIS Cheat Sheet in 4K UHD!-Finally Landed-Part 2”.

PS1:What I wrote is NOT some cooked up FICTION. If you know Mr.Husband, feel free to have it verified. If you don't know him, Well... you might have to just take my word for it!🤷

PS2: Esoteric Message - a message likely to be understood by only a few people. Not apparent - Hidden meaning.