Le vol

I’m not someone who generally dislikes flying. In recent years, my main air travel experience has been visiting India from Europe on vacation. Like most things in life, this has its pros and cons. On the one hand, travel time has decreased significantly; on the other, baggage allowances are much stricter compared to places like California (where you can check in 65 kilos).

As we were moving out of Paris, we had a mountain of essentials to bring with us until our shipment arrived five weeks later. Even after the movers had left, we kept adding last-minute items, leaving me feeling stressed with two large bags, two big suitcases, and a small cabin case. Luckily, as Qatar Airways members, we got an extra 15 kilos each, bringing our total to 90 kilos.

Transporting all this luggage from our apartment to the airport was a challenge, especially with three nights to spend at the Cite universitaire campus before our September 2nd flight. We had three options: stay with friends, book a hotel, or stay at Maison de l’Inde on campus for a cheaper rate. To avoid inconveniencing anyone, we chose the latter. On our last night in Paris, we borrowed a bathroom scale from the reception and discovered we were dangerously close to the 90-kilo limit. Tension and frustration built up, and I found myself unfairly blaming Pamela for the situation, despite her calm demeanor.

In a way, hauling these massive suitcases was good practice for India, where porters are common for train travel, and flight allowances are stricter.

Dragging our luggage from the Cite Universitaire to the RER station (a 600-meter walk) was a sweaty ordeal. A kind French gentleman offered words of encouragement, “Bon courage,” meaning “good luck” in this context. The early morning RER train was packed, unlike anything I’d seen before. Our destination was CDG-1, with a final bus ride to Terminal 1.

At the check-in counter, a long queue and a large group traveling to Tibet increased my anxiety. I made it clear to Pamela that I wouldn’t pay extra baggage fees, even if it meant discarding items. My frustration boiled over, and I unfairly took it out on her. I secretly hoped our luggage would exceed the limit, serving as a lesson to Pamela, who often pushed baggage allowances to the brink.

While waiting in line, I tried using our membership card to access the business class check-in but was unsuccessful. Eventually, a helpful passenger assisted us in moving to the business class queue.

The check-in agent asked how many bags we had, and I replied, “Quatre” (four). As I placed each bag on the scale, I anticipated the dreaded overweight message, ready to blame Pamela. To my surprise, the agent smiled and asked if we had anything else.

Our cabin luggage was slightly overweight, but she graciously accepted it without comment. Usually, airlines are strict about cabin baggage. Pamela asked how much under the limit we were, and the agent replied “onze kilos” (eleven kilos), not one as I had initially thought.

Feeling guilty, I apologized to Pamela and publicly confessed my mistake.