Running to Reunion Part III: A Bumpy Landing

Monday October 10^th, 2011.  Up at the crack of dawn, Jeff and I walked back to Terminal 2.  In comparison to yesterday, the airport was eerily quiet until we showed up at the Air Austral counter, where there was a lengthy queue. Fortunately, the line moved quickly and we got checked in without incident.

Clearing security with the transmitter for my Continuous Glucose Monitor injected into my abdomen presents a minor hurdle, but now I am proactive and alert folks before they swat it during a pat down.  This always causes great concern and an extra minute or two of scrutiny, but now that I anticipate the attention it’s no big deal.

 Exotic lunch on Paris-to-Reunion flight: notice the "Penn State" snack???

Once we lifted off for the eleven hour flight I bumped my watch ahead another two hours – funny how quickly the days pass when you keep advancing your watch.  Air Austral provided good service and beyond the usual shrieking children (are they a requirement for long flights?), the second leg proceeded smoothly.  It was neat to peer down on the Sahara desert as we flew over Egypt, and I glimpsed a muddy river flowing through thick forests in Sudan.  The skies began to cloud over though, and when I got up to look down upon Madagascar, the earth was completely obscured.

 Quit your "wining" Jeff!

Good news and bad news after touching down in St. Denis.  Jeff had overheard a gentleman speaking English in the row behind us, so immediately after touching down he engaged the fellow and got him to speak with Gite du Volcan on the phone - Good news.  Outcome of the discussion was that we would arrive too late to check in, so our place to stay tonight had vanished (we had already informed them of our arrival time yesterday, so why they bothered to have us call upon arriving is beyond me) - Bad news.  Because Reunion is technically a part of France, there was really no customs to clear after we got off the plane - Good news.  We walked over to the car rental building and discovered Budget had already closed for the evening - Bad news.

Before stopping at the car rental building we reserved a room at Hotel Select on the recommendation of the attendant at the information desk in the airport.  Upon learning we had no wheels it was back to the airport and hailing a taxi.  If our mood wasn’t already foul enough, the seven mile ride to our impromptu lodging cost 22 euro.  Welcome to Reunion.

Luxorious accommodations on our first night in Reunion...