The long trip is over. Having been burned more than once at the Heathrow transfer in London, I decided to book the later connection to Geneva this time, given the compound vagaries of winter travel. Of course, because I had all the time in the world, the flights were actually slightly ahead of schedule and so I am now more tired than I would have been had I taken the earlier connection, for which I had arrived in plenty of time. But still, one never knows. This way, my luggage also arrived at the same time and place that I did. Which is always nice. It was also a shock when I checked in to discover that the checked baggage policy had changed; I had brought two bags to check. Now they accept one only. So I had to pay for the extra suitcase. It was worth it, but still startling. And the clerks will not accept cash, so I had to use a credit card. I wasn't the only person who was surprised by the change. When some passengers mentioned this to a crew member, he responded that, since the near-tragic events at Christmas, the policy has gotten more restrictive. He also mentioned that it does not seem to be applied consistently. So I must learn to pack more efficiently.
The transatlantic flight had the smallest number of passengers that I have ever seen, which meant that many of us in "steerage" were able to stretch out in the middle rows and sleep. The crew was not at all overworked and actually passed out some extra drinks, thus I have a tiny bottle of gin that I decided to save for tonight, with a generous amount of tonic. That will hopefully help me to sleep through the night. We had the video-on-demand (VOD) feature and I watched "Julie and Julia," awed at how uncannily Meryl Streep, a truly outstanding actress, managed to evoke the essence of Julia Child. I enjoyed the movie, in part because I had read Julia's memoir My Life in France. I've not actually read the book that Julie Powell wrote but what a challenge she took on!
After that, I tried to sleep, unsuccessfully as things turned out. In all, I managed to doze off for about 45 minutes before we landed in London. The connections there went smoothly although the flight to Geneva was as full as it could be. I ended up arriving at the apartment here at around 4:30 pm this afternoon, or at 16:30, as is the preferred way to tell time here. The immigration officer asked whether I was a resident and wanted to see my permit for verification, which happened to me for the very first time here last summer, but now seems to be the standard. In anticipation of such situations, I make sure always to have my Swiss permit as well as my US passport with me generally, and especially when I travel outside either of those countries.
I've unpacked the suitcases and organized everything, thawed leftovers from a Moroccan-type stew that I had cooked but had not completely been able to finish before my departure in December and had that for dinner, and am now watching the European figure-skating championships on TV. There are some very nice routines! I decided to post this and then head for a nice soak in the bathtub before resting my very weary head.
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