I've flown out of de Gaulle 3 times. Each has been it's own little adventure in airport suckiness.quote:Anyway want to comment explaining the "general suckinness?
The most recent was the worst. We showed up well ahead of time, like your supposed to (plus, we got there much faster than expected thanks to catching a very very very crowded express RER that didn't stop after leaving the city center). Our flight leaves from terminal 1, so we get off at the RER stop marked CDG1. (Already an adventure as the train is so packed that walking is difficult, let alone getting heavy bags off the overhead racks without smushing someone. Also, only a handful of people seem to be getting off at this stop, most seem to be headed for the other terminals.)
We look around for the terminal. Or, y'know, some sign pointing to a terminal. No luck. There's a building off to one side that kind of looks like it might be a terminal. No luck. Air France offices. There aren't many people at that end of the station, eventually so we wander back to where the people are, hoping they can direct us. Long lines for information...we spot the bus terminal, with buses marked "terminal one" on them (still no signs, though)...seems problems may be solved.
Get to the terminal, checkin is at some desk number. we're at a lower number and the numbers are going up towards the left. So we walk left...numbers seem to be jumping all over the place...eventually we get to the end, walk all the way back and try the other direction. Eventually find the checkin desk. Then we head off towards the gate. Clear security with minimal hassle, except, of course, the confiscation of our water. We look around the shops. The only thing for sale is duty free alcohol, perfume, etc., which we can't buy anyway because we can't carry liquids onto the plane. So, after perusing the various contraband items sold at the gift shop, we head on to the gate. Very long walk. Probably the weirdest terminal design I've ever encountered (the gates are all at out buildings that form a circle around the terminal, and, from the surface look disconnected from the main building. So, long, underground passages. Get to the gate, second security...this time a pat down and our bags are hand searched. No big deal, whatever. The French at least are polite about the whole security thing (we found out a week later that French-Canadian security guards had lost their customer service skills somewhere over the centuries since colonization).
We're still about an hour and a half away from departure, and we discover the worst part about this airport. There is no source of water, drink of any kind, or even a bathroom at the gate. You have to walk a mile or so through underground tunnels to get back to these services, and then reclear the hand-checking security guards. By the time the plane finally boarded, we were very thirsty and needed to use the facilities. We were only flying to London, so the seat belt sign was off for such a short amount of time that there wasn't time to stand in line for can, though we did manage to buy some water (€4, or something ridiculous like that, for 500ml). It was good to get to the comparatively civilized Heathrow. Next time, I think we'll splurge on the train.
So that was by far my worst CDG experience. The other two trips through there were well before 9/11, so the whole security thing was less of a hassle, and the annoyances more stemmed from poor signage, lack of seating, and disgusting bathrooms. Bad enough experiences that even before my latest CDG nightmare had gotten the airport onto my least favourite list.
Got to get all these stupid little rules down.
