This blog entry picks up where the last one left off. I had just arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on a flight from Detroit. Our flight arrived at the Terminal 2E Hall M, and my flight to Dubai was scheduled to leave from Terminal 2E Hall L, so this transfer required a train ride from M to L, then a long security line. Despite having Sky Priority, there was still a considerable wait for security.

After security I headed straight to the Air France Lounge. At this point I figured I would have around 60 minutes in the lounge to shower and eat. The Hall L lounge has plenty of showers, and each shower room is very spacious. I was able to refresh with a shower before I headed to the dining area of the lounge to sit down for some food. On offer was a carrot ginger soup, and for a main course there was veal in a white sauce. The veal was cooked perfectly.

After my short stay in the lounge, I headed down to gate L45, where there was a huge crowd waiting to board. We were all disappointed to hear that the boarding had been delayed for at least half an hour because "the cabin was not ready." After a frustrating wait, we finally boarded the plane. Like the last flight, I selected seat 50A, a Duo Seat towards the back, but this time I was not as lucky, and I had a neighbor. Luckily, he was friendly.

Because the flight was scheduled to land at 11:30pm in Dubai, I decided to try to not sleep on this flight. Shortly after take-off, a meal was served. There was a choice between pasta and fish, and I decided to pick the fish, which was probably a poor decision because it was very overcooked. Luckily the chocolate dessert that was served with the fish was pretty good. I took up most of my time on this flight by watching Star Wars: Andor, and I slept for about an hour as the sun set. 90 minutes before landing, a snack was served, which included a cheese sandwich, a pretty good lemon muffin, and a very good passion fruit yogurt drink.

After landing, our plane was forced to sit and wait on the taxiway for 20 minutes due to "high traffic at Dubai airport," which I doubt is a rare occurrence. After our plane arrived at the gate, I walked through the terminal to the train to immigration, and had to wait in line for passport control. All said, it took a full hour from when the plane landed until I was through immigration.

After a brief wait I was picked up by Murt, Irena, Mel, and Sacha, my friends from my internship at Duolingo last summer. Murt drove us back to his house where I will be staying for the next few days. I was pretty hungry, and Murt generously helped me warm up a chicken shawarma wrap and some leftover Chinese food for a late-night meal. The five of us sat around and watched TV for a bit before finally going to sleep around 3am.