In the previous part, I described how I ended up confined in the intricate maze of corridors, stairs, and shuttle routes at CDG airport. Now I’ll reveal how the story ended. I reached the gate I was supposed to depart from just to confirm that my flight had left. The gate was closed as expected. The next goal was to find an Air France representative to help me find the solution. I’ve googled that if you missed a connecting flight within the EU, the airline is responsible for that due to a delay or flight cancellation; they are obligated to provide you with refreshments, meals, and a hotel room. The catch was that my flight was not inside the EU, so I was unsure what to expect.
In any case, I needed to find the Air France support desk, and it was a quest in itself. It turned out that there was no support desk in this terminal. The airport security guard suggested I return to the terminal my flight arrived. After going through numerous corridors and stairs, taking a train shuttle, and asking three other employees about the route, I finally reached the support desk!
I was greeted by a young French lady with bright red lips. When I went through the security check, I accidentally got a little cut on my finger that I’ve noticed just now. I gave her my boarding pass that got some blood stains on it after that. I explained my situation, and she immediately started working on a solution: retrieving a boarding pass for another flight tomorrow, two vouchers for food, 15 euros each, and another voucher for a hotel. Luckily all of that was at the expense of the airline company.
It looked like she finished, and I would receive my long-awaited relief after all that hustle when she hopefully asked me if I had a Schengen visa. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any, as my last one expired long ago. Her plan crumbled right away when I said that: the hotel she was going to put me in was located outside the airport, and I was required to go through border control. And all my attempts to go through it would fail miserably without a visa.
After another 30 minutes of talking with her manager and colleagues, her efforts come to fruition. It turned out that there was another hotel right inside the transit zone! Lastly, she gave me a bottle of water, an overnight kit with a toothbrush, a new t-shirt, and some other stuff.
Finally getting relief, I walked to the hotel happily, took a shower inside, and went to sleep, knowing I’ll take another flight tomorrow and arrive in Tbilisi well-rested and ready for new adventures!
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