Left our house in Georgetown on Monday, January 11 for the airport in Austin. 8:00 departure from home for 11:20 flight to Chicago. It was snowing when we arrived in Chicago and the temperature was 1 degree F. We tried to find a warm place to wait for our flight to Madrid but mostly unsuccessful so we spent time at Starbucks for some hot coffee. Views from the terminal.
The gate agent announced that for boarding we should wear our coats as the temperature in the jetway was 0 degrees. We believe it! We sat on the plane for about 45 minutes extra while they sprayed de-ice fluid on the plane. This is what it looked like before the spray. Note the snow in the lower right of the window.
After take-off we had a nice meal with some good Spanish wine before our naps. We slept somewhat uncomfortably for quite some time. The arrival in Madrid caused a long train ride between different parts of the airport and then lots of walking to reach our gate to get the Marseille flight. A small plane so had to check our carry-on bag and naturally it was damaged upon arrival in Marseille. Also one of our checked bags did not show so we spent some time trying to claim so Iberia could find our bag and deliver it to Roussillon. Finally all the paperwork was complete and we exited the customs area where we found Brigitte waiting for us as usual. Loaded our luggage into her Ford Ka (tiny) and Bob went immediately to sleep. Iris entertained Brigitte.
Entering Le Mas du Close we found our keys in the mailbox just as Eric had promised so we gained entry to a cold house ( 40 degrees F) and turned on the water and both heat pumps to try and get warm. A ham sandwich was all we could manage for our supper along with a glass of wine and soon we were in our bed with the big blanket that has not been used in 5 years. Needed it tonight.
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