Adventures in Europe: Paris, France and home . . .

Yesterday I woke up in the middle of the night and realized my chicken and couscous had made me really sick.  But, I had a flight to catch, so a bit tired and stomach-aching, I caught a bus from Jemaa El Fna to the Marrekech airport.

There I queued to check-in for my flight, but then literally ran out of line to find a potted tree to throw up in.  Eventually I got checked in, through security and onto my Transavia flight to Paris, hoping my sickness was behind me.

Unfortunately my food poisoning symptoms continued through the flight.  At some point, I was desperate to get to a toilet to throw up, but a beverage service cart blocked my way, and I ended up throwing up in the aisle.  I felt awful, because the flight was entirely full and needless to say this was not pleasant to experience.  I was amazed how kind and helpful and understanding people were.  

I arrived in Paris badly dehydrated, cold, and with very little clean/dry clothing (not only had I thrown up on myself such that I had to change everything, but most of the clothes I had washed the day before had not dried overnight, so were still considerably damp).

There was a real screw up at passport control, the likes of which I have never experienced.  Literally we all had to wait in a hallway for over an hour before the officials showed up, then, of course, had to wait in a horrendous line to get through.  One man announced loudly, sarcastically "Bienvenue a France!" 

I bought some water on the other side, then caught the shuttle to Denfert Rochereau.  I was only in Paris overnight, but I had hoped to be able to see a site or two and enjoy the afternoon and evening.  The combination of being sick, the passport control delay, and a cold drizzle all made me reconsider, and instead, I caught a cab at Denfert Rochereau and went straight to my accommodation, the Arty Hostel.

Thankfully I could do laundry here, and I literally napped between wash and dry cycles.  I ventured out once to a grocery store to get some food, but could barely eat any of it.  Mostly I just kept drinking water, sleeping, and using the toilet.  Fortunately I was done throwing up, at least.

The next morning I cabbed back to Denfert Rochereau, feeling marginally better--hydrated and well rested, at least--and then shuttled to Orly.  I was sad to have not had a chance to see more of Paris--at least I could have asked the cabbie to drive by the Eiffel Tower, or something, but I was also just happy to get out of there with some good sleep and clean, dry clothes.

At Orly I caught my Icelandair flight back to Edmonton.