My father warned me: 'Be careful with the Paris-CDG airport, it is a madness thing'.


I was thinking: 'My old man is now too old-fashioned for this time'.


He was completely right. I almost lost my Paris-Helsinki flight due
disorganization on that airport, nobody knew what the gate was, or when
the plane was leaving. When somebody told me I had to be at terminal 2D
I was a running like a crazy, to not lose the flight, from a terminal
to another. Finally get there, and the signs are confusing. I saw a
screen and tried to find the Helsinki flight. Nothing. Finally asked in
the information desk: Gate 74. Geez.


Upstairs? No, go downstairs, look at the watch, please do not lose the
flight. It has been already 30 minutes since the boarding time and 15
missing for the plane to leave. Arrived gate 74 of terminal 2D, after a
complete security check that even asked me to take my shirt off (the
aduana was even lighter). Show my boarding pass (already given to me in
Mexico City airport) to the lady. 'Sorry sir, this flight is leaving to
Florence'. 'What? They told me 74 was my gate'. 'No, see the screen,
this gate is leaving to Florence' (Starting to feel unconfortable and
said some bad words to her in Spanish). 'So, what is my gate?'. She
checked on the computer and said: 'Sorry, I have not that information'.
More bad words in Mexican Spanish.


Next gate. Show the boarding pass, 'sorry, this gate is for Milan,
London, !Helsinki, !Helsinki, !Helsinki'. Asked again in an information
desk. 'Where the bloody shit is my gate for this boarding pass,
Madam?'. She did not understood my very bad and poor English, I guess
so she pointed me with other guy. After reading the boarding pass
information: 'Try gate 80, sir'. 'Try? Are you fucking kidding me?'. On
my way to gate 80, I showed the pass to the lady on that gate. 'Yes,
sir, this is the gate'. Geez, finally. 'Do you have your coupon?',
'coupon? What bloody coupon? I don't know, take all my papers and let
me go'. 'I cannot let you go in unless you have a coupon'. Shit. Showed
all my papers, even my old passport. I was getting more angry and she
was upset because of my mood, also. Finally appeared, is the ticket a
coupon? If not, it is for her.


10 seconds later, I was already on the bus that took the last four
passengers to the plane. 5 minutes more it closed doors. 7 minutes
later, the plane was moving.


Is it normal this thing on Paris-CDG? Maybe it is only a bad
experience, but it made me (it still does) mad. Paris would be great
for a tourist visit, but no for losing a connection flight. And I
didn't even see the Eiffel Tower