Wednesday, July 06, 2005

A tale of two cities

I think I know why Paris didn't get the 2012 Olympics. Forget Chirac's remarks about British food. No, I suspect the IOC delegates were worried that the athletes would get lost.

As someone who had to experience the joys of Charles de Gaulle airport for himself this morning, I speak from personal knowledge. Being met off the plane by a chap bearing a sign for Rome and assuring me that the bus he was touting for was also going to take me to the London-bound plane, I duly stepped on. Only to discover when we arrived that I was at the wrong terminal. With less than 30 minutes before departure I and several other passengers then had to wait for another bus to turn up, which took a leisurely circuit of the airport and its environs.

Unhelpfully there was no announcement to say which terminal we were approaching, or indeed any signs or posters on the terminal itself. And inside the terminal there were two escalators, leading in opposite directions to different gate numbers - and no computer screen to inform us which escalator to take.

And to think that for the last few years London's Olympic bid team has been trying to live up to the image of Paris as having a far better infrastructure.

Don't make me laugh.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm really curious now. It seems that you are Brazilian, but you don't have a Brazilian name at all. But apparently, you can read Portuguese.

Whatever, I liked your blog, and will came back to take a look at the news. BTW, are you living in the UK?

beijos!

Guy said...

Baxt

Thanks for the comments. Since you ask, yes, I live in London but was in Brazil last month.

No I don't have a Brazilian name, although 'Caio' is about the cloest that many Brazilians can manage.

I'm one of those rare species who carry both a British and Brazilian passport at the same time - on account of family circumstances and birthplace.