Belgrade Day 1

I am in Belgrade. My backpack is in Paris. This is a problem.

This is how it went down: my ticket called for a really quick connection in Paris, only 45 minutes. When I first saw the itinerary, I was immediately concerned and even went so far as to call Air France to see what they had to say about it. No sweat, I was told; because both of my flights were using Terminal 2E, I would basically jump off one plane and on to the other with a minimum of fuss and time to spare. OK, no problem.

Air France, by the way, is an amazing airline, probably the best I've taken (though I have yet to take Singapore Airlines or Cathay Pacific or Emirates or any of those "deluxe" Asian airlines). They give you half a baguette with dinner, and a healthy slice of camembert afterwards. Champagne is free. Also, they have cameras both on the underside of the plane and in the cockpit, both accessible from your personal entertainment system thingie, that afford crazy views. I have no problems with Air France.

(The internet cafe I am in is playing a Serbian language version of "Just Another Day" by Jon Secada. I'm not even making that up.)

My problem is with Charles-de-Gaulle airport and the people working there. For some inexplicable reason, Air Traffic Control told us to dock at Terminal 2C. It took 15 minutes for us to taxi into our stop, then 5 minutes for busses to transport us to the actual building, and then it took 30 minutes to get to 2E and go through security and sprint to my gate. That would make me 5 minutes late for my flight. At that point, I thought my bags would be left behind for sure. But then the captain accounced that because we missed our takeoff slot, Air Traffic Control was delaying us at the gate another 40 minutes. Probably for the best from my perspective - 40 extra minutes would have given baggage handlers a total of one hour and 25 minutes to move my bags from 2C to 2E. That is a lot of time. No reason why my luggage shouldn't make it to Belgrade, right?

Of course my luggage didn't make it to Belgrade. I don't understand how it's possible to fail to transfer a bag from one plane to another in 1:25. Remind me never to fly through Paris unless I have 3 hours connection time. My bag is supposedly arriving tomorrow aboard the same flight. It had better, because the clothes I do have are completely unsuitable for Belgrade's scorching heat. I have a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt, and a long-sleeved hoodie, absolutely the worst possible clothes to have under the circumstances. To minimize sweating, I only left my hostel at 4 PM and walked VERY slowly and took numerous breaks in the shade but I am still dripping with sweat and probably smell very badly. I think I may take it easy tonight, which is a shame because it's Friday night and Belgrade from what I understand jumps on weekends (and every other day, actually). But I can't risk completely ruining these clothes just in case I have to wear them again tomorrow. Actually, I do have to wear these clothes tomorrow... my bag isn't being delivered until 5 PM. Or, I can hang out with the hostel staff. I am staying at a hostel where my sister stayed literally 3 days ago (she is in Greece now). They quite definitely remember her, and liked her, so they are being extremely nice to me. All this coasting off my sister's reputation kind of reminds me of high school.

Off to seek shade...