I haven’t written on this blog for months. But many friends have asked about my recent trip back home to France so I thought I’d write a blog post about my experience.

First, you need to know that my last flight experience prior to the August trip was on March 16th, Paris to Minneapolis via Detroit. Borders were closing and I was on one of the last commercial flights back to the US from Europe. It all happened after teaching a photography workshop in Lisbon and spending a few days with family in Normandy. Back then, flights were packed, and not a mask in sight. To make things worse, the CDC was ‘welcoming’ thousands of passengers with a temperature check in ‘shoulder to shoulder’ conditions in only a few US points of entry. It was complete chaos, who knew things would get so much worse from there…

I never had travel restrictions to go back to my country but I waited until August. It was time, I needed to see my parents who had not seen any family members for 5 months. I had left them mid-march, we talked twice/day during all those months but they are in their 80s and I worried every day.

August 16th came, I had just received my negative Covid test. France requires each passengers to show a less than 72 hours negative test before boarding. The test cost me $110…

I was a bit nervous about the trip but I knew that it couldn’t be worse than the March experience. I was ready!

I voice recorded my experience on my iphone as follows:

MSP-DTW-CDG

August 16: First time back in an airport since March 16. I was dropped off 2 hours before take off, I put my mask on and entered MSP International. Unfortunately my direct nonstop flight from Minneapolis to Paris on Delta does not exist at the moment so I am forced to do a layover in Detroit.

I checked in my luggage and went through security, super smooth and easy. The airport was far from empty but everyone had a mask on and respected social distancing. MSP was spotless and there were hand sanitizers literally every 10 feet.

Boarding was very orderly: Back of the plane first, people social distancing while waiting. Each passenger was handed a sanitizing wipe in a pouch upon boarding the aircraft.

NOTE: Because it is Delta Airlines and one of the few airlines to have their act together, every other seat was left empty. The airline is committed to assuring the safest experience to its passengers and will keep middle seats empty on every flight through the end of the year. I’ve been flying Delta exclusively for years, and I would not fly with any other airline at the moment. Read more about Delta’s standards here.

Everyone without exception was wearing a mask. A snack pack was handed to each passenger, including a water bottle and a granola bar. Beverage service followed as usual. The extra packaging (plastic, wipes…) is making me cringe but I can see the necessity for it at the moment for everyone’s safety. I really, REALLY hope that we can go back to more environmentally friendly practices soon… There is so much waste on airlines, it has to stop!

Short flight to Detroit: Quiet, uneventful. Upon landing everyone stayed seated per instructions from the Delta crew until the door of the aircraft opened. Then passengers stood up and exited the airplane row by row, while everyone else remained seated. Never seen this before! It was so efficient, maybe we can learn from this…

A short while later: I boarded the international flight. At least one seat empty between each passenger, often an entire row. I had a row to myself. The crew seemed very relaxed. I never thought I would qualify this journey as relaxing but it was a much better experience than a normal high season transatlantic.

The rest of the flight was uneventful. Same food service as usual. Passengers barely removed their masks during the meals. It seems like everyone, myself included, put it back one between each bite.

Upon arrival, deplaning was quick and efficient. The crew collected a health form that they asked each passenger to fill out during the flight. A couple of other forms were also handed out to be filled out and given to French passport control.

Once again I was asked to show my negative Covid test and proceeded to luggage and to the car rental agency. The only stressful part of the trip was waiting for the keys at Europcar. With few rental agencies still open, there was a line. Each car is sanitized before the driver gets the keys. The process takes an extra 20-30 minutes. All good, but by that time I’m ready to get to my final destination and I still have a 3 hour drive on little to no sleep.

Finally, keys in hand, I can hit to road to Normandy!

CDG - DTW - MSP

The return flight was equally easy and safe, with even fewer passengers. I had a much longer layover in Detroit. Extra passport check, even with Global Entry. Same CDC temp check plus a new questions “Did you take any fever reducing drugs before landing?”. At that point I’m thinking that a negative Covid test as required by my country feels a bit more reliable… No mention of quarantine by the CDC, I learned that this measure was dropped during the summer. About wearing a mask for 17 hours non-stop from the moment I stepped into CDG until I walked out of MSP : not a problem. There is no one next to you to talk to anyway and I can see this being standard procedure at least through 2021 or longer. Fine with me!