Flying through a war zone

We boarded EK407 for Paris, on Monday evening. Enjoyed another champagne with a light snack and then donned the complimentary PJs and settled in to a movie. The business class section was probably only 75% full and from the boarding queue for economy, I would guess they were probably only at 50% capacity. Apart from a fairly persistent bouncing around with air turbulence, we both got a reasonable amount of sleep before sunrise and our emininent arrival at Dubai airport.

As we approached Dubai, after originally declaring 'cleared for landing', the captain came on the PA and announced we were resuming a holding pattern as Dubai airport had just been closed. There was no panic, barely even a whisper, it was as if airports always opened and closed regularly, but I guess we both wondered just what lay ahead. We heard two booms and felt the shudders, even at 20,000 feet, as the missiles were intercepted, but shortly afterwards welcomed the Captains advise that we were cleared for landing and once more on approach to Dubai Airport. It was absolutely fascinating as we had free WIFI on board so could actually track EK 407 in real time.
We made a safe landing albeit a little late, to find that life was going on as normal in the airport, albeit with less than half the usual numbers of tourists, inside one of the world's largest terminals. Everyone was calm and no doubt grateful they had jobs to go to and a very competent defence force to keep them and their visitors safe. As our flight to Paris had been delayed we were grateful for a hot shower and snack in the lounge before boarding around 11.30am. The flight had lots of French families on board, and several babies but you would never had known it if you hadnt seen them in the departure lounge. Ironically as we taxied for takeoff, they were playing ' I still call Australia home' - a poignant reminder for a couple of nomads!

We joined the French families at the bar where the very obliging bar man was making the children mocktails and us oldies then curled up for some more sleep and woke up to stunning late afternoon sunshine on approach to Paris.

Safely on the ground with our passports stamped for entry into France we were wisked away by a very competent chauffeur down the motorways towards Paris. It was a relatively slow trip since it was early evening peak hour traffic, but as a result, we ended up passing familiar landmarks such as the Arc de Triumphe and travelling across Pont Alexandre III, with a view of Le Tour Eiffel just as the sun was setting.

We arrived at our delightful boutique Parisian Hotel Mistral just on dusk and after shedding our luggage, we wandered out in to the local neighbourhood seeking a GnT and vin rouge, with a simple goats cheese salad as well as some fresh air. Paris was humming and the restaurants and bars were pumping. There's no hurry here, no pressure to leave so they can accommodate another sitting and increase their evening takings, and definitely no pressure to have another drink. We did not last long and returned by 9.30pm to crawl into a real bed for a good nights sleep.

Thankyou to Emirates for giving us the confidence to follow our dreams for another year in the French countryside. Cheers Penny and RogerRead more