SuperDave's Adventures in Eastern France's Wine Country COMPLETE!! 6/13 About This Page:

[chezp]

Originally Posted by SuperDave

Next, will be my Disney TR from this year! I have some Holiday time coming soon, so I should be able to get going on this one shortly! I went crazy with the camera as you suggested.... so it should be good! Wish, I had taken more photos in France, but I think my trip was well represented for the most part overall!

Looking forward to seeing all those photos! Trust me, while you may regret not taking enough photos, you never regret taking too many, if that makes sense?

[Colexis Mom]

Great dinner with everyone! Sorry it's all coming to an end!

[SuperDave]

Originally Posted by chezp

Looking forward to seeing all those photos! Trust me, while you may regret not taking enough photos, you never regret taking too many, if that makes sense?

Yes, it certainly does Cheryl!

I was always one without the digital camera until a few years ago. It just took a while getting used to and taking lots of photos. I took many more the 2nd half of my France trip than earlier if that makes sense! Anyway, I can't wait to share my next TR!

[SuperDave]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great dinner with everyone! Sorry it's all coming to an end!

Yeah, I'm sorry too my TR is finally ending! It's been a long progress and usually only have the time to do it on the weekends! First post was July 31 last year! WOW! It did encompass 17 days, so quite extensive. Look forward to sharing my recent WDW trip shortly!

It was a great dinner to end my trip as I'm such a fish lover!

[SuperDave]

Sorry for the lack of an update over this past weekend! I lost my internet connection Sunday some time and didn't get it back until Tuesday afternoon. After a lot of time spending on the phone with my internet provider and internet security provider on Monday I finally got it back! I don't know exactly what it was but the two seemed to agree it was some kind of Firewall conflict that shut it down, which didn't allow me to connect to the internet. Many steps they had me go through, including uninstalling my internet security. Even after this, it didn't return right away Monday night after this. I guess it took a couple of reboots to do so. I think I rebooted after the Internet Security removal, but no connection until the next day, after booting up the next day.

I think it was the Firewall and may have something to do with the daily automatic updates with my security. That's my theory! So I reinstalled my security on Tuesday and all works fine for now! I now keep a copy of my security install link on my desktop, which may help. May be good to remove and reinstall every so often. This has happened several times over the last year. My guess due to my Internet Security package, but who knows!

Anyone here have experiences like this with their internet connections? Please explain how you got it resolved!

Plan for the last installments on my trip this weekend as there is just the flight home and a wrap up! Then on to my WDW TR from April finally!

[chezp]

What a pain about the Internet. I have no words of advice for you, but I hope it's all soon back to normal again.

[Colexis Mom]

How frustrating!

[SuperDave]

Originally Posted by chezp

What a pain about the Internet. I have no words of advice for you, but I hope it's all soon back to normal again.

Thanks for the pixies Cheryl! My internet has been back since Tuesday afternoon. As I was told, by both, it's some kind of Firewall conflict. IMHO, I think it would be best of me to reinstall my security every couple of months and uninstall just prior to this. My guess is this is where the problem is coming from and most likely from the daily updates of my Internet Security package. Just a guess, but makes sense. When I talked with those (they didn't want to put blame on anyone) but insinuated that it was from the Firewall and my Internet Security package. Don't need to provide their name unless by PM if interested.

Will update by uninstalling the entire package every so often. I think a lot of the problems is with the daily updates.

What do you think???

[SuperDave]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

How frustrating!

Yes it was! Thanks for the Pixies! I shared my concerns on this in response to Cheryl's post! Makes sense to me and let me know how you feel!

[Cam22]

What a hassle! Glad it's all fixed now.

[SuperDave]

Originally Posted by Cam22

What a hassle! Glad it's all fixed now.

It certainly has been a hassle at times!

I think this is the fourth time this has happened since mid August, when I moved in to my new place.

Always, felt it was something to do with my cable connection, but now I think it's with my Internet Security and especially the Firewall. I think that what has been causing my problems. And may be why, every couple of months, when I try to log on to the internet for the first time during the day, I don't get a connection. I have a particular named Security Package (won't name it here) and I have friends who have had problems with this one as well. My guess (as I'm not an expert with these things) is that it may have something to do with the daily updates (Firewall) and something isn't uploaded with these and so there may be a conflict as to not allow me to connect to the internet. I don't know what to say as I can't prevent this in the future. Wish I could!

Both my Internet Security company and my Cable Provider have said it was a Firewall problem, although as expected, neither would accept responsibility as you would think

Got the idea from my conversations with both of them where the problem lies. I think, it may be a good idea to uninstall my entire Internet Security every couple of months and especially the Firewall. Then reinstall the whole thing as this is more than likely the problem. I now keep a a link for my IS Install link. I will change my IS provider once my contract ends. It goes through, I believe sometime in January next year.

As, I feel my IS provider is the root of the problem, it may be time to find another. What do you think and welcome your suggestions!?

Sorry, for the long response, but this has bothered me quite a bit off and on for some time!

Any computer experts on Passporter with better solutions to alleviate my pc problems (much more than myself) are most welcome!

Not exactly, the way I want the the final installments of my France TR to consist of! Better ones ahead, but just a bump in the road for a bit!

[SuperDave]

Saturday, 18 May (Marseilles and the Trip Home)

It was an early rise at about 5:30 a.m. Too early, especially on departure day, but would be better as it would be a long day with a connecting flight involved.

I basically packed up my remaining things and checked to make sure I didn’t leave anything behind. I brought my bags with me to the dining room a few floors down to get some breakfast. They were just setting up, but I was able to be served. I had a croissant, yogurt, orange juice and coffee. After, finishing my breakfast, I took the elevator down to the lobby. It was about 6:30 am and our tour director, Toni was down there to make sure our transportation arrived at 7 am and got us to the airport. There would be five us going to Marseille’s International Airport. It would be Paul and Nancy from Arizona, Larry and Audrianne from California (not 100% sure) and myself.

There was still a bit of time, before our taxi would arrive, so I took a walk outside for a bit, that didn’t last too long as it was raining pretty steadily. I returned to the hotel and relaxed in the lobby for a bit. The others, were now there, so we just waited for our taxi to get here. It arrived about ten minutes early. We said our goodbyes to Toni and thanked her for doing such a great job for us during our two weeks together in Eastern France!

The trip to the airport, I think took about twenty minutes or so. Paul, Nancy and I gave our adieus to Larry and Audrianne (who had to check in at another end of the terminal) and the three of us checked in with Air France. Paul and Nancy would be on a connecting flight as well. I think they had two of them. Their first from Marseilles to Paris, another from Paris to Atlanta and from there to Flagstaff, Arizona. Now they really had a long day ahead of them!

The three of us went to the kiosks to check in for our flights. Paul and Nancy were having trouble with this. So they had to walk to another part of the terminal to check in. I had no trouble at all. May have something to do with being in Air France’s frequent flyer program. Don’t have that many miles with them yet.

Next, it was off to the baggage line to have them weighed and tagged. The line was quite slow as there was a group tour from Australia in front of me that took forever. After I finished, I saw Nancy and Paul, who said it was something of a hassle checking in for the flight. It was something about the kiosk not recognizing their reservation. They got it resolved at one of the check in desks. I gave my goodbyes to the two of them and they went on their way to the gates to wait for their flight.

It was now about 8:15 am and had a bit of time before my connecting flight to Amsterdam and Schipol Airport. I got a coffee from a food stand and just relaxed a bit before heading upstairs to go through security. The line for security was not too bad and moved rather well. On the way to my gate, I ran into Nancy and Paul, who were about to board their flight. My Air France flight boarded on time around 9 am. I had an aisle seat as I wasn’t given the option of selecting a seat, when I made the reservation. That was fine as it was pretty much cloud cover all the way during the two hour flight to Amsterdam.

My flight took off on time at just after 9:30 am. I can’t exactly remember the plane type I was on, but may have been an Airbus 320. Those are quite popular in the JetBlue fleet as well. We were given a snack on board with some coffee and croissants. They weren’t bad. My flight landed on time at about 11:30 am. I had to go through Passport Control after departing the plane and wasn’t too long of a walk as it was when I landed in Paris two weeks ago. The line moved quite fast. I think there may have been only a few people ahead of me.

I had almost two hours until my next flight would depart. Just relaxed a bit in the airport, writing down notes on my trip and visited the duty free shops, although, I didn’t buy anything. I also got a strawberry smoothie from one of the food stands in the airport.

It was not about 12:30 pm, so I went through security and then to my gate for my flight. Security line took about ten minutes. That wasn’t too bad. I’ve had longer waits at MCO! There was a bit of time before they would begin the boarding of my flight, so just relaxed for a while.

My plane was a KLM 777, so it was a big one to go across the pond. The flight boarded and departed pretty much on time. I had a window seat this time around! We were served two meals on the plane with some small sandwiches for lunch and a few hours later I had some kind of seasoned chicken in sauce with a salad, rolls, ice cream, coffee and wine. It was actually quite good! One of the flight attendants came around afterwards and asked if I wanted a cognac, so I had one! Better yet as no charge on the international flights.

Watched a couple of movies on the in flight entertainment screen at my seat. Had a choice of quite a few of them. Watched “Argo” with Ben Affleck and the 80's classic “Stand By Me.” Took a bit of a nap during the flight, but not too long. My flight landed at JFK in New York at 2:50 pm local time. To me, it was 8:50 pm. We departed the plane with not too long of a wait and went to Passport Control. The line wasn’t too bad and took about 10-15 minutes. I was asked if I had brought back any food items and just told them a couple bottles of wine, sea salt and a can of foie gras. No big deal as long as they’re sealed. I hope so... as I don’t want to imagine what my carry on bag would smell like!

I departed the terminal and called my friend Greg from work who would be driving me home from the airport. I had to call him a few times as the connection wasn’t that good plus all the outside noise. I finally got him, after walking a few hundred yards to the far end of the terminal outside, where it was a lot quieter! He was in a lot of traffic, but would be there soon. He arrived around 4:30 pm or so and I was on my way home. There was quite a lot of traffic on the Van Wyck Expressway, so after getting through this, the traffic wasn’t bad and I arrived back home to Connecticut at about 6 pm. I was a bit tired and decided to leave the bags in my bedroom and unpack the next day! Relaxed for a few hours with some TV and headed to bed around 9:30 pm, but my body was saying 3:30 am!

What a whirlwind of a great trip this was!!!!

NEXT: Summing It All Up!

[chezp]

Sounds like you had a very smooth journey back home, even with the connecting flight, but what a long day. Regularly experiencing that whenever we fly out to the States, you have my sympathy on that count!

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us - it's been so much fun to read!

[Colexis Mom]

Sorry it's all over but at least you had a good travel day! Looking forward to your wrap up!

[SuperDave]

Originally Posted by chezp

Sounds like you had a very smooth journey back home, even with the connecting flight, but what a long day. Regularly experiencing that whenever we fly out to the States, you have my sympathy on that count!

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us - it's been so much fun to read!

I'm not a big fan of connecting flights and I avoid them if I can, even if a direct one costs a bit more! My first trip to Europe in 1995 took me from JFK to London's Gatwick to Lyon, France and to Rome! That was an interesting way on my first experience with international travel!

Glad you've enjoyed the TR and will be just one more post to wrap it up!