You wouldn’t believe it. If we had known what was in store for Michelle before her journey back to North America… we may have opted out! But praise to God for his calming presence, Michelle persevered through many obstacles to reach home. Here is the itinerary we expected, followed by what happened:

• Air France:
• Feb 27: Biarritz BIQ to Paris ORY airport, followed by a cross-town bus to get to the next airport Paris CDG. She had 4 hours to do this, which should be enough time.
• Paris CDG to Montreal, with a 2 hour layover.
• Montreal to Toronto, arriving at midnight Feb 27/28.
• A 5 hour stay at the airport (it’s too short a stay to pay for a hotel)
• American Air:
• Feb 28 6 am flight from Toronto to Dallas DFW, arriving at 9 am
• Dallas DFW to Tyler TYR, arriving at 11 am, Feb 28. Easy peasy.

It started at the airport here in Biarritz. Michelle checked in the night before, then received an email that her flight was delayed. So we made a call and the agent on the phone told Michelle she was booked on a slightly later flight. That would work but Michelle would have one hour less to make the cross-Paris trip to change airports. We went to bed a little worried.

When we arrived at the Biarritz airport the fun started! Michelle was informed that she not in fact booked on the next flight but was placed on standby only. Well, that wouldn’t work! We explained how she had a connecting flight to Toronto from Paris, and if she missed this first flight she’d miss the Toronto flight, which in turn would make her miss the Dallas flight. The agent was surprisingly calm and kind and began to look for other options. These included taking a taxi from Biarritz to Bordeaux where she could make it to Paris in time for a later flight from Paris to Toronto, but she’d still miss the Dallas leg, and she’d still be on standby at Bordeaux, thus potentially not getting ont he flight AND being stuck in Bordeaux; leaving in an hour for a multi-city journey around France, getting her to Paris again in time for a later flight but once again too late for the American Air flight to Dallas. It wasn’t looking good. Michelle needed to get to Paris to get that one flight.

Suddenly, I wondered if trains were running. The flight cancellations and delays were due to a storm, but maybe trains would be running. I checked and there was one train, leaving in 45 minutes, that would get Michelle to Paris in time for the original Paris-Montreal-Toronto flight. So we asked the agent to confirm that Michelle could skip the Biarritz leg, take the train, and still be able to take the Paris flight. Normally, this isn’t possible. But the agent got on the phone, talked awhile as we kept looking at the time. then, she typed something into her terminal, and handed Michelle a boarding pass for her Paris flight! Michelle could skip BIQ-ORY, as long as she made it to Paris in time for the flight! Amazing! So we raced to the bus stop and hopped on the bus going to the train station downtown.

A bus has never felt so slow. But we were blessed by technology – the France train system has a mobile app, so while we sat on the bus we bought a train ticket for Michelle. Thank God for that because by the time we got to the station the lineup to buy tickets was really long, and she had 10 minutes to spare. We find her track, stand there breathlessly, and thank God for this option. The train pulls up, Michelle hops on after we pray for her, and off she went, thinking the worst was over. In four hours she would be in Paris.

Michelle got to Paris fine, and took the metro to the CDG airport. It didn’t seem to crazy, and her flight even departed on time. But then later I looked online…. what…. her flight from Montreal to Toronto… CANCELLED???

Sure enough, due to the huge winter storm in Ontario airports were canceling flights left and right. And the worst was that Michelle had no clue! Well, she did a little before landing. She landed in Montreal around 9 pm Feb 27, and amazingly she was met by an Air France agent at the gate. Michelle was one of the few with connecting flights, and Air France was working hard to help those passengers. They put her up in a hotel, paid for her dinner and breakfast, and generally were so helpeful. Except for the agents on the phone, again. Michelle was being given options such as staying in Montreal all weekend, or flying to other cities before Toronto, but days later. This was terrible because missing the flight to Dallas would basically mean she would have to skip her Texas visit. It would simply be too expensive to buy another flight now. Suddenly, an email arrives saying her American Air flight from Toronto to Dallas was delayed, also because of the storm, and so we could change the Dallas-Tyler leg for free. Wow. Ok, but first we had to get her to Dallas. After more time on the phone it was clear there were no options. All Michelle could do was go to bed.

The next morning, early, Michelle gets up, eats a good breakfast, and calls from her hotel to the AA number. MIRACLES! In the middle of the night a huge Dreamliner from London to Toronto had to land in Montreal. The weather had cleared enough that that huge plane was going to be able to leave early. Michelle could get on it if she wanted. YES YES YES! It was so big it could take the equivalent of three other planes’ worth of passengers. Everyone who made it on board was cheering and happy. They made it to Toronto!

Now, remember, the AA flight was also delayed, so Michelle went to the desk to try to work something out. She was told there was no option to get her to Dallas that day. Strange. So I go online and find a flight leaving from Toronto to Chicago to Dallas… could she not get on that? It was the ONLY flight to Dallas from Toronto that we could find that would get her to Dallas in time for the last Tyler flight. She asks the agent and they tell her yes, they had thought she wanted a direct flight. Because it was a delay that the airline made there was no charge to go through Chicago, and we could then change the DFW-TYR flight to 9 pm without any charge. Shortly after, Michelle was back in the air. Phew. What a roller coaster of emotion.

There was a scare that the plane would for Chicago would be delayed, but in the end it left early. And got to Dallas early, and so Michelle could have a breather. She hadn’t slept nor really eaten in 24 hours. But knowing she was close to seeing her parents and sister gave her strength. Sure enough, she landed in Tyler (a city close to where her parents live) at 11 pm. Only 12 hours later than the original plan. Oh, but what a whirlwind!