Monday, May 11, 2009

Flight Schedule - American Airlines

May 25
2:00pm Depart Tulsa
3:45pm Arrive Chicago
5:30pm Depart Chicago
May 26
8:45am Arrive Paris

June 3
12:15pm Depart Paris
2:30pm Arrive Chicago
8:20pm Depart Chicago
10:15pm Arrive Tulsa

Please arrive at the airport at noon on May 25.
I will meet you at the American Airlines check-in counter.

Some Notes about Time and Jetlag
In order to understand what the flight schedule above will mean to you as a traveler, you need to remember that Chicago is in the same time zone as Tulsa but that Paris is 7 hours ahead of Tulsa. Therefore, when we arrive in Paris, it will be 8:45 in the morning there but we will have been traveling for 12 hours! The sun will be bright and people all around us will be on their way to work. It will be the start of a new day for all the Parisians around us. However, our bodies will still be on Oklahoma time and it will feel like it's 1:45 in the morning. We will want nothing more than to lie down and sleep. When we get off the plane, we will have to collect our checked luggage and take it through customs which will take at least an hour. Then, we will have to take a train (which is connected to the airport) into the city. That ride will be about 45 minutes. Once we get off the train, we change to the metro (subway). We will change subway trains at least once before we get to the metro stop nearest the hotel. When we get off the metro, we will walk a few blocks to the hotel. We will probably arrive at the hotel around noon Paris time -- but our bodies will feel like it's 5am and we haven't gone to bed. We will be very tired and cranky but the best thing to do is to keep going. Taking a nap is usually a big mistake. If, instead of going to sleep when we reach the hotel, we go to lunch and then take a stroll in the city, we will all sleep well that night and the jetlag issue will be resolved by the next day. Obviously, anyone with a medical condition that makes going without sleep dangerous should follow the doctor's advice. But, for the rest of us, we'll keep each other awake until at least 8pm Paris time.I strongly advise everyone to abstain from alcohol or sedatives on May 25 and May 26. Even if flying makes you anxious, don't take a sedative or you may make yourself more miserable rather than less. If your doctor advises otherwise, let me know.There should be no jetlag problems with the return trip if you go to bed fairly soon after arriving home.

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