Trains featured as we left central France on what is becoming our regular Inter City journey into Paris Bercy. New to us SNCF cars and in general smoother track than earlier in the year, maybe a combination of trackwork and rolling stock, very smooth. Across Paris to Charles de Gaulle airport with the express RER trains, transferred at Chatelet Les Halles this time, it was so easy we wonder why we didn't use that route before.
CDG airport one of the more frustrating airports we've used as it can be brilliant and crazy bad all in one airport.
Flight via Egyptair was normal, cabin crew were poor though. Passing through the passport control in Cairo we had a very serious border officer, he looked like trouble. After checking our passports, visas and entry cards very thoroughly, he handed our papers back, looked me in the eye and said "have fun".
We couldn't wait to get to Cairo, we love it like we love New York City, endless energy and noise, reminds us we are alive.
Cairo has all that but really ramped up. Imagine NYC on a really busy noisy day with the entire city looking like a street market, then add the volume turned right up. The cab ride into the centre is one of the great journeys in the world, no doubt about that.
I wrote about that first airport to city centre cab ride in our 2020 visit, it was special, this time it was equally special in a completely different way.
To start the cab driver could easily have been my dad, I'm 74. He was sent by an Egyptian friend as he wouldn't 'rob' us with a high fare. At the airport he held up a large sign someone had printed off for him... Gamey and Rosie. Not sure if the US meaning of Gamey is the same as the UK one, but it's a new version of my name I have to live with now, according to Rosie.
He didn't speak any English, why should he, he's Egyptian and in Cairo. But the other younger drivers helped us to converse, aided by our Egyptian friend translating at the end of a phone Nabil held out to us.
He's an unofficial taxi so not allowed to park at the taxi rank, we follow him to the gigantic car park out front. He had forgotten where he had parked the car, but we got there eventually. I carried most of the bags as he looked a bit frail, although he put up a fight as he intimated it was his job.
The car park was just as Cairo streets are, no specific direction and appearing random. But those in Cairo including pedestrians know how it works and we have yet to see an accident, near misses don't count.
Nabil was very polite and ushered us both into the back seats and held the door open on each side. By the time we entered the parking payment booth it had already been an adventure, I marvelled at his judgement in just getting out of the car park. I asked if I could sit up front with him, he said "om". But most of the ride it was the only word he said to any question or exclamation from Rosie or I.
A mile or two down the road he swerved across two lanes and stopped suddenly. Got out on a 5 lane highway travelling quite fast, opened my door and walked me round to the front passenger seat. Opened the door for me again, I felt like royalty that he had treated me so courteously in such a precarious location.
Sitting in the front was exciting and amazing, some here will know I was involved in various areas of the auto industry but never had this type of experience before.
First up was the car instrument panel, 8 warning lamps on this model. 6 of them were permanently on including a couple that had serious reasons to light up and warn the driver.
Second, the first and only driver in Cairo I have seen use indicators when changing lane or complete direction change. I could hear the light 'click' as he moved the indicator lever left and right, but 10 minutes down the road realised none of the indicator lights were working. Guess he had learnt to use them as good driving practice decades before and now it was automatic, It seemed to satisfy him that he had flicked the indicator switch on to warn other road users. That no flasher lights lit up wasn't the point.
The horn is used several times a minute by every driver, his was strangely subdued, no make that silent. That was his prime method of warning others of a more violent direction change.
And it continued... Pulled up in the front row at a red light, he got out, left his door open, walked round to the outside of the door, took hold of the top edge of the driver's door window and lifted it out, yes that's right, out. Opened a rear door and placed it gently on the rear parcel shelf.
Got back in cool as a cucumber just in time for the light to change from green to red, no one behind indicated that they were bothered they had missed the whole of the green light.
It was just after this that I had the feeling he was passing cars on the RH side quite closely and took a look in the passenger door mirror, but it wasn't there, it was gone. What was there was a large hole at the front edge of the door, so even if he had another mirror there was nothing to fix it to.
Now approaching downtown and in a slower section of the 5 lane (about 40 mph) was a male roller skater coming towards us, into the traffic, between lane one and two, not along the pavement side... brave or? Not a driver blinked or swerved.
Nabil is a lovely man, determined to do his best for his clients. Yes he forgot a few driving moves, ignored that he was making a two lane a three lane, was a bit slower in thought than he may have been and other driving niceties, but he had a real sense for how the traffic flowed, that he was part of shoal that moved as one this way and that.
When we arrived at the hotel he wanted to carry our bags up the many steps, we had to physically stop him trying. He got on the phone to our friend, handed it over, we got the price and gave him a tip. He looked me in the eye, put a hand on each shoulder, stared some more then kissed each of my shoulders, then was gone into the night.
It's a trip we'll remember for all the best reasons, exciting, unique and charming, just like Nabil.
Got to the hotel desk on the 4th floor, pleasant young man at the desk and said welcome with a big smile. I asked if he spoke English (it's an international hotel) at which point he handed over his phone with Google translate already on the screen.
We knew we were back in Cairo.
Friday 2 December is our first Egyptian train journey of this visit, we will both try to get some photos along the way. It will mainly be a photo report from here in, just wanted to give a sense of what another world Cairo is and our excitement at landing in Egypt again.
There is an Egyptian National Railways (ENR) museum at Cairo Rameses railway station, anyone want us to check anything out for them or ask a question or photo something specific? We'd be happy to do so.
We should be making a visit either this Thursday or more probably in just over a week's time when we return to Cairo for a for a week before flying to the UK.
CDG airport one of the more frustrating airports we've used as it can be brilliant and crazy bad all in one airport.
Flight via Egyptair was normal, cabin crew were poor though. Passing through the passport control in Cairo we had a very serious border officer, he looked like trouble. After checking our passports, visas and entry cards very thoroughly, he handed our papers back, looked me in the eye and said "have fun".
We couldn't wait to get to Cairo, we love it like we love New York City, endless energy and noise, reminds us we are alive.
Cairo has all that but really ramped up. Imagine NYC on a really busy noisy day with the entire city looking like a street market, then add the volume turned right up. The cab ride into the centre is one of the great journeys in the world, no doubt about that.
I wrote about that first airport to city centre cab ride in our 2020 visit, it was special, this time it was equally special in a completely different way.
To start the cab driver could easily have been my dad, I'm 74. He was sent by an Egyptian friend as he wouldn't 'rob' us with a high fare. At the airport he held up a large sign someone had printed off for him... Gamey and Rosie. Not sure if the US meaning of Gamey is the same as the UK one, but it's a new version of my name I have to live with now, according to Rosie.
He didn't speak any English, why should he, he's Egyptian and in Cairo. But the other younger drivers helped us to converse, aided by our Egyptian friend translating at the end of a phone Nabil held out to us.
He's an unofficial taxi so not allowed to park at the taxi rank, we follow him to the gigantic car park out front. He had forgotten where he had parked the car, but we got there eventually. I carried most of the bags as he looked a bit frail, although he put up a fight as he intimated it was his job.
The car park was just as Cairo streets are, no specific direction and appearing random. But those in Cairo including pedestrians know how it works and we have yet to see an accident, near misses don't count.
Nabil was very polite and ushered us both into the back seats and held the door open on each side. By the time we entered the parking payment booth it had already been an adventure, I marvelled at his judgement in just getting out of the car park. I asked if I could sit up front with him, he said "om". But most of the ride it was the only word he said to any question or exclamation from Rosie or I.
A mile or two down the road he swerved across two lanes and stopped suddenly. Got out on a 5 lane highway travelling quite fast, opened my door and walked me round to the front passenger seat. Opened the door for me again, I felt like royalty that he had treated me so courteously in such a precarious location.
Sitting in the front was exciting and amazing, some here will know I was involved in various areas of the auto industry but never had this type of experience before.
First up was the car instrument panel, 8 warning lamps on this model. 6 of them were permanently on including a couple that had serious reasons to light up and warn the driver.
Second, the first and only driver in Cairo I have seen use indicators when changing lane or complete direction change. I could hear the light 'click' as he moved the indicator lever left and right, but 10 minutes down the road realised none of the indicator lights were working. Guess he had learnt to use them as good driving practice decades before and now it was automatic, It seemed to satisfy him that he had flicked the indicator switch on to warn other road users. That no flasher lights lit up wasn't the point.
The horn is used several times a minute by every driver, his was strangely subdued, no make that silent. That was his prime method of warning others of a more violent direction change.
And it continued... Pulled up in the front row at a red light, he got out, left his door open, walked round to the outside of the door, took hold of the top edge of the driver's door window and lifted it out, yes that's right, out. Opened a rear door and placed it gently on the rear parcel shelf.
Got back in cool as a cucumber just in time for the light to change from green to red, no one behind indicated that they were bothered they had missed the whole of the green light.
It was just after this that I had the feeling he was passing cars on the RH side quite closely and took a look in the passenger door mirror, but it wasn't there, it was gone. What was there was a large hole at the front edge of the door, so even if he had another mirror there was nothing to fix it to.
Now approaching downtown and in a slower section of the 5 lane (about 40 mph) was a male roller skater coming towards us, into the traffic, between lane one and two, not along the pavement side... brave or? Not a driver blinked or swerved.
Nabil is a lovely man, determined to do his best for his clients. Yes he forgot a few driving moves, ignored that he was making a two lane a three lane, was a bit slower in thought than he may have been and other driving niceties, but he had a real sense for how the traffic flowed, that he was part of shoal that moved as one this way and that.
When we arrived at the hotel he wanted to carry our bags up the many steps, we had to physically stop him trying. He got on the phone to our friend, handed it over, we got the price and gave him a tip. He looked me in the eye, put a hand on each shoulder, stared some more then kissed each of my shoulders, then was gone into the night.
It's a trip we'll remember for all the best reasons, exciting, unique and charming, just like Nabil.
Got to the hotel desk on the 4th floor, pleasant young man at the desk and said welcome with a big smile. I asked if he spoke English (it's an international hotel) at which point he handed over his phone with Google translate already on the screen.
We knew we were back in Cairo.
Friday 2 December is our first Egyptian train journey of this visit, we will both try to get some photos along the way. It will mainly be a photo report from here in, just wanted to give a sense of what another world Cairo is and our excitement at landing in Egypt again.
There is an Egyptian National Railways (ENR) museum at Cairo Rameses railway station, anyone want us to check anything out for them or ask a question or photo something specific? We'd be happy to do so.
We should be making a visit either this Thursday or more probably in just over a week's time when we return to Cairo for a for a week before flying to the UK.
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