We got off the elevator knowing our room was just a short distance away. After an extremely long and hard day of travel, our reward was imminent.  We rounded the corner of the hallway and we were smacked in the face with a cool burst of air.  Air conditioning, ‘OH how I have missed you’. I wanted to stay there forever and soak in the cool breeze. But I knew an even greater award awaited us; our very own hotel with room service, a shower, and YES, our very own air conditioning!!!

Ragged and disheveled, it was hard to believe we had woke up that morning in the Champagne region of France. Beginning our day driving a rental car toward the Charles De Gaul international airport. We had only two hours left of our once in a lifetime vacation. The easy part was navigating to the massive international airport. The real needle in a haystack challenge was finding where to return the rental car.  The kindnesses of helpful airport staff made this task less daunting.

Next we boarded our transatlantic flight. The glow of a magical trip was still showing on our faces, and was soon to disappear. We didn’t know yet but we were about to have one the worst flight experiences EVER.  A hot plane, no electric outlet, cramped quarters.  Even the seats were lower than usual, and backpacks could not fit under.  Really! Add in a crying baby in the row ahead and parents that sat with their seats pushed back the whole flight.  I will spare you the other details.

Seven hours, and a late arrival later, we were sprung from our sky prison.  We had one last short international layover and our feet would be back on US soil.  The airline carrier knew we would not make our connection, but we ran through the airport anyway. It was an exercise in futility.

Getting our luggage took over an hour. Not joking!  By this time, the airline customer service desk was closing. We were given 800 number of the remote customer service office to assist with rebooking and hotel; only to call and find out they were CLOSED too!  We were trapped in Canada.  

The one bright spot was that BC has a hotel INSIDE their airport. This was perfect, well except for the price tag. Hungry, exhausted and sweaty we booked the room. We could fight the budget airline for reimbursement at a later date.

Shower and room service had me feeling human again. Then I turned to the bed and saw the next welcomed sight; PILLOWS – so many pillows on the bed I was almost suffocated by the fluff.  This got me wondering what exactly France have against air conditioning and pillows?

In this moment, I felt like royalty. Comfort at its finest.

Mamas, life can feel like one long never ending bad day of plane travel. Half the time it feels like God is speaking a foreign language; “I don’t understand!”.  For my mamas in their baby loss haze of grief, I know it can feel like you have more hot and sweaty airplane days than air conditioning days. On those trapped on a hot plane with a crying baby days, remember this too shall pass.  

Did that one bad day of travel negate our 2 magical weeks in France? Absolutely not! Would we do it all again, even if we knew in advance our nightmare trip back? Absolutely yes! Life has highs and lows, peaks and valleys.  All the more reason we must savor our air conditioning and pillow moments when they come.