The Rogue Backpack

Posted on by Pete Schloss
Dear Christine and Renee.

I expected to enjoy my time on this journey with Britton but I can’t say that I expected him to be such a delightful traveling companion. Kind, thoughtful, and patient. He is beyond his years. I know that we are barely into this trip but I think that I am seeing Britton at his core, the person he is and will be.

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The flight from Kansas City to Atlanta was nondescript but pleasant. The trip from Atlanta to Paris was excellent as we were treated to high class accommodations.

 

There was plenty of room to stretch out, real food, real silverware, and real wine for me, Sprite for Britton. I fear that I may have spoiled him to the point that he will no longer be satisfied flying economy coach.

 

The “fly in the ointment” was discovered when I looked on my Delta App and saw that my bag was happily onboard, traveling with us across the Atlantic. Britton‘s bag took an unscheduled detour. I felt my anxiety rise and expressed my concern to Britton. He merely shrugged his shoulders and said that since there was nothing we could do about it at the moment, why worry. Amazing at only 15! 

Ultimately, I was able to secure enough information and contact the necessary authorities to arrange for a departure of the errant bag on the next flight to Paris, and then to Biarritz. With luck it will arrive before noon today. We will have to travel to the airport to retrieve it, €50 round-trip by taxi. I understand that Delta will pay compensation.

Last night neither Britton nor I felt particularly hungry after the stress of 20 hours of nonstop travel, but we forced ourselves to find a bite and a drink. What we found was a delightful nightlife at street-side restaurants where tapas were the order of the night.

 

 

We enjoyed four different tapas: spicy potatoes, roasted red peppers in sauce, ham and cheese croquettes, and blood sausage with a raw egg yolk.

 

All were new to Britton and he certainly found his appetite! Me too. Mineral water for Britton, an excellent wine for me, and we closed with dessert.

 

There are some very deep pockets in this town, and we overheard an order being placed for €5000 bottle of wine (about $5,500.00)! 

A hot shower and comfortable beds were the welcome finish to what had been an arduous day.

Love to both of you. Peace. Dad

PS. We just got a call from the airport. The bag has arrived! 

Our Hotel.

Written at Biarritz, France, 7 June. 

A few more pictures from Biarritz:

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19 thoughts on “The Rogue Backpack”

  3. Liz Stevens says:

    Good morning (for us) my friend! How clever that you could track the bag and get the wheels in motion to get it delivered to the airport so quickly!! I would love to know how you did that -airtags? Hmmm I will have to go back and read your post again. Also – how very interesting that you stayed in Biarritz – that never occurred to us! We were always driven to get to the start line and THEN collapse. How refreshing to not do that, to investigate yet another beautiful spot in France AND have the added bonus of being able to pick up Britton’s luggage without a plane ride/or expensive taxi!! YAY!! One step, one moment, one experience at a time – these things will all be woven into the tapestries of your lives – separately but with common threads. Ultreai!!

    • Pete Schloss says:

      Hi Liz. I’d like to say that this was great planning on my part, but it was really just dumb luck. I thought it would be nice to spend two days in Biarritz and as it turned out, that was our salvation in getting the bag returned. Delta has an app, which tracks your bag. It showed mine on the plane, but not Britton’s. It was easy from that point to get Delta to tell us where it was! They had already put in motion and expedited delivery service on the next flight to Paris. The town was lovely, a bit expensive, but the 24 hours of stress took a little bit of the shine off the experience.
      Be well, my friend!

  5. Annie says:

    Oh my gosh! Yay, Delta and bag!
    Yay, first class and staying in a comfortable bed and great food for your first night! Buen Camino!!

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