September 21, 2026

Monday

Wien, Austria > Aéroport de Paris – Charles de Gaulle (Roissy-en-France) > Torino, Piemonte, Italia

Should be obvious this is a travel day. Flying from Wien Austria to Torino, Italia via Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on Air France. Air France and KLM, our usually choice, are owned by the same holding company. Our flight is at 12:15, so we should leave the hotel by 09:00.

The plan is to take Uber to the airport. We could take the metro, but it is easier, although apparently no quicker, to take Uber. It is almost a kilometer to the airport bus station from the hotel. Rome2Rio says the bus costs $19 per person and take twenty minutes to get to the airport bus terminal. A taxi is $32. Uber is $52. Bolt is the same as Uber. Oh well, we’ll take Uber. It is the app.

We managed to get things together and check-out of the hotel just after it had gone 09:00. I opened the Uber app and ordered up a car for the airport. The app indicated the cost would be €40 (about $46). Rone2rio has put a greater price on things than they actually are, but that is better than telling us that everything is cheaper and having it turn out more expensive than expected.

The airport in Wien has something we haven’t see before. A completely staff less bag drop. Even first class is expected to print their own tags, tag their bags, put them on the belt, scan the tag and wait for the bag to disappear down the belt. Now in additional to the due-it-yourself issue, there is one bag drop for all airlines. We quickly learned you have to wait, patiently, for the bag to advance on the belt to the next station before you can put the next bag on to be weighed and scanned. Obviously this is totally new to most flyer sas everyone was having issues, and that was only compounded by the fact there was only one guy trying to help everyone out. He spent most of his time shouting instructions in German, and it is strongly suspected most of the flyers didn’t have a scintilla of a clue what he was saying.

There was no line for security, but they do take it very seriously. Mary and I were the only people there. They stopped me as I went through the scanner. Wiped both sides of my hand and fed the strips into a machine. Then they let me go. They patted down Mary, ran the wand over her several time. They then wanted to have her open they bags so they could inspect them. Apparently the banana she had looked suspicious.

Once pass security into was into the duty free maze. Just past the duty free maze was the Vienna Lounge. Apparently they are trying to make all the airlines alike, so here, like the baggage drop, it is one lounge for all the airlines. Now honestly, it was a very nice lounge with a number of spots open. There was a lot of food options and several express machines. We sat and enjoy a cappuccino and a croissant; which I shouldn’t have had.

Not long before the flight we headed down to the gate. We had a few minutes before they started boarding, but as soon as they did we were right there. We boarded the plan and took out assigned seats. We were in 2D &2F. The middle seat E is empty because we bought first class tickets. Yes, it is a short flight (little more than two hours to Paris)  but the cost of flying economy and checking a bag was only slight less than first class where up to three bags are free. We each checked two bags. We each carried on a backpack, mine has our medications, and a purse, mine has all of our identifications, passports, etc, and a little cash.

We are on Air France which is partnered or owns KLM of which we are Flying Blue mileage program. Any European carrier is superior to any American Carrier. The seats are just that extra little bit wider. There was a USB-C plug in to charge my phone an iPad. The food was very good. We not only left on time, but we managed to arrive fifteen minutes early.

We landed in Paris and we had just about ninety-minutes to get to our next gate. Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) is massive. We didn’t think we had far to walk because we landed in Terminal 2A and our flight left from 2G. Well, Terminal 2 consists of seven connected or shuttle-linked departure halls labeled 2A through 2G. So far that dosen’t sound so bad.

Halls 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D are located on the western/northern side of the terminal complex. Halls 2A and 2C are paired, as are 2B and 2D, with short 10-minute walking connections between adjacent zones. Halls 2C, 2E and 2F are positioned centrally alongside the shared Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 2. A train (TGV/RER) station located underneath the common linking area. Terminal 2F handles the major Schengen and European (meaning Italy) departures with security checkpoints leading to gates 24–36 (left) and 41–56 (boat-shaped terminal zone). However, we were looking for Terminal 2G. It turns out that Terminal 2G is a dedicated regional terminal accessible only via dedicated airport shuttle buses from 2F.  Not only that, but Terminal 2G is roughly 800 meters (about three-quarters of a mile) away from the main complex.

We got to Terminal 2F without any problem. We couldn’t see an access for Terminal 2G. Then we saw a waiting ares for the handicapped where we inquired about the location of Terminal 2G. Turns out the sign was on the wall behind us. So we took the escalator down to the ground floor and discovered we had to take a bus ride to the Terminal. While it maybe 800 meters away the route involved a number of turns and tunnels (which go under the runways).

We arrive at Terminal 2G still with plenary of time. Now I know you are thinking this must be a cow shed on the far aside of the airport; and you would be correct if you were in the US. However, Terminal 2G is a really nice new terminal. Yes, we had a ramp to get into the airplane and not a tunnel like you might usually see. But, you should note it was a ramp not stairs. The plane was a small one, an Embraer ERJ-190. Two seats on either side of a central isle. We did book first class, only this time they simply gave us two seat. I got the bulk head and Mary got the row behind me.

It is a one-hour flight from Paris to Torino. One an American carrier you would expect no service whatsoever. Here they served drinks to all classes, and they served a nice-looking poached salmon dinner to first class. We took off on time and still arrived a few minutes early.

The Torino airport isn’t very big. It didn’t take us long to walk down the ramp to the baggage carousels. We waited just a few minutes and our bags arrived. Which was truly a surprise to us. We thought we the system in Wein that they wouldn’t make it and then the distance from the main terminal in Paris to the regional terminal would make a good transfer impossible. But it made it.

We were outside and ready to be picked up by 17:00; five minutes before our schedule arrival time. Due to our activity on Booking.com, we got a free side to the AirB&B. The taxi was supposed to meet us at arrivals, but we were early. We texted him. He said he was on his way, and we gave him our position. I told him to look for my red hat. A few minutes later he found us and directed us to waiting area for reserved cars.

We were at the AirB&B by 18:00. We were in constant contact with Niccoló concerning getting in. He arrived a few minutes after us and took us up to the 1st floor. We were immediately surprised. We thought we had booked and entire apartment, as usual. However, this is a shared apartment with right or nine rooms, and four shared bathrooms. There is a lovely kitchen, actually two.

It should be mentioned here that it was 85 degrees. Oh, and the next couple days we be cooler when it drops down to 79. This is important, because this accommodation has no air conditioning. He was really nice and gave us a second fan. Are you thinking college dorm? You got it! Our room has one double bed and two twin beds. It also had a small desk, and a small armoire, and a modern clothes tree for hanging you jacket. Not that a jacket is needed here.

We has booked this accommodation for next week as well. One of the first things we did when we got connected to the Wi-Fi was cancelled next week and book ourselves in to the NH Collection Torino Santa Stefano. As for now, we are here four nights, well really only three, Wednesday we are overnighting at Serra’s while she and Pietro go meet friends in Milano.

This accommodation has a great location, why it was chosen, it is in Piazza Vittorio Veneto just two blocks from Serra. One of the first things we notice when we arrived was that the piazza was full of white tents. Well, apparently this weekend Piazza Vittorio Veneto in Turin serves as one of the key urban hubs for Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2026, the international Slow Food biodiversity and food culture event. We would learn later that it is also taking place in Piazza San Carlo, Piazza Castello and Piazza Carlo Alberto, all places we tend to frequent. While it would be fun to attend, we will be heading to the Valtellina on Friday for Amadea’s 2nd birthday. It is also the weekend to harvest the grapes to make the wine.

We settled in and then walked to McDonald’s just to get something quick to eat. We stopped by the supermarket where we met Serra. We helped her carry her groceries home. Visited for a few minutes, and the headed back to our “room” for the night.

We with it being a travel day, not to mention spending about six hours flying, we managed to get our 10,000 steps.  

Buonanotte & Ciao

Enrico and Maria