So you've heard about the snowstorm disaster that downed thousands of travelers at Charles De Gaulle and Orly airports - not to mention London, Frankfurt, and scores of other European travel hubs - leaving them/me stranded for hours, others for days. It was apparently the worst snowstorm recorded in Paris in 25 years. I survived and am safely back in the US, but it happened and it was awful and I was witness to some pretty gnarly airport behavior. Air France, in particular, was woefully unprepared, especially considering they had some time in between last week's drama and this past weekend to get it together.

As soon as I arrived at Charles De Gaulle, I was overwhelmed by all the passengers sleeping and sitting on the ground at the Air France terminal. There were some European airports that actually tried to accommodate the stranded, like Munich and Amsterdam, which provided travelers with beds and entertainment, but Air France never gave much thought to their passengers. Naturally, my flight was delayed six hours and the gate changed three times with no signage. You had to ask someone where the next gate was going to be. I came home (still on Europe time, which meant 6 am) to find out that Air France had misplaced almost 40 of passengers' luggage. They never issued claim tickets, so, even as I write this, I can't trace my bag. And customer service will not pick up the phone. Merde.

Let's hope Air France actually learns something from this experience. I know I did.