My crossed fingers didn’t work, but not for the reason I was worried about. The timing in Paris would have been tight, but we would have made it. However the typhoon caused another problem – because of it, Korean Airlines had to make a detour further south through Chinese airspace, and the Chinese were being reluctant to give permission for this. I think that’s the story – the accents of the cabin staff made it a bit hard to get information. The problem for us was that we boarded the aircraft at the normal time, then were told that there would be at least an hour and a half delay. By then of course we had no access to phones or internet, or we could have cancelled accommodation and changed our connecting flight to the next day. All we could do was sit tight until we finally arrived in Paris and see what happened.

We ended up nearly 2 hours late, then were confronted with MASSIVE lines to get through immigration at Charles de Gaulle airport. Finally someone called for passengers with connecting flights to come forward and we sideslipped the lines and got through very quickly. Then it was a very long wait for luggage to come through, followed by conflicting information about how to get to the other terminal. Turned out it was very easy if you knew where to go, there is a little automatic shuttle train which speeds between stations. We arrived at Terminal 1 with our luggage to find the check-in desk closed and our aircraft taxiing away from the gate.

So, regroup and decide what to do. One of the stations on the shuttle train was for airport hotels so we went back there and found the Novotel right outside the door. Checked in about 10pm, quickly had dinner before the restaurant closed – it had been many hours since the last meal on the plane and we were all starving. Chad had his iPad with him, and used it to book flights for the next morning, and Al phoned the hotel in Dublin to notify them that we weren’t coming. They hadn’t expected us until midnight anyway, so not too bad. At this stage we’re out of pocket for the extra airfares, last minute so top dollar, but hopefully we can arrange something with Korean and our travel insurance to get at least some of it back.

The trip to Dublin was great, lovely sunny day as we came in over the city. Immigration was friendly, and there was no customs as such. Just like the French and Koreans, they don’t care what you bring in – seems so strange after our stringent quarantine and America’s strict immigration. The shuttle bus to the hotel was efficient, the hotel very central, old but comfortable and interesting. We decided to stay another night in Dublin or there would be no time for sightseeing, with the hope that the hotel would not charge us for the night we cancelled. As it turned out, Deb and Chad got away with it but the rest had to pay. However Chad was ripped off for parking the hire car, while we were charged correctly, so it all came out in the wash.

By now it’s Saturday, off to see the sights, with a walk through the city streets, over the River Liffey and through a demonstration/parade of zombies! Seems to be an annual event, but it totally stopped the traffic and for the rest of the day we saw blood-soaked, fanged creatures at every corner. It was also a huge Irish football weekend, not a good choice for a visit really, because in the evening every pub was overflowing with drunks. Very vibrant atmosphere though! Some had Guiness pie for lunch.

On Sunday morning, Lisa, Deb and I set off for a run, the others walking. Deb, a squash player not a runner, planned to turn back after a couple of kms, but ended up doing the whole 5km with us. We ran down around St Stephens Green, a lovely park which was locked and you could see why – every street corner had been used as a urinal and there was rubbish everywhere from the celebrations the night before. It was easy to imagine how wrecked the park would be if drunks could access it during the night. Quite a few celebrants still roamed the streets, one of them giving Lisa a solid slap on the backside as she ran past – she was so shocked she didn’t react and Deb and I hadn’t seen it happen! We told her it was a compliment – he obviously chose hers as the best backside. The area also contains the university and library where the Book of Kells is kept, and Dublin Castle. It is a very beautiful Georgian area, with many important historic buildings and narrow cobbled lanes.

Later in the morning we set off to visit the sights, but the bad luck continued. The Castle didn’t open until midday, when we needed to pick up the hire cars and go out to Newgrange. Only to discover that being a long weekend, all the tours at Newgrange were totally booked, and that is the only way to see it. We did visit the information centre and viewed it through a telescope from a distance of a kilometre or so. What a disappointment, it was on the must-do list, and we won’t have time to revisit it. So back to Dublin late in the afternoon, to the Guiness Storehouse where we had pre-purchased tickets. Once again it was packed with visitors, but is a very large attraction and can cope well. It is so varied and interesting, and a place where you could spend a lot of time. The lift to the top and the bar reveals a view right out over the rooftops of Dublin, with a glassed in viewing platform.

The Book of Kells exhibit also didn’t open until late morning, so it will have to wait until we return to Dublin on Wednesday, along with the Castle. The Bank Holiday weekend was a real pain, nothing that we’d planned was open. Driving out to Newgrange was a pain too, because the GPS took us right through the area of another huge football match where the traffic was at a standstill. Our track record at this stage is not good.

Lisa and I did a 6km run along the River Liffey on Monday morning, then we checked out and headed out along the motorway to Dingle. We chose this option because by now we were a day behind and even on the motorway it’s over 5 hours to Dingle, and we had pre-booked some lovely accommodation here.