Adams Park to Paris

My brother met me at Adams Park after the friendly fixture with Chelsea XI. It was a good evening with the 5-1 win, a little show of appreciation from the crowd and a nice goodbye from the staff and players in the dressing room post match. I really did appreciate the gesture. My brother dropped me at Heathrow, I didn't want him to wait with me because 1. I hate goodbyes and 2. I had no idea what time my pay would go into the bank and thus how long I would be waiting around in the airport. For all I knew it could end up being a matter of days depending upon flight availability.

As it turns out my pay entered the bank just after three o'clock. I managed to book a flight online for 06:40 in the morning. Brilliant! Then a little later I received confirmation along with a message that my online boarding passes would be processed in the next 48 hours. 48 hours!?! What the fu**!?!?!? I tried my passport in the auto book-in and it registered without issuing a boarding pass but it was prior to the 4:30 opening for my flight. When I went to check-in for boarding I was informed that although the booking was registered a problem was being flagged and I would need to consult the Air France desk. They informed me that the flight had been booked but not paid for. Decision time, what to do now? Pay for the flight again and try to cancel the original booking or take a chance and wait until the boarding passes were confirmed and that they would be valid for the next available flight. I couldn't call the booking agent because they did not accept calls until 9 o'clock in the morning. In the end I booked with the Air France desk and paid again. I went to the check in with ten minutes left to boarding to be told that the tickets I had been given were not boarding passes so had to return to the automated machines to check-in. Nobody was helpful. The desk staff would not allow me to leave my luggage at the desk and no passengers would get out of the way......but then they were French so no surprise there. I checked in at the desk in the final minute of boarding at the time given for gate closing for the flight. I had to make a World record attempt sprint finish over the 1000m to gate 24!! The security staff must have thought I had kryptonite in my cases because I was virtually waved through all security checks after leaving my belt  and throwing my loose change on the floor. I got to gate 24 where the flight had been delayed due to luggage loaded without the passenger (me) having boarded, feeling like I had two collapsed lungs, couldn't feel my hamstrings anymore and that there was no oxygen remaining in the atmosphere. The staff wouldn't allow me to board until my breathing rate had reduced to less than 120 breaths per minute and I had consumed 2 litres of water to replace the sweat pooling on the floor beneath me. Once I had collapsed to the floor I was unwilling to return to the seated position.
45 minutes late the flight left Heathrow for Paris Charles de Gaulle. I was on my way but still sweating heavily and unable to breath without an audible wheeze!