I have been really hanging out to get home again for Christmas, and yesterday I finally made it, but it was a twelve hour journey instead of the normal eight or so. First the plane from Tallinn was delayed an hour, and of course there was some man doing his nut at the steward about how important he was and he couldn't miss his connection from Copenhagen etc etc. I could have told him that would be late as well, given that the reason we were late was that the incoming plane from Copenhagen was late. Anyway, when we got to Copenhagen, there is Air Force One sitting there, surrounded by tanks. That would make me nervous, but I expect Barack Obama is used to it.

And in Copenhagen, I looked to see where my plane was leaving from, and it said it was five minutes late i.e. leaving in twenty minutes, but no gate. Hmm, I thought, more than five minutes late then. We finally left three hours late, and it was packed, I had to sit next to a guy who had no concept of personal space. Then when we had practically landed at CDG, we had to go up again suddenly (the pilot explained straight away that it was because we were too close to another plane) and of course I screamed, the guy got a real fright.

When I got to the baggage carousel, who should I see there but Prince Joachim and Princess Marie of Denmark, together with baby Prince Henrik and the dog! I knew there was someone important on board because there was a car beside the plane, but they boarded last and I was just a little too far back to see who it was. Last I saw of them Prince Joachim was looking at the baggage carousel with a worried expression, I hope it did turn up, nothing would surprise me. I just heard that my colleague Giulia's luggage got lost again yesterday on route from Tallinn to Rome, it's only about the fourth time. Another colleague was stuck at Schiphol for hours, but no-one was on Eurostar, thank goodness, that's a mess. I'm hoping it is sorted out by 3 January, when I have to take it, I have to go on a course for a week in the UK.

Now in Paris, it is about minus 5, which is unusually cold for this time of year, and there has been snow - I'm watching the weather forecast with attention, as I am going to the south of France on Monday for a week. It has got to be warmer than Tallinn! I was worried I was getting a cold, because Snowflake has been coughing madly all week and started nose-blowing every three seconds on Wednesday. This was a cause for concern, because there was one guy from the other project that actually has been in quarantine for swine flu all week, and he is one of the Snowflake drinking crowd. Yesterday I felt light-headed, but I think it was just the cold outside and in the airport, then the strain of the journey. And today I had sore arms, but that would have just been carrying my suitcase up four flights, it was pretty heavy. Since I've turned the heater on and warmed up the place, I feel better for sure. All I've got to do now is pack tomorrow, then go to Gare de Lyon on Monday, print out my ticket and get on the train.