A first trip ‘round the world, part 63

Just on Gérard’s birthday, it was time to fly to the iconic island of Tahiti. 

To his surprise, he was treated to a glass of champagne and some treats, compliment of UTA French Airlines. On top of that, he had his chance of a lifetime to cross the international dateline twice, on his birthday, making for two celebrations in less than 24 hours! 

That is exactly were the fun ended for him as he was only transferring and changing plane on his way to California, as he was expected in San Diego be his relative. 

With what sounded like deep regrets, Gérard sighed: “Today, I now realized that I was about to make the biggest mistake in my entire life. Setting foot on that island, receiving the traditional ‘lei’ without staying there, even for one single day was downright unpardonable! What was I thinking?” 

So, as I was leaving Marcel in French Polynesia, I somewhat reluctantly boarding my flight to Los Angeles…