james
Oct 25, 99, 2:56 pm
Outbound: BA congregate all thier European flight check-in desks together at LGW - long queues (45 minutes+). That will encourage me to abuse the rules and take multiple take carry-ons. Left from one of the interesting gates at Gatwick where they still shuttle you to the plane by bus. Flew in the most beaten-up, dirty looking 737-400 I've ever seen. Once we were on it, we taxied a short distance and then sat still for 45 minutes - no apparent reason, no explanation. Redeemed by an exit row seat with lots of legroom - only about 15 of us on board anyway. Food was uninteresting but the service was attentive and BA crew are generally very courteous.
Marseille is a terrific little airport. From our gate we literally walked downstairs and then 10 metres to passport control. Baggage reclaim is immediately outside that. The airport atrium is tiny and I was on the bus to the city 15 minutes after landing. The bus drops off outside the main railway station so ideal for the metro and trains.
Stayed in the ETAP hotel - a French chain of fairly basic hotels. Nothing fancy but very cheap, clean, colour TV and en suite bathroom - I've stayed in a lot worse places for a lot more money. It's also rigt in the middle of the extensive restaurant district. Had meeting, met collegaues, discussed lots of science, ate excellent french meals, drank excellent local wine. Very productive trip.
Return: We accompanied our colleagues from Sweden and Italy to the airport so had to wait three hours before our flight. As above, Marseille airport was still small and there isn't much to do for three hours - about two shops, a cafe and a bar. They did have a big screen TV showing the France-Argentina Rugby world cup game which helped fill the time. The flight was delayed by an hour due to bad weather (rain) in England which held up the incoming. The 737 was much better this time - refurbished and clean - exit row seat again but in a full aircraft. This time, the food was awful - a small lump of horrid fish, ice cold tomato pasta and a bread roll like granite. The crew worked very hard to serve two rounds of drinks on a 90 minute flight. We also got a lovely view of Paris from 33,000 feet through clear skies - could pick out the Eiffel Tower. Landed 30 minutes late and through Gatwick easily - in fact my bag was on the carousel before I got to the baggage hall. At 8pm on a Sunday night without really having eaten and a two hour drive home, I remeber one of the advantages of Heathrow.
Marseille is a terrific little airport. From our gate we literally walked downstairs and then 10 metres to passport control. Baggage reclaim is immediately outside that. The airport atrium is tiny and I was on the bus to the city 15 minutes after landing. The bus drops off outside the main railway station so ideal for the metro and trains.
Stayed in the ETAP hotel - a French chain of fairly basic hotels. Nothing fancy but very cheap, clean, colour TV and en suite bathroom - I've stayed in a lot worse places for a lot more money. It's also rigt in the middle of the extensive restaurant district. Had meeting, met collegaues, discussed lots of science, ate excellent french meals, drank excellent local wine. Very productive trip.
Return: We accompanied our colleagues from Sweden and Italy to the airport so had to wait three hours before our flight. As above, Marseille airport was still small and there isn't much to do for three hours - about two shops, a cafe and a bar. They did have a big screen TV showing the France-Argentina Rugby world cup game which helped fill the time. The flight was delayed by an hour due to bad weather (rain) in England which held up the incoming. The 737 was much better this time - refurbished and clean - exit row seat again but in a full aircraft. This time, the food was awful - a small lump of horrid fish, ice cold tomato pasta and a bread roll like granite. The crew worked very hard to serve two rounds of drinks on a 90 minute flight. We also got a lovely view of Paris from 33,000 feet through clear skies - could pick out the Eiffel Tower. Landed 30 minutes late and through Gatwick easily - in fact my bag was on the carousel before I got to the baggage hall. At 8pm on a Sunday night without really having eaten and a two hour drive home, I remeber one of the advantages of Heathrow.