Falco Peregrinus

Well, it's time for my yearly trip report, with some pictures of CDG's newly reopened 2E main building and an update on Air France's long haul First Class product, l'Espace Première.
I was actually connecting in CDG. There isn't much to say about the feeder segment except that it was a typical AF medium haul flight in l'Espace Affaires (business class) with a light breakfast service:


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I had managed to reserve seat 2D which is probably one of the best seats on board AF's A319 and A320 fleet with medium haul configuration. 2D has plenty of legroom, much more than the other bulkhead seats of the front cabin (1A, 1C and 2F since there is no row 1 on the right side of the aisle). 2F was empty so I could move to the window after breakfast and enjoy dramatic views over the villages East of CDG (Moussy-le-Vieux, Dammartin-en-Goële...) during landing.

Falco Peregrinus

I arrived at CDG 2E into the new S3 building, on the SouthWest side of S3 which is apparently used mostly for medium haul flights to and from non Schengen destinations. I have to say that CDG has dramatically changed over the last 12 months, first with the opening of 2E-S3 and now with the reopening of 2E's main building. For passengers connecting in 2E (arriving into 2E and departing again from 2E) CDG is a totally different experience and the days of terrible 2B-2C connections are now over. Yet S3 and 2E's main building are large terminals and may require a lot of walking, even with the LISA quick train transfer. Anyway the 100% airside connection is now much more seamless than the former, chaotic 2A/B/C/D to 2E/2F transfers with the everlasting dilemma: airside vs. landside transfer strategy, also known as the "bus vs. walking" transfer debate that has kept feeding for years one of the most popular threads among the AF community, under the indefatigable supervision of our moderator, PhD in CDG transfers.

Transferring to 2E's main building requires to clear security again and I took the initiative to use the fast lane dedicated to l'Espace Première passengers. Bad idea, since the lady manning the adjacent security checkpoint ordered me to "stop" as I was proceeding towards the X-Ray machine. She barely apologized after checking my boarding pass on the grounds I was not escorted by an AF agent and that she couldn't know I was travelling in first class. I had plenty of time and decided to tour the new terminal before heading to the lounge. There are still works going on and many major luxury brands (or is it ADP?) are clearly overdue. Surprising, especially after hearing a salesman telling his colleague that the monthly revenue of their shop was EUR 100,000. As far as I can tell Hermes is open while Cartier, Dior and Ralph Lauren addicts still have to wait. Rest assured, the booze shop is open and has plenty of champagnes and vintage whiskies to offer.


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Falco Peregrinus

With an extensive use of wood panels, acousticians have clearly made miracles. Combined with the red carpets all over the floor, the whole place gives a warm and peaceful feeling barely disturbed by rare public announcements.


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Note the new signage now used at CDG:


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Boarding ramp "under" the gate area. Boarding is carried out before letting passengers use the ramp:


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Falco Peregrinus

The west end of the building features a nice rest area with great views over terminal 2A and 2C (mostly AF aircrafts, with AA, TN, EY and AC metal in the background):


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Decent seating areas, and even some trendy armchairs with plugs, the type of armchair one would rather expect in a lounge, not in a public boarding area:


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Falco Peregrinus

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There are also some boarding areas downstairs (i.e. at the tarmac level), as shown on this picture:


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They seem to be used for regional flights only, with bus transfer to the aircraft. Unfortunately less architecturally inspired downstairs than upstairs.

I didn't find any real restaurant. There is a small food court in the mezzanine upstairs in the left wing, close to the AF lounge. It barely deserves the name of food "court" as it seemed to host only 2 self service cafeterias, one on each side of the seating area:


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Falco Peregrinus

At 11:30 am, it was time to check out the l'Espace Première lounge. Unlike the business class lounge, there was absolutely no signage showing the way to the lounge. Not a big deal since most passengers are escorted all the way from their check in up to the lounge. And it is now almost official that the small Première lounge will soon be replaced by a larger and more convenient facility with upgraded amenities. Anyway the lounge is still hidden in what used to be the corridor leading to the 2E ground floor bus-boarding area in operation before the opening of S3.

The Welcome touch was warm and professional as usual, confirming my past impressions that the lounge staff is not only in charge of merely greeting passengers but is actually taking care of them during their whole stay: liaising with the police in order to perform immigration checks (escorted passengers benefit from the privilege of going through security first while passport controls are carried out later when the passenger is in the lounge), giving live feedback to each of them about the slightest delays, checking my ETA and issuing my boarding pass for my HKG-MEL flight, issuing a new BP for my CDG-HKG flight and explaining me why (1A's IFE was apparently out of order) and also keeping in touch by talkie-walkie with the fleet of limousine drivers who escort passengers to the aircrafts.

A few minutes later, the catering staff quickly removed the breakfast snacks from the buffet and replaced them with freshly prepared lunchtime snacks.


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AF has often been criticized for not serving hot meals in their Première lounge. One has to admit that the cold snacks are very attractive and I found them delicious. A great improvement over the era when Park Hyatt was not in charge of their catering. The Première lounge with its present configuration doesn't allow the implementation of hot catering since there is not enough room for dressing dining tables. I don't know what AF have up their sleeve with their future Première lounge but I still believe warm food would be appreciated, space allowing, especially before the 11:15 pm departure wave. Not everybody is willing to wait until midnight to get a real hot meal on board. On the other hand, out of 6 lounge guests I was the only one interested in the buffet and wine selection. All the other passengers simply ordered coffee or water.

My personal choice of carpaccio, salt cod brandade and tomato and mozzarella snacks, along with a flute of Gosset Celebris 1998 Champagne:


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A glass of Pichon Longueville Pauillac 2002, tiramisu and raspberry tartlet:


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A kind AF agent named Garance informed me that we would not be using the limousine to reach the gate (E38) since it was only 5 minutes away from the lounge. From my recent CDG-BOM experience I knew they use limousines to escort passengers to S3 gates and of course to 2C but I admit that using it for E38 would be ridiculous and would take more time than just walking. So off we went at 13:15, bypassing the line of the few Affaires passengers still waiting for boarding.

(to be continued... )

Moomba

Wow I didn't think it was possible to make the inside of those CDG tubes look even half decent. Not sure about all the red though.

I am looking forward to your flight details being posted. Just how many desserts did you have?

milesaddict

it conforts me on why I resigned with AF..

tks for your report

OPFlyer

Excellent report, I can't wait to see the rest.

TrayflowInUK

This actually makes me WANT to go to CDG! Keep it coming!

Falco Peregrinus

I realize I forgot to post the lounge wines:

I was the last First Class passenger to board, 20 minutes before departure. As always and like my Première previous experiences, a very warm welcome by the Chef de Cabine (First Class Chief Purser). The second jetway between l'Espace Affaires (business class) and Tempo (economy) was removed a few minutes later, meaning that all the remaining passengers would board via the front jetway, walking all the way through the Première and Affaires cabins.

AF must be one of the few airlines operating long haul aircrafts (772) with a (very) small FC cabin seating only 4. The cabin atmosphere is quite different from the 77W with its 2 rows of 4 Première seats. I like the 77W better, the cabin is roomier, it doesn't just look like a "section" of the fuselage between 2 curtains.

As Flying Blue experts know, op-upgraded passengers (from Affaires to Première) don't have access to the First Class lounge at CDG. The immediate consequence of this rule is that all passengers seated in Première who were not in the P lounge are op-up suspects. And with 1A and 1B already in their seats when I boarded, I guess the revenue of the Première cabin on that flight must have been quite low. Without rummaging into the Passenger Information List, it is quite easy to figure out the revenue level of the Première product by:

1. checking out the seatmap a few hours before departure
2. checking out the revenue seats vs. award availability a few hours before departure and
3. checking out who got the personal escort from the lounge and counting the number of passengers actually seated in the cabin when boarding is over.

During my stay in the lounge AF moved me from 1A (preassigned) to 1L (new BP) on the grounds seat 1A was "not working". So I was quite surprised to see somebody sitting in "my" formerly assigned seat. The small size of the cabin doesn't make it possible to discreetly take pictures of the whole cabin so I've taken the liberty to post again a picture I took last year on a similar route (CDG-NRT) with the same aircraft (772). Taken from 1L's ottoman, showing 1E and 1F with a passenger sleeping in 1A in the background. The white strip on the right of the picture is due to the rounded shape of the bulkhead behind the ottoman:

Falco Peregrinus

Champagne (Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 1997) followed before pushback, pajamas and menus were handed over:

chrissxb

you should get a 'Palme d'Or' for your trip report ^

merci beaucoup

Falco Peregrinus

Appetizer: Eggplant caviar, sweet potato and breast of free-range chicken with truffles.


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Appetizer (close-up):


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Hors d'Oeuvre: Lobster served with light curry pineapple sauce and tarragon flan (1/3)
Wine: White Rhône Valley "Crozes Hemitage Domaine de Roure 2005 Paul Jaboulet Aîné"


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Hors d'Oeuvre: Lobster served with light curry pineapple sauce and tarragon flan (2/3)


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Hors d'Oeuvre: Lobster served with light curry pineapple sauce and tarragon flan (3/3)


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Malonda

1B
I guess you mean 1E (or 1F)
Nevertheless a marvelous TR!