Ok, we pick it up in Paris. Gonna have to finish this thing or I will forget, LOL.

Had a nice breakfast in the Hyatt lounge. Le monsieur would not allow me to take it to the room, so had to eat there, but I find the room more comfortable. Well, they had CNN on and easier to get seconds. Very good Croissants, miniature baguettes, cheeses, meats, and cereal. Bien sur, Badoit(French mineral water).

Some tv and then a swim, nice pool. The negative is that you have to walk through the lobby, go outside, and then enter a separate building across from the lobby, and yes, it is cold outside. I wore shorts over there and got some looks, but I can tolerate the outside air for a few minutes. Had the pool to myself and was very nice! One of my necessities in life, swimming. Too cold to go jogging, make up for it when I get home.

Wasn't sure what I was gonna do, waited to hear from my friend. I was considering taking the Air Fance bus to the area near the Arc de la Triomphe, can't think of the name offhand. He called and asked if I wanted to do lunch at CDG 1, sure. Aerogare 1 has an incredible buffet, very good food. Typical Euro small tables and small personal space, but the food is wonderful and you get to hear the flight departures announcements and they have the departures/arrivals screens inside. I always see the same waiter, Africain, very kind and dear. I wonder if he remembers me? I always get good service and the Oranginas keep coming.

We had a chance to talk more and catch up on things. Telling me more about the state of Air France and a whole bunch of airlines that I have had no info on. The chocolate mousse here is incredible! Much better than at the resto. from last night. Plus, I was exhausted the night before, so was nicer to feel awake and fresh.
He paid, appreciated, and then some, as I treasure this place. We did a tour of the terminal and did more "airport shopping", , plus, as he works there, could get me more goodies. I love this terminal, the check in areas, the, ah, beautiful women that are everywhere, and the many different kinds of tourists passing through. I love to see the Africans, with their flowing robes, hats, and smiles. They congregate around the counters speaking French in cool African accents. They are so friendly.

He had an early morning so I excused him and let him go, was sad . I opted to go back to the hotel and get some rest before heading back. One of the negatives to CDG and all terminals, they have no left luggage facilities, so a pain, has to be the only airport in Europe without one, as boy do they come in handy. It would have made hopping into Paris easier.

Had a friendly check out, au revoir to Gregory and Fernando, they are both so cool, grabbed a couple more cans, and off to the airport. This trip is a pain as they go around all the terminals at 2, then over to 1 with like 20 stops in between. It is fun once to see everything but time consuming afterward. I decided to play it safe and pass on the trip into Paris, would get stuck in there, traffic, temptation to stay and play, whatever . I knew that I would be back.

Check in at BA was swift and easy. She was ready to send all my bags through to LA. Oh was that tempting. I was playing with sending some bags through to NY, but then do I want my luggage sitting there in a holding area at Heathrow? let alone JFK. Ah, think baggage theft by employees, , does happen.

Did a last walk around Departures level, took the moving sidewalks in the glass tubes to the departures, then cheated, swung around, and came out to arrivals, only works if you have a boarding pass and now they put a checkmark at the control, ugh.
Did a last walk around arrivals, outside with a view of all the planes and inside, with annoying Algerians bugging me for a taxi. Do I look like I need a taxi??? UGH!
Have to take the elevators down to D's and back to the routine. Looked for the other entry way and off to passport control. They noticed the checkmark and didn't ask any annoying questions, merci. FYI, while it is only in French, if you sneak in there, glass tubes, without being an actual passenger, there is a big fine.
Sometimes they let their guard down and you can sneak in. We used to be able to do it all the time, no more.
Also, you must return through customs, which in this case, there was no one there. There was also a flight in from Algeria, had a problem with the customs freebie therein. But when we had come back from South Africa in the past, they must have had a dozen officers waiting, so you never know.

Compared to the mornings, which can be a disaster, there was a very small line at passport control/control de passportes. I asked him for an exit stamp, he obliged(France is one of the few countries to give an exit stamp), and wished him a Vivre la France! Something I can say with all my heart and he smiled.

Checked out the Duty Free, bought some more chocolates, and then took the elevators to the lounges. I have access, if I am correct!?, to the Salon Bleriot. It is the generic lounge, which I have with PP and many business class passengers have access. The First lounges are nice but have never had access, ugh...I have stopped by and asked for magazines, but didn't want to lug them. My carry on was full. How, I will never know.

Sometimes the staff are very nice, this was not one of them . She was a pain. I think I spoke more English just to annoy her. .
The Lufthansa boards/FT have referred to the attendant at the LH lounge at Munich as a warden, I like that word. Ca sent bien pour lui, that goes well for her.
I took the private area, with the tv, encore, CNN, did check out the French stations one more time. "Borrowed", ah hmmmmmm, some more Oranginas and the nice chocolate mints they have on the counter. They also have copies of the Aeroports magazine in the magazine racks, those were gone! :=))) In all fairness, I did buy the current one at my forray at Arrivals that evening, so these were freebie past issues, appreciated.

I used to have access to the TWA lounge, was nice, upstairs, with a decent view. Now all gone. Very sad about that.

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Michael
AA PLT,1 MLN Miles+
Hilton Gold
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Marriot Silver