LY 323
TLV-CDG
Depart: 9am (schedule) 934am (actual)
Arrive: 1255pm (schedule) 1247pm (actual)
Equipment: Boeing 767
Seat: 28C (Economy) (2-3-2 configuration)

I got to the gate at 820am and boarding commenced soon after. There was no boarding announcement, people just started getting in line and boarding. I was surprised at the lack of announcement. I soon boarded an old and tired 767. Boarding was thru the door between J and Y. There was no door between J and Y, but i like how they boarded by the J door, as opposed to the front door, to give F pax maximum privacy. After walking thru the old and tired J cabin, my lame LH J experience 7 weeks ago seemed less bad. LY's J cabin would barely pass for domestic F on a US legacy carrier. I soon entered the Y cabin. Row 28 is the 2nd to last row of the first section of Y. I immediately noticed that there was no in seat entertainment or power port. For a 4.5 hour international flight, this is plainly ridiculous.
15 minutes after boarding, the window next to me still remained empty and I held my breath waiting for boarding to complete, and then a couple approached me wanting to sit together. They offered me a widow seat. I do t like window seats, and it was a row that didn't even have a window to look out. I'm 6'2 and heavy and I can't be crammed Into a window for 4.5 hours. I felt bad for the FA running around around trying to find volunteers to switch, but I booked my flight and selected my seat 6 months do I think I'm entitled to it. Had I been offered an aisle, I would have Been more than happy to switch. In any case, I was pleasantly surprised to have a friendly Check-in agent and a friendly crew. My previous experiences with LY's employees haven't been great. The seat remained empty so I put up the arm rest and enjoyed the extra room. We sat for 30 minutes with no movement and no announcements of what was going on nt a 934am take off. Each seat had a pillow on it and blankets were offered upon request. I got a blue blanket wrapped in plastic. It smelled of detergent when I opened the plastic, so no doubts it was recently cleaned. It was thin and small but sufficed.
Breakfast came out fast and consisted of a small salad, plain omelet, bread roll, and cottage cheese. While I had eaten at the lounge do I wasn't terribly hungry, I ate anyway as I don't know when my next meal would be. The food was standard for Y and no complaints. Actually, LY's offering has gone down in quality over recent years. My last morning flight with them was TLV-JFk where they offered granola and Philadelphia cream cheese as well as a pastry. I've never flown LY short haul, so I guess it could be the normal short haul offering. What was interesting was that while each tray had a little few ounce plastic water cup, no separate beverage service was offered. When I requested additional water, the FA told me she would bring once all the breakfast trays were distributed.
Another thing I noted is that the entire flight I was addressed in Hebrew. The FAs all speak good English, but for some reason only spoke Hebrew to me. It wasn't a big deal, as my understanding of the language is excellent, though my speaking ability is only ok, it didn't pose any problems and I could always have switched to English at any point. I was also addressed in Hebrew at passport control, despite handing over a US passport.i guess my Hebrew wasn't so bad, or maybe I just looked Israeli because the agent asked me if I had an Israeli passport or citizenship card to which I replied in the negative. This has beer happened to me in any of my 10+ previous departures from Israel. FAs offered more bread about 12-15 minutes after trays were distributed but no sign of my water. I asked an FA (in hebrew) and she replied that it would be up momentarily. Coffee was quickly offered after the bread (again in Hebrew) which I readily accepted. I would have preferred it with the meal but it didn't really matter. I stepped up to go to the bathroom and found that there was a nice large (by airplane standards) bathroom 2 rows behind me. Kudos to LY for offering bathrooms with more than a millimeter of space. Tea service was offered quickly after I sat down, which I declined. The coffee was weak but drinkable, but since I had a cappuccino in the lounge I didn't care so much.
10 minutes after my second request, still no sign of my water. I took Atmosphere, the LY magazine out of the seat pocket to peruse. The front cover had a blurb advertising LY recently announced Economy Plus cabin, which they will begin to roll out July 1. There was an ad for it within the magazine. It has better recline, more space, new seat design, special check-in, and upgraded food. It's complimentary to LY elites booked in Y, S, or M fare buckets. Didn't say anything about cost of upgrading for non-elites/non-members.
When FAs collected trays I made a third request for water, and this time it came a minute later. It was cool not cold but still appreciated. The flight continued to pass uneventfully. About an hour before landing a proper drinks service was offered. It was also the first time I was spoken to in English by an FA. I replied in Hebrew and got some orange juice, my last taste of Israel until my next trip this coming August. I also had a cup of limonana, a drink which I believe is Israeli consisting of sweet lemonade infused with mint tea, served cold, or sometimes blended. Touchdown was 1247pm local time, 9 minutes ahead of schedule despite our late departure. As I haven't been to Paris in 6 years, I forgot that CDG was great for plane spotting. I Saw Tahiti Nui, China Eastern, Cathay, JAL, and XL which I haven't heard of. After boarding, I saw French soldiers in full regalia and guns positioned every few yards. No idea why, but only our flight seemed to have this treatment. Other gates I saw didn't seem to have the military on hand.

Verdict: Overall, I'm impressed. I was never a fan of LY and always opted for European carriers over it. While the hard product could use some work, the soft product is excellent with only a few kinks to iron out. Although, my next trip to Israel is already booked on LX, I would definitely consider LY in the future.