Author’s note: Well folks, looks like I forgot to post this last part. It only took me a better part of a month to figure that out. For the sake of completeness, here it is and sorry for the delay
Home Stretch
I woke up on our final morning in Paris to a text from my dad, as a winter storm was approaching the Atlanta area. My mom and I were scheduled arrive at Atlanta at 5:15PM local time, and depart at 8PM. Although the storm wasn’t forecasted to reach Atlanta until 11PM, I was worried about the storm moving in quicker than anticipated, especially with the memory of the Ice-mageddon of January 2014 still very fresh. I really had to be back at work the following day, so I rang Delta via Skype to see if alternatives were available, but no dice. A weather waiver was issued for flights departing after 11PM, which our itinerary didn’t qualify for. So we would have to stick it out and hope for the best.
Since our flight wasn’t until 1:45 in the afternoon, we had spent the morning leisurely packing before checking out and making the short walk to the Roissy Bus stop at around 9:30AM. There were several busses waiting at the stop, so naturally we chose the most crowded one. But we still managed to find seats for the journey, which took much longer than our journey into the city. Traffic was much worse than few days earlier, thanks to the taxi strike. In the U.S., strikes are generally comprised of a bunch of guys waving signs and shouting. They apparently take it a step further in France, and make everyone miserable. The striking taxi drivers decided to turn the motorway into their personal parking lot and hang out. How considerate of them!
So it took us a better part of an hour to reach CDG. We then hopped on a train to take us to Terminal 2, and made the trek to Air France’s premium check in, which is located in Zones 6 and 7.
After a short wait, we were beckoned to the counter by a free agent. Our bags were tagged all the way back to Houston, and our boarding passes to Atlanta were printed. However, the agent was unable to print boarding passes for our Delta flight to Houston for some reason, which really wasn’t a big deal.
We then headed to immigration, where there was no wait in the Sky Priority line. Our passports were stamped, and it was off to security, which was located in the separate M terminal. A quick train ride later, and we arrived at the satellite terminal. There were separate Sky Priority and general lines for security, but a large number of passengers, who weren’t eligible to use the Sky Priority line, pushed past the overmatched line dragon and went into the Sky Priority line thinking it was faster. After regaining her composure, the agent glanced at our boarding passes and directed us into general line which was now empty. I couldn’t help but smile at some of those maverick passengers as we passed them in line. How’s that for karma
After blowing off our remaining Euros at duty free on souvenirs for family and friends, we found ourselves in a modern and very attractive terminal.
It was a short walk from duty free to Air France’s Salon Lounge. We were greeted by a friendly agent at the reception desk. Our boarding passes were scanned, and the agent welcomed us into the lounge. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the lounge, so I was eager to check it out. The first thing I noticed was the sheer size of the lounge. It was so big that floor plans were posted in several locations in the lounge.
The lounge is well lit, thanks to windows running the length of the lounge, which also allowed for nice views of the active runways. The décor would be best described as modern, and would look right at home in an Ikea show room. There was plenty of seating available, though the design of the seats weren’t the best for comfort, in my opinion. The lounge did get quite full, but it didn’t feel overly crowded. There were a couple of iPads available for use in one area of the lounge.
The dining area was one of the largest I’ve seen in any airline lounge.
But what’s a dining area without some decent food. Fortunately, Air France saw it fit to outfit the lounge with a nice, albeit small, buffet. There was a nice section of hot items, salads, and desserts. When I saw crème burlee was on offer, I was stoked…only to remember I couldn’t freely partake. I settled for a fruit salad. A nice selection of soft drinks, wine, and spirits were offered as well.
The Salon Lounge was nice place to spend a couple of hours before our flight. It’s worth noting that there is a spa in the lounge, in partnership with Clarins. Treatments offered to Business Class passengers include a 15 minute massage or a facial.
We headed toward out gate, M29. Judging by the number of luxury good shots with a presence in the terminal, whoever designed this terminal took a page from the designers of Asian airports. Speaking of Asia, Burberry seems to be in the Lunar New Year spirit with lanterns all over the store. Though, it’s probably appropriate given the amount of passengers heading to Asia from this terminal.
As I mentioned earlier, the terminal itself was modern and quite attractive. If we didn’t have lounge access, I think we would have been happy just hanging out in the terminal, as it had plenty of shops, restaurants and things to do and see. There was even a “living wall”, kind of like a much smaller version of the one outside the Qantas lounge in Sydney, and children’s area complete with PS3s.
Across from our gate was an Air France A380 headed to Tokyo. It was my first time truly face to face with the world’s first super heavy, and what a sight it was. I don’t care for the aesthetics of the A380’s design, but its massive proportions are very impressive, to say the least. Either way, seeing the beast up close made me even more excited for my first flight on the A380 in May of this year.
After snapping a bunch of pictures, we headed back to our gate which was just across the hall. Boarding had already begun. The Sky Priority line was snaking down the terminal, and looked like it consisted of half the plane. As it turned out, the lack of agents available to check passports caused the line to build up and look worse than it actually was. It took less than 10 minutes to get to the single agent checking passports, and we made it to the scanner shortly after that. A smiling agent scanned our boarding passes, and we were walking down the jet bridge toward the 15 year old 777-200ER that would take us back across the Atlantic Ocean.
Air France 688
Paris (CDG) – Atlanta (ATL)
Depart: 1:45 AM
Arrive: 5:15 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200ER (F-GSPH)
Seat: 3L (Business Class)
Once again, we were greeted by a friendly FA immediately upon entering the aircraft. After checking our boarding passes, we were directed to another flight attendant who escorted us past the tiny 4 seat First Class cabin to our seats, 3K and 3L. Impressive especially considering we were just flying Business Class. After stowing away our carry ons, we settled into our comfortable seats. As I mentioned up thread, Air France’s Business Class seats are very similar to American’s “Next Generation” Business Class seats in design and function, but are better padded, upholstered, and maintained. While many would probably consider the navy blue and tan color scheme of the cabin drab and boring, I found it to be quite attractive. That’s probably because I’m boring person, but I digress. At our seats already was a pillow, blanket, and amenity kit, which was a special 80th anniversary edition. One of the issues with the older seats is the lack storage, so we stuffed the pillows and blankets in the overhead and put the amenity kits in the small storage compartment in between the seats.
One of the reasons I chose the bulkhead seats ahead of time was the extra legroom, which made it easy to get around aisle seat even if it is in the angled lie flat position.
As boarding wrapped up, FAs came around with a tray of PDBs, which consisted of champagne, water, and orange juice served in real glasses. I chose a glass of champagne, which was decent, while my mom just has an orange juice. I sipped on my champers while watching the rampers finish up loading up some last minute cargo. After being stuck in a middle seat on the way over to Paris, it was quite nice having a window again.
The cabin and cargo doors were closed right at the stated departure time, and we pushed back shortly after. The safety video, which was beyond boring, was played as we taxi out to the runway. There was plenty of traffic around the airport, which naturally consisted of predominantly Air France aircraft to keep me entertained while taxiing out. Fifteen minutes later, we were holding short of the runway to allow a sister 777-200ER to land.
Traffic behind us
After the arriving 777 exited the runway, we lined up and started our powerful takeoff roll, and were airborne after barreling down over 7,000 feet of runway. The French countryside, complete with a lazy winding river, made for a picturesque backdrop while climbing out.
FAs were dinged out of their seats as we climbed through 10,000 feet, and immediately closed the curtains between First and Business which was kind of pointless because First Class was empty. But I suppose it would deter some devious passengers from taking advantage of the empty cabin. Anyways, it was quite nice to see a real thick curtain dividing the classes, compared to that mesh crap U.S. carriers use.
With my vacation nearing its end, it was time to get a little work in. So I took advantage of the universal power outlet, located at the end of each armrest, and fired up my laptop. Wifi would have been nice, but the power port was more than adequate for the flight.
I got about 40 minutes of work in before the drink cart made its way down the aisle. Working our aisle was tall and beautiful FA, who I later found out was from Morocco. She was also very professional and friendly, warmly greeting my mom and I by name. Drinks were offered along with the amuse bouche of scallop and tomato and a box of crisps. I ordered Glenlivet on the rocks, while my mom went with a Coke with lemon. The amuse bouche alright, tasting a lot like Ragu, but the crisps were quite good.
Menus were distributed afterwards. Today’s menu was inspired by Chef Thibaut Ruggeri, winner of the Bocuse d’Or 2013 and Executive Chef of Lenotre.
L’amuse bouche
Scallop and tomato
Gourmet appetizer and seasonal salad
Smoked salmon, blini with white tarama, baby spinach, shrimp sautéed with honey and ginger, lemon
Choice of main course
Please refer to the suggestion card for today’s selection of entrees.
Today’s Suggestions:
Pan-seared tenderloin of beef
jus with balsamic vinegar, zucchini puree, new potatoes with olive oil and Guerande sea salt
Lightly spiced sautéed chicken
red curry sauce with coconut milk and coriander, simmered parsnip julienne, pureed carrots with watercress
[Shrimp+Orange+Potato]Thibaut Ruggeri
This highly unusual dish is waiting to surprise you…. Raise the soy leaf that is surrounded by sautéed shrimp and discovered the delicately blended mushrooms, potatoes and orange segment… An explosion of flavors!
Risotto with cepe mushrooms
sautéed cepe mushrooms, cepe mushrooms coulis, sun-dried tomato, grated Italian cheese
Our special selection of cheese
Camembert, Comte
Desserts
Our dessert trio:
mini pineapple upside down cake, strawberry-rhubarb compote, chocolate brownie
Sorbet and ice cream, choice of fresh fruit
The drinks menu was the same as the outbound.
I enjoyed my glass of Glenlivet, while working and sneaking peaks of the outside world through my window. There was a thick bank of clouds obscuring the view as we neared the English Channel, but it thinned out while we were flying over the dark green of the English country side. Our time in England’s airspace was short lived, as we turned nearly due west, picking up our assigned transatlantic track to North America. The world turned from green to blue as we crossed English coastline and went feet wet over the Atlantic Ocean. Just off the English coast was an impressively large wind farm.
After 40 minutes of pretty solid work, the familiar sound of a rattling cart was reverberated in the cabin, signaling the start of the lunch service. In anticipation, I put up my laptop and setup my tray. For company, I fired up the IFE system and decided a lunch date with the gorgeous Natalie Portman was in order.
Thor: The Dark World
Appetizer and salad tray was delivered along with a choice of bread. I chose olive bread, which was nicely warmed and soft. To drink, I switched to Coke with lemon, as I still had plenty of work to do after lunch. The smoked salmon was good, but the rest of the appetizer was not. The shrimp were overcooked and the blini tasted stale. The salad just consisted of sad looking baby spinach.
Dishes were cleared quickly, and mains were distributed shortly after. Despite the not so great shrimp in the appetizer, I decided to go with the Shrimp+Orange+Potato dish. While flavorful, the whole dish was dried out as it was overcooked. My mom went with the chicken dish, which was much better than what I chose. The cheese course, wine, and more bread were offered with the main. I declined the wine and got a refill on my Coke instead.
While the food was disappointing, service from our FA was excellent. After the mains were delivered, she constantly roamed the cabin for refills and cleared trays as each passenger finished. Just before dessert, she came to chat with my mom and I because she didn’t see a frequent flyer number for either of us on the manifest and offered to get us the forms to sign up for Air France’s Flying Blue program(me) so we don’t lose out on miles. Though it was a moot point as we were on award tickets, it was certainly a nice and much appreciated touch.
For dessert, I decided on the trio which was pretty good. I ordered a cup of coffee to accompany dessert.
After linens and dessert dishes were cleared, I finished up the movie and took a short nap. After I woke up, I went to grab a drink at the self serve bar located in the galley. Or at least, I thought it was self serve. A FA saw me at the bar and offered to fix it for me. It is much smaller than the bar found on American’s 77W, but it’s quite attractive in its own right.
I then banged out a few hours of solid work, only to stop to admire the beautiful frozen expanses of North Eastern Canada.
There isn’t specific snack menu, but the menu states a “gourmet snack” will be offered midflight, which turned out to be a choice of strawberry or apricot compote. They were offered several times throughout the flight.
Before I knew it, we were just 90 minutes out from Atlanta and it was time for the pre-arrival meal. There was no choice, and just a penne pasta dish was offered. I passed but my mom partook, and said it was pretty good.
Shortly after trays were cleared, we were descending into Atlanta. As she gave us back our coats, our great FA wished a pleasant journey home to Houston. While food was mediocre for the most part (surprising as we departed from Air France’s hub), service was absolutely flawless which made for an enjoyable and memorable flight. Landing was smooth, and the taxi to our gate was quick.
Fortunately, we were able to beat the weather coming into and leaving Atlanta later that night. Our flight back to Houston was routine, and nothing to write about. Well that’s all folks! You made it to the very end. Thanks to all (two) of you who have read. Other than a few short weekend hops and some work travel, I’ll be grounded until May. But that long period of abstinence will be worth it as I’ll be going on a 34,000 mile adventure on Cathay Pacific, Thai Airways, and Qantas in First Class, sometime in early summer. I might just find some time to write another trip report then…