On the return, Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect were down for upgrades so took the tube from central London out to Terminal 4. Seems kinda funny to take the Tube after springing for first class but I can be oddly cheap in different areas. A painless ride got me to the airport 2+ hours before my flight – I was unable to check in online so wanted to get there early to make sure no issues. There were not. I declined the offer of an escort through security. It was relatively quick, and I was at the large and nice SkyTeam lounge within 10 minutes. The lounge was slow (but not so quiet as a 4 year old was allowed to run amuck) but offered the opportunity for a light breakfast ahead of the gourmet meals to come.
Relaxation room:
On another thread, I asked if there was a separate part of the SkyTeam lounge for first class passengers. There is indeed a VIP room but apparently too VIP for me or anyone else on a Saturday morning.
Again, short flight from London back to Paris in a standard business class configuration. Upon arrival, I was greeted at the plane door by my new attendant who was again fantastic. When I stopped to take a picture of the car, she apologized for it not being a BMW. “It’s just a Renault.”
She was chatty and charming, and we repeated the trip through mini-security and up into the lounge right at noon. Bam! -- it was crowded. Almost unrecognizable from earlier in the week – lots of kids too. Most of the tables were taken and my quiet side room was not quiet at all.
I headed to the relaxation area – which I had to myself. Again, had a lovely 5 hours or so – reading, champagne, duty free shopping (champagne again), a massage, a shower and a terrific lunch. The lounge eventually cleared out of almost everyone by 2:00 and returned to a nice relaxing spot. Throughout though, I never could get my arms around whether I could pour champagne for myself or not. Service was also spotty at the restaurant. Sue was there and remembered me and helped out with some things even though I wasn’t officially one of her charges.
Some of the buffet offerings in the lounge:
Same menu as before and same amazing quality. I went for the ravioli and the venison from the special menu. The latter was amazing.
I had a new escort this time who took me down to the promised BMW and the delayed flight.
She freaked out a little when I tried to get onto the tarmac to take a picture of my plane. But I was able to get this one:
as well as this one from the back seat
Up to the aircraft and to my seat at 1L in a completely full cabin. I was offered a drink but feeling maybe one fourth in the bag so declined. Probably should have gotten something because we were at the gate for a good 90 minutes before takeoff.
While the seat was similar to what I had on the outbound flight, things seemed a little run down and the TV and remote were basically what you would have in 1984. Seriously.
They had a new celebrity chef for January, and I don’t think it was quite as good as M. Boulud. Some weird combinations and odd that there was no beef, pork or other non-chicken offering. Identical wine list.
The caviar was lovely if small:
But, Houston we have a serious problem. Anyone detect something wrong with my glass of Krug? Setting aside that it was served alongside the Pommard in an odd bit of timing (see service comment below):
Okay, the glass was wrong but where are the bubbles? It was flat as a board. And how was I the only one who noticed. I sent it back. Much better:
The salmon was good but not as good as the balik on Swiss
I'm not a huge lentis fan (and they look vaguely disgusting here) but the langoustine was well prepared.
The cheese was top notch.
I had some sorbet but forgot to take a photo.
Skipped the second meals and just napped and watched movies for the rest.
The on board service was just not at the same level as my outbound flight. I don’t think the two flight attendants were really experienced at serving a La Premiere cabin. Forgot things I ordered. Wrong glasses used. Lacked the warmth of the outbound crew. But, they were the opposite of lazy. Very professional, repeatedly cleaned the restroom and set it up for next use, responded immediately if I pressed the call button. During meal service, the purser came to the rescue to help facilitate the service. The two gentlemen were just having trouble getting it done smoothly.
After the delay, we landed into awful weather at JFK about two hours late. That put me in after my scheduled departure on a Delta flight back home (which was on a separate reservation so not a great prospect). But, the Delta flight ended up leaving over four (!) hours late so I was okay. I was surprised that an escort was there to greet me as I came off the plane but then I lost him. I breezed through immigration via Global Entry and was the first one at baggage claim.
My escort was there with a family of three that was in La Premiere. The attendant and I laughed that we got separated – he expected me to wait for him but I was in full on go mode. My bag came out – but certainly not first – and he led me to the transfer desk. They were unable to check me into the Delta flight, but I said goodbye to my escort and headed off to Terminal 2. Things went smoothly there, and I spent probably 2.5 hours hanging out the bar in the SkyClub drinking vodka tonics, charging devices, watching football and chatting with other delayed passengers. Pretty sure I was the least upset person around with the delays. It was quiet, and I was glad they kept it open for us stragglers.
A very bumpy flight back to Boston and I was home by 2:30 am. It was a 25 hour trip door to door (which was pretty close to my 31 hour trip from Singapore to Boston earlier this year). All in all, though, it was worth it. Great fare for a tremendous ground service experience, very good food and reasonably good hard product. If I were to do it again, I would stick to the new La Premiere being rolled out or go with the A380. So, cheers to Air France.
[IMG]
[/IMG]
Highlights:
All of the ground service professionals on the ground at CDG
Sharing the CDG La Premiere lounge on outbound with maybe 8 other people throughout my stay
The Krug – when it wasn’t flat
Beautiful, large cabin in the A380
Pretty much all of the food – particularly in the lounge in Paris. Will be hard to measure up to the soup I had in Swiss first last year, but the venison may very well have done it.
Nice PJs
Excellent massage on the way home; I fell asleep for part of it.
Lowlights:
Krug-Gate
Facial – first one; cold and won’t do that again.
As I typed this, I came to realize that maybe the food on the way home was pretty disappointing.
What felt like an over-crowded cabin on the way back; I believe there were only 4 paid first passengers and rest were op ups
The entertainment system on the 777-300.
A four hour delay out of JFK on the way home
Long wait for checked bag back in Boston
Not being able to accrue MQDs or MQMs on Delta since couldn’t book first through them; cemented my dumping of Delta. All miles were credited to Alaska.
Rainy weather at all travel locations on the way home so no good plane spotting photos