This trip report covers a weekend I spent in Paris back in June. Sorry its late.
This report has the following sections:

TLV Ground and Dan Lounge
LY 323 TLV-CDG
Preliminaries at CDG
Trianon PalaceVersailles, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel
Best Western Hotel Mercedes, Paris
Getting to CDG & CDG Ground Experience
AA 41 CDG-ORD

My previous trip reports:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...a-gf-lh-j.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-tlv-lx-y.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-zrh-lx-y.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...d-ord-nce.html

TLV Ground
I arrived at TLV at 6am for my 9am departure. In Israel all bags are scanned before check-in and while that line could be tedious, it was surprisingly somewhat quick this time around. When I got to the check-in counters, the lines were nice and short. I was thru pretty quickly. I then sat around the pre-security shopping area waiting around for the 7am opening of the airport post office, as I needed to mail back my rental SIM. The reasonably fast free wifi airport wide kept me going thru the wait. Security was quick, no liquids out, shoes on, belt on. Best of all, TLV doesn't have the 3-1-1 rule, and all liquids are welcome thru security.

Dan Lounge
I got access to the Dan Lounge in the C concourse thru my dads Diners Club card the agent swiped the card and didn't ask for any identification. The Dan lounge was exactly as it was when I was there about 2 months ago so I won't go into great depth. Lounge offered a few cereals, soda in glass bottles, some baked goods, yogurt and Carlsberg and Tuborg beer. As it was during my last visit, there was no fresh juice available, just bottled fruit flavored "soft drink". The lounge wifi was reasonably fast. After a quick 25 minutes I left to do some duty free shopping.

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.

Trains, Phone, Baggage Storage
After breezing thru immigration, I proceeded to baggage claim. My bag came relatively fast. I now attempted to locate Baggage du Monde, the airport bag storage service. I went to many information desks and got various sets of directions from different people and eventually after walking to the other side of the airport and wandering I located the bag storage. I paid 42 euro to store a 55 pound bag for 5 days. Then I started navigating the maze that is the Paris train system. Especially because I don't speak any French. To make a long story short,I rode about 7 different trains and made it to Versailles around 530pm. It was raining. After about 15 minutes I found a cab to the Waldorf Astoria.

I arrived at the Waldorf just after 6. I got an odd look from the bellman as I was wearing a thirst and shorts in the heavy rain and chilly air of Versailles. He invited me in and directed me to Check-in. I was told that I would not get a Gold complimentary upgrade because the hotel was full so they would be giving me 1,000 bonus points in lieu. They tried pressuring me to make a dinner reservation in the hotel restaurant even beofre telling me my Gold benefits. I declined, so she informed me I could dine in room or at one of the property's other restaurants. She then informed me that I would get free wifi, free welcome drink at the bar for my friend and I, a complimentary newspaper, pay per view movie, and fitness club access. As we had booked a king bed room, I inquired about getting 2 doubles. She offered to have the king bed separated, which I accepted.

I was given a room in the Pavilion tower. The room was nice, and well appointed, but it hardly could justify the �550 (US$690) rack rate. My friend and I paid $240 on Expedia. The room was large, had a couch, desk, large screen TV, lamps and some artwork. The bathroom was nice, with Ferragamo amenities. Bathrobes, with skippers in the pockets hung on the back of the bathroom door. I showered, and the water was very hot but with only adequate pressure. The shower was a little too narrow for my liking. The fitness center and pool were both very nice. I enquired at the front desk about the 2 free bottles of water I'm supposed to get as a Gold. My check-in agent said she didn't know why try didn't come but she would look into it. Minutes after I returned to my room, a glass bottle of still water and a glass bottle of sparkling water were delivered. There was also a bag of chocolates and snacks. The room also contained a mini bar with a complimentary coffee station above it. As a HHonors Gold, we were entitled to a free glass of wine, champagne, beer, or soft drink at the bar upon arrival. I ordered a 1664 beer, which was excellent and my friend stuck with a Coke.
I had seen reports on FT of this hotel routinely denying gold and Diamonds upgrades claiming to be full when suites were available online. Hilton website only showed the King room I had booked a queen be room, so at least this time they really were full. There was a conference for Toyota gong which probably explained why all the suites were taken. Toyota either booked them or conference attendees were upgraded based on their own status. Late check-out was not offered or mentioned. Turndown was at 9pm. Shampoo was restocked and chocolates were left on the bed. The bathroom was also cleaned. Even though slippers didn't fit me, it's a shame they didn't replace them at turn down. Would have made a great gift.
The next morning, our complimentary newspaper never came, but I didn't are enough to make an issue out of it. I walked in to town to get baguettes to a place the concierge recommended. When I got back we hit the pool. The pool was large and warm and we enjoyed it for a god 40 minutes. I requested late checkout and I was offered 3pm. We took it, and then we ended up checking out at 12pm and putting our bag in storage.
Verdict: A great hotel for leisure and if you want to explore the area. As a HHonors Gold and a rate of $240 it was definitely worth the money. The concierge was very helpful and all the employees I interacted with we're wonderful.
A note about transportation: While Versailles is beautiful to walk around, if you want to take a cab, be warned. There are almost no taxis in the city. Each time we needed to take a taxi we waited 25+ minutes and the concierge had to call multiple companies an none would send cars.

We booked the BW on Hotwire at a rate of $170 thru its secret hotel program. Having never stayed with BW, I didn't know what to expect. I had BW match my HHonors Gold. They offered me Diamond which is top-tier in their program. I didn't care that status matches are once per lifetime of account because I figured that since I wouldn't stay with them again, why not make my only stays nice.
We arrived by the Metro line 3 to Wagram station, from which the hotel was a 2 minute walk. It was an old and narrow pink building. The lobby looked ok. The elevator was a small closet that me and my 2 small Cary-ons barely fit in and actually got caught in on the way out. I asked about the Diamond benefits. The only Diamond benefit was a space available upgrade. She said the hotel is full tonight, but tomorrow we could give you upgrade.
We were assigned to room 620, one of about 5 rooms on the floor. The room was little and had the tiniest double bed I've ever seen. The in room phone was broken. There was barely room to move because the tiny bed took upmost of the tiny room. The bathroom had a toilet and shower cubicle with no bath. The toiletries on offer were body lotion and shower gel. No shampoo, conditioner or soap. By the time I realized it was late and I didn't feel like making a fuss. The shower cubicle was tiny. I couldn't turn around in it without turning off the water and pushing the door open, getting water all over the bathroom floor.
The next day, we were upgraded. The new room had twin beds pushed together, a bit more space, and a decently sized bathroom with a bath tub. To anyone who stays here I strongly recommended paying for the next category because otherwise your room will just be too small.
The hotel had free wifi, but it annoyingly required you to log in with user ID and password every time, and wasn't able to remember a device.
The hotel didn't have an official concierge, but the receptionists were very eager to help us out with all of our trip planning needs and I was quite satisfied with the level of service.
Verdict: A great hotel if you want a budget friendly property in this part of town 17/8 districts). Close walk or metro ride to most big sites. Book a deluxe room for optimal space to better enjoy your stay.

I intended to take a taxi to Gare Du Nord and then get the RER B train to CDG for my 1215pm flight. I left hotel at 740am and looked for cab. At 745am still no sign. I decided to hop on the metro down the street to Gare Saint Lazare, another major train station and find a taxi there. I put my unlimited 5 day pass into the machine and was thru in seconds. At Gare St. Lazare I couldn't find a taxi. I finally noticed 3 Empty taxis parked next to each other a block up from the station. The first taxi refused to take me. The 2nd spoke unintelligible French. The 3rd told me Gare Du Nord was 2 blocks up and I should go straight. 6 blocks later, no sign. I go into a Starbucks and was told it was quite far, at least 5 stops on the metro. I recognized the area and realized I was near Gare Haussmann which had a train to Gare Du Nord. Upon arrival none of the 3 turnstiles would take my ticket. I didn't have time to ponder why so I decided to just buy a new one at a vending machine. The first vending machine had a very non-responsive touch screen. But after punching the English button multiple times it changed languages. I saw that for 9.5 euro I could buy a ticket to CDG. I selected that option then clicked pay by card. I put in my Diners Club MasterCard. It didn't work. I try it 5 subsequent times. Nothing. I try my Ally Bank MasterCard. Nothing even with 6 tries. I repeat the process on the machine next to it. Same result. I notice an information desk. I hand over my ticket and I ask in slow, clear English if there was some problem. She said she didn't know. I ask her if she could sell me a ticket. She told me to go the machine. I explain the problem to her. She says tough luck. I tell her my flight is in 3 hour and I really need to get to airport. She says too bad. I left the station and go into the hotel next door. I asked the receptionist to call me a cab. He said he try but it's rush hour and they are very busy. He asked me where I was going. I told him CDG. He told me about the Roissy Bus (pronounced Wazee) which leaves for CDG every 15 minutes from the square by the opera house. It was a 10 minute walk from the hotel he said. When I arrived, a Roissy Bus was parked at the station loading. I eventually made it to airport and retrieved my bag from storage by 1015am. When I got to the AA Checkin the line was around the block. I'm flying Y and have no OW status but it's worth noting that no elite or priority check-in was visible. Had I gotten a taxi by 8am, I would have arrived seeing no line at all or a very shoe line. But at this point my main concerning was checking in and making my flight. Advice to those planning to go to CDG by train or can: call taxi 20 minutes before you want to leave and allow 2 hours for travel time if going via public transit. As I got a little closer I noticed a Priority AAccess line, but I still couldn't tell if it was enforced. Once checked in I was thru immigration and security quickly. Security was mostly effortless. No need to remove liquids or shoes though my belt did beep NAND had to go thru.

AA 41
CDG-ORD
Depart: 1215pm (schedule) 1243pm (actual)
Arrive: 225pm (schedule) 213pm (actual)
Equipment: 767
Seat: 12B, 13C (Economy)

I was initially seated in 11B with an enpty window next to me i wad asked to move back 1 row to accommodate a couple who wanted to be together i agreed and moved back to 12B. The plane was boarded from the front door. This plane has J but no F. Row 12 is the 3rd row of Y and in the Y mini cabin at the front of the plane. The Y cabin had no seatback TVs, only main cabin screens. The flight was announced as full. A short delay wa announced so the ground crew could finish loading bags. There were tiny pillows and tiny blankets at the seat. Flight time was announced at 8 hours, 32 minutes. On the Tarmac I spotted an Air Mauritius and Malaysia airplanes, as well as an unfamiliar Asian carrier with a name I couldn't read.
They announced that they were short 2 crews members so service would be slightly slower. I wonder if/how it affected service in J. I further wonder if the crew shortage was just a fluke ir if its because AA wants to cut labor costs die to the bankruptcy. Service began not long after take off with Tex-Mex crackers and drinks. AA recently started offering complimentary alcohol in Y on international flights, and my seat ate ordered white wine. This is my first experience in AA long-haul Y. My only previous AA long-haul experience was in F, and do far I'm happy with what I see. Mid flight, my seat mate asked me if I mind switching with her son seated in the aisle across, which I did. Moments after that, cans and cups from the drink service were collected.
The meal service began 10 minutes after. Standard menu choices were chicken and rice or pasta. My usual KSML was hot grilled chicken with mashed potatoes, a lemon dessert, a bread roll, and cold pasta salad with chicken. Catering was by Hermolis of London. It was excellent. Possibly the best KSMl I've ever had in coach. For the first time in a very long time, I returned a totally clean tray. There was also a bottle of Crystal Geyser water that came with the tray. A few minutes after, there was a drinks service. I had another Diet Coke. The FA noticed y empty bottle of water and proactively offered me a cup of water with my Coke. Kudos to AA for an outstanding KSML in Y. I finished the meal looking forward to the pre-landing snack. In the style of F, trays were han collected and not cart collected during the first pass. The second pass did have a cart collection.
I should add at this point that the crew were also excellent. Without the announcement, I wouldn't have noticed that they were understaffed. Service was quick, efficient and above all friendly. So far, AA has me wanting to come back for more. 20 minutes after the conclusion of the service, a 3rd round of drinks was offered. I was surprised at the beer selection. Normally, on international flights the beer selection consists of just Heineken, at least in Y. Sometimes one other choice. In addition to Heineken, this flight offered Amstel and 1664, the French beer I had a few nights ago at the Waldorf. For the additional service, I opted for Diet Sprite, and was served Sierra Mist, not that I could tell the difference. The flight continued to pass uneventfully. The biggest drawback to this flight is the lack of personal video. On a 4.5 flight to Paris, it's acceptable but not Okay. On a 8.5 hour international flight it's downright ridiculous. This is my only complaint. The lack of personal video wouldn't be so bad if there were USB ports in seat, but alas. About 3.5 hours out, FAs passed thru the cabin offering water.
Afternoon snack came out about 1 hour and 45 minutes before landing. I don't know what the standard offering was. My KSML consisted of a bowl of fruit, a hot dish of something or other stuffed in blitzes that was quite good, and a chocolate cookie. I again ate the entire tray. I'm not sure when I last ate everything served to me for 2 consecutive meals. I'm very happy with AA's kosher catering, at least on this route. I'm interested in seeing their KSML offering on other routes. Trays were cleared quickly by a male FA I hadn't seen thru the whole flight so I'm guessing he was working J until now. After snack, there was another drinks service. I ordered coffee. They were serving Java City, a brand unfamiliar to me. It was pretty weak and disappointing.

Verdict: An excellent international coach product. FAs were wonderful as was special meal catering. Main drawback is lack of ons seat entertainment.

This is definitely frustrating, but a little research would have helped you in advance.

The ticket machines for the RER-B accept only European-style credit cards with a chip. They do accept coins, however, so you go to the change machines adjacent to the ticket kiosks.

Alternatively, you CAN use an American-style credit card in a Metro station, and those kiosks will sell you a ticket for the RER-B.

Sorry you had a frustrating experience. Live and learn...