JapesUK

Our chariot awaits




Thoroughly confused to be the first through the gates and down the stairs only to find a bus already full! Jumped onboard and away we go.

And here we are:





the most leg room so far




Scheduled departure time has arrived as has the second bus load of pax. Clearly we’re going to be a bit late off the ground. Time to settle in and enjoy the flight. Next stop Schiphol.

JapesUK

The flight to Amsterdam was uneventful, with a little bit of turbulence on descent into Schiphol. The crew on this flight were lovely, breakfast was served very quickly after take off, no trolleys, one seat at a time from the tiny galley. Breakfast itself… well… the less said about this carb-tastrophy the better




We landed on time, and taxied across to a bus gate. The buses were ready and waiting and we were off on a grand tour of the airport, a lot of which is currently a building site.




Why is that airports spend fortunes on the ambience, but bus gates are almost always these dowdy affairs buried in the bowels of the building?

Departure to CDG is from the C gates so after a quick look to check the walk time back to the gates it’s off to the KLM lounge

The lounge is extensive, with separate areas for relaxation, business, etc There’s a well manned KLM desk and some clusters of funky outsized chairs. Along one wall is a giant backlit mural, I’m assuming this it in an attempt to compensate for the lack of any outsive view or natural light






A well stocked food station has all the staples you would expect and a surprise pair of soup cauldrons!










Soup Cauldrons

I’ve 40 minutes to boarding so it’s time for a coffee or two and a quick bite before heading out to the gate for the penultimate leg of this trip, AF1341 AMS-CDG.

JapesUK

I knew there was something missing….

JapesUK

And onto the plane. This is the only leg where I was not able to secure row 1 so it’s a little tight but not horrible. Thankfully it’s 3-3 with a blocked middle seat so I don’t have to apologise to my neighbour for manspreading!




9 rows in business on what looks to be a completely packed flight. The music is playing, the seatbelt is on, and we’re ready to go. Next stop, CDG

moondog

JapesUK In spite of the fact that Krakow is not on my short list (or any list, now that I think about it), I'm enjoying your report thoroughly. Thanks for making the effort.

JapesUK

Thanks for the positive feedback moondog it’s really good to receive.

JapesUK

We departed Amsterdam a little late, a somewhat garbled message from the captain mentioning thunderstorms and Germany. As soon as they could the crew were up and preparing meals. It’s a short flight and with 35 pax in front of the curtain they had to hustle. The meal was smoked trout and is without doubt the best meal I’ve had on Air /France so far. Both the main and desert were light and the portion sizes perfect.




There was just time for a glass of Champagne and we were on our descent to CDG.

Landing was smooth, taxi was quick, and I was off the jet bridge at exactly noon.





For the first time in CDG my onward flight is departing from the same terminal that I arrived at and walk to the lounge was a sprightly 15 minutes, including passing through the completely empty passport control.

JapesUK

The AF lounge at T2K is quite compact, however it does have the clarins offering and first order of business was to book a treatment.






The lounge was pretty busy and the food and drink was well picked over, even the champagne bottles were empty.










I had to save this photo for last because… beef cheeks! They’re everywhere!





The lounge staff have been working non-stop since I arrived and it’s all looking much tidier and restocked, so its time for a coffee and bubbles before the treatment, and after that maybe a little stroll around ther terminal and a visit to duty free.

JapesUK

A twenty minute facial treatment has left me with the skin of a twenty year old, unfortunately the rest of me is still gray and broken 😆




Once I’d sufficiently recovered my wits from the treatment I took a little stroll around the gates and there were a couple of surprises





Managing to walk past the very dangerous (to my wallet) Hennessy store without going in, its back to the lounge and time to catch up on what has been going on in the world before my last flight of the weekend, AF1158 CDG-NCL

JapesUK

Away we go to gate K22. The escalator leading down tells me we are heading for a bus…




A pretty short wait and the bus is off to the stand half full. It much more pleasant when they shuttle passengers in batches rather than play human sardine can with the bus!

Our transport for the last leg is this Embraer 190





Lots of legroom as usual, no shoulder space so it’s pretty friendly with someone in the next seat!




And that’s it, the plane is buttoned up and we’re ready to go. Flighty has just popped up with a 26 minute taxi time!!! Next stop, Newcastle

JapesUK

Time to wrap up this trip. The flight was pretty bumpy coming back, twice the seatbelts signs were on and once the crew were sent back to their seats for a spell. There were only 3 rows in front of the curtain but with the turbulence our FA went to help out at the back for half an hour so it was meal, drink, and a top up in the 90 minutes.

The meal was a repeat from an earlier flight so I’ll not describe it again



Once we had landed it was a short taxi to one of the walk-in stands and through passport control in under 5 minutes.

Ordered my Uber and he was literally 10 feet away from me when he picked up the job so no delays and now on my way to the seaside solitude I call home.

I hope you found this interesting, or at least tolerable, and I would honestly appreciate feedback… are these more pedestrian trip reports of interest or should I not bother?

catmndu

Thanks for the report. I really liked your reporting. It's nice to have this style of report to add to the overall mix of trip reports. I'd be afraid of writing up my travels as I don't think I'm a gifted writer.

CJ99

Excellent report, thanks.

HLT1904

Interesting trip report, thanks for sharing. I find ghost tours Interesting when visiting old cities, they usually have a lot of history in them.

an_asker

Is that the chocolate lava cake? (tm: Carnival Cruise Lines)