Concerto

List of chapters

1. Introduction

2. List of Promotions and Offers

3. FLIGHT EDI-GVA Standard (Y) U23291

4. HIKE Untervallis - Rother Hike 31: La Crevasse, 1,808m

5. FLIGHT GVA-CDG Economy (G) AF1443

6. FLIGHT CDG-VCE Economy (G) AF1526

7. Venice

8a. Lido di Venezia

8b. Other Venice and Bologna notes

9. FLIGHT BLQ-CDG Economy (G) AF1229

10. FLIGHT CDG-GVA Economy (G) AF1142

11. TRAIN With SBB and DB from Montreux to Duisburg via Basel

12. Detmold

13. FLIGHT MGL-ZOJ Private Plane (F) PP012

14. FLIGHT ZOJ-MGL Private Plane (F) PP013

15. FLIGHT DUS-ZRH Economy Light (T) LX1017

16. FLIGHT ZRH-ZHT Economy Light (T) LX7478(TRN)

17. Geneva, Montreux and Sion in Stormy November

18. FLIGHT GVA-FRA Economy Light (T) LH5745(LX)

Concerto

The autumn of 2023 had a few ups and downs for me, which did not stop me travelling and having interesting experiences. It began with a trip to Venice, where I opted to stay in Lido di Venezia, followed by a short visit to Bologna. Later in October, I ended up working on "Les Contes d'Hoffmann" at the Detmold opera house in Germany. Around the same time I did another private plane flight from M�nchengladbach Airport, which was supposed to take us to Arnsberg-Menden Flugplatz. But while flying over the Sauerland we had to divert the flight due to poor weather closing in and we ended up flying to Marl-Loem�hle instead, near Recklinghausen.


Looking down the Grand Canal from the Rialto bridge in Venice

November saw a nice trip to Mallorca which included doing a couple of hikes on the Mallorcan coast. This gave me the chance to try out discover Airlines, which is the new rebranding of Eurowings Discover. In addition, I made an unexpected weekend trip to Frankfurt and tried to get under the skin of this gritty city, enjoying excellent food along the way. As the autumn progressed into winter we experienced endless heavy rainfall, which pushed the water level way up on many rivers and lakes. So, the number of hikes I managed to achieve was not high, although I did manage to do the beautiful and relatively short La Crevasse which looks over the Val de Bagnes near Verbier. As usual, things got very busy in late November and most of December, partly due to me playing for the Valaisan Championships of solo brass instruments.


The plane that we flew to Marl-Loem�hle, having diverted there after getting caught in storm clouds on the way to Arnsberg-Menden

lamphs

Looking forward to this one! I think you and I had an e-mail discussion earlier in the year about Lido di Venezia. Looking forward to finding out how it worked out!

Concerto

Yes, indeed, that was very interesting. I think that the Lido di Venezia posts are quite interesting, but you will see for yourself. Certainly, getting accommodation in Lido for around EUR50 was a pretty good achievement, I thought.

rapidex

Always enjoy your trip reports. The light aircraft sections bring back memories of my younger days.

Concerto

The flights in the private plane are always fun and I love those small airports (many with unofficial IATA codes!) where there is often a very nice restaurant. The feeling at these little aerodromes takes you back to an earlier era of flying. And there are no security controls to go through, no people milling about.

Concerto

During the Covid pandemic there were a huge number of offers and special promotions to help keep alive and restart the travel industry. Without going into all of those again it has to be said that they have all mostly disappeared and we are going through a period with almost no special offers at all. Even the frequent flyer programmes, such as Air France KLM Flying Blue, have decided to change the rules despite all the incentives they offered during Covid. At some places, travel has become ridiculously expensive (e.g. New York), but also absurdly cheap (e.g. car rental at Mallorca).


Above, one of the underwhelming Challenges in the Miles & More app, here with Amazon - much of the time the purchases do not track properly
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This challenge, above, was a total flop and after the experience I had with the FREENOW app, I would never touch this "Saftladen" again
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The good thing is that the travel industry has rebounded and we are pretty much back to where we were just before the pandemic concerning flights, hotels and restaurants, and the whole general infrastructure. A later post in this trip report discusses all these offers, along with an overview of the Black Friday deals which interested me. During December, I did daily online advent calendars in the hope of winning one of their prizes. Win something I did, but it wasn't anything from any of the advent calendars. I won first prize in the MasterCard Priceless Experiences contest, from my Swiss UBS issued credit card (should think so too, I've had that card since 1991). This prize will take me in February to a 5 star hotel in St. Moritz in the Grisons of Switzerland. 1st rail transfer is included and all meals will be in Michelin starred restaurants. Other activities such as skiing or snowshoeing will arranged and the package will include a spa treatment! More about that later.



Hard to get motivated about this challenge, shown above



Sometimes there are interesting promotions for converting Coop Superpoints into Lufthansa Miles & More miles

offerendum

Rental cars on Mallorca have always been very cheap at certain times. In the last few years they've been incredibly expensive, so people have almost bought them. The same applies to many destinations. In London, I was supposed to pay around �300 per day for a mid-range car in 2022. Pure madness
To put it positively, however, I have the feeling at the moment that there are significantly more special offers on the market again.

Concerto

I am not getting the feeling that there are huge numbers of offers flying around at the moment. It's mostly that prices seem to have come more or less around to being normal and even cheap sometimes. But there so many people on the move that there's probably no need to make loads of offers.

Concerto

A morning drive down the M90 from Perth with fluid traffic conditions was followed by easy progress through security at Edinburgh airport, which took all of 3 minutes! I had some time airside before my easyJet flight to Geneva left at 10h45 so I settled in at Caff� Nero for an espresso and chocolate muffin. The wing of the airport which contained gates 25-27 is airy and filled with light, with plenty of seating. Both gates 25 and 27 were in full use and it was a little bit tricky discerning the lines for the flight to Paris and the one for Geneva along with the Speedy Boarding lines. I enjoyed the walk out to the aircraft, as always, and mounted the rear steps to get to my seat which was towards the rear of the plane.


Boarding the easyJet flight on the apron at Edinburgh airport


The low cost carriers save money by not using air bridges, but I actually enjoy boarding planes by the stairs

Today I felt that I was in good hands and the interaction with the crew was excellent. Many of the older easyJet staff have a nice down to earth manner which people can really relate to. I was able to change my prepaid aisle seat for a similar seat further back with nobody beside me with the help of the flight attendant. This made for a pleasant and comfortable trip all the way to Geneva, which we reached half an hour early. There is no inflight entertainment (IFE) or internet connection on easyJet flights, which from my point of view is fine for a 2 hour flight.


Standard seating on easyJet


General view of the easyJet cabin

It was a lunchtime flight so I had bought a prepaid voucher for the inflight catering at a 20% discount, so a �10 voucher cost �8. I ordered a meal deal, which included a snack of Pringles Original, wraps with barbecued chicken and salad and a large Segafredo Americano coffee. To that I added a bottle of Segafredo sparkling water and I had a total of 12 pence extra to pay on top of my voucher. The flight was calm with no turbulence and I was eventually lulled to sleep, only to wake up during the descent to Geneva. This year easyJet has turned out to be the winner, possibly my favourite airline of the year, due to a series of impeccable flights. I hope my luck continues to hold! We were decanted into non European arrivals at Geneva airport and passport control took about an hour to go through.

Rating 8.5*
Seat 25D-27C
Aircraft 320
​​​​​Registration G-EZUW


The easyJet meal deal was pretty good and reasonably priced


At the gate at Geneva airport with the Jura mountains in the background

Concerto

This hike is in French speaking Switzerland, in the Lower Valais (Bas Valais) part of canton Valais. It is not far from the ski resort of Verbier and is also accessible from the town of Martigny.

This was a bit of an odd choice because it was slightly difficult to reach, requiring a car for the drive up from Martigny to the Col de Planches above the village of Vens in the Val des Bagnes. I persuaded a colleague to go and we parked her car at the Col de Planches. Basically, the walk leads up to the peak of a minor mountain (La Crevasse 1808 meters) with a precipitous overlook of the Val des Bagnes. The height difference is around 400m which wasn't too bad but reasonably strenuous.


Passing through woodlands on the way up to La Crevasse


Information table at the summit of La Crevasse


Looking across the Val de Bagnes

There were no real difficulties on this walk, despite its red grading, but there are a few navigational difficulties. The first issue happens almost immediately, on the climb up the paved road and both Rother and Switzerland Mobility are inaccurate here. You need to continue on the paved road until further up, where there is a clear turn off to the right. If you climb up the pathless slope at the beginning like I did, following both false maps, you will reach the right trail further up, normally. At La Crevasse, be careful because there's a vertical drop from the edge. The descent on this circuit is somewhat less steep. On the return trip you need to keep a beady eye on the Swiss ordinance survey map (or Deutsche Alpenverein), especially around the Col de Tronc. There is a point where the trail downward splits off from the forest track and you need a really sharp eye (and ideally a GPS) to spot it. Once you reach the surfaced road below, it's an easy downhill wander back to the car park.


There is quite a drop from the top of La Crevasse


Beginning of the trail which descends from La Crevasse



Some parts of the lower trail lead through dense forests with mushrooms everywhere

Concerto

My stay in the Air France lounge in Geneva was pleasant enough but plagued with phone calls and issues I had to deal with. I was still not feeling great, after a few days of a slightly upset stomach due to stress, so I drank no alcohol. Boarding for the flight to Paris was announced in a timely manner and I headed down to gate E12.


The Air France KLM lounge in Geneva airport has been renovated


Boarding my Air France flight in the French sector of Geneva airport


Standard seating on Air France short haul, both in Economy and Business class

The flight itself was pleasant enough in the usual Air France manner aboard an A223 aircraft, with a row of two seats on the left and three seats on the right facing forward. I had an aisle seat midway up the cabin and this flight was nowhere near full. The flight was really pleasant but I had a real heartache along with issues to deal with using chat message (using the onboard WiFi service). Service slipped past me somehow, but a small sandwich was served with country bread and Mediterranean vegetables, as stated on the wrapper. Drinks were limited and basic, as Air France service continues to dip. Wine is no longer served on ultra short flights, so I had tea and water. We landed quite early at Paris Charles de Gaulle and I plenty of time for the transfer, including a stay in the new (relatively) Air France lounge in Terminal 2F.

Rating 7*
Seat 17D
Aircraft 223
Registration F-HZUE


The Geneva - Paris route seems to be operated by only Airbus 220 aircraft these days


Economy class catering on Air France Geneva - Paris


A view of Terminal 2F at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport

Concerto

I enjoyed the new Air France temple (lounge) in Paris Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2F, although I had rather a lot on my mind today. I didn't really have an appetite to eat, but I should probably have refused the champagne (Laurent Perrier) when it came around. The white wines were a mixed bunch, with the Pouilly Fuiss� standing out as the best.


Air France lounge in Terminal 2F at Paris CDG airport, just after the entrance


Sweet options among a rather limited food offering


The new Air France lounge in Terminal 2F makes good use of space

Boarding at gate F50 was efficient and the plane wasn't fully booked, but I ended up in an emergency exit row that was fully booked. The female sat next to me opened a brown paper bag and proceeded to consume... Sushi. The free service in Economy class included a choice of chicken or vegetable sandwich (the latter was the best) and a choice of drinks from the bar. I had the rather unassuming Chardonnay from Maison Castel and found it quite palatable. Cabin crew were very friendly, pouring the wine with aplomb, despite the fact that I was absorbed on my phone with my problems, thanks to the inflight chat feature. So, this was not one of the flights that would remain in my memory, had I not written about it here. Sometimes, events take you over and dominate your thoughts. Arrival at Venice was early, not that it made a difference to me.

Rating 7*
​Seat 12C
Aircraft 320
Registration F-GKXI


There is even a Clarins spa in the Air France lounge


In the cabin of the Air France flight to Bologna


Catering on the CDG-BLQ flight which consisted of a vegetarian sandwich; at least they had wine on this flight

lamphs

I neither a fan of sushi nor know much about it. Is this a bad thing on a plane?

Concerto

Well, not really I suppose, but why do people have to eat stuff like that when we're sitting on a flight where you get some sort of full service?