Paris | Jason Around the World

London to Paris in Eurostar Business Premier

2019 Australia RTW, France, United Kingdom 1 Response »

Aug 292019

After getting to my hotel around 2am, it took a little bit of time to fall asleep, but I still managed around 5-6 hours before waking up in time to get some coffee and meet up with friends. London would be my second very brief stop in a row on this trip where I maximized the time meeting up with friends, and that was something a little sleep wouldn’t stop!

But first, off to get coffee. I was staying at the Great Northern Hotel right by St. Pancras station for two reasons: first because I really enjoy the property, but secondly it would be a short walk to catch my train to Paris. Looking at the posters in the hallway, it’s as if they were expecting me!

Coffee consumed, I took a quick walk through St. Pancras to re-familiarize myself with the lay of the land so I could maximize my time before darting to my train later. I love the architecture of this place.

At 11:00 (per the super cool reservation bottle below) I met up with Michael and the lovely Ellen at the Champagne Bar at St. Pancras for some celebratory bubbles. I’m not sure if this was the brunch excuse or the vacation excuse to begin consuming champagne before noon….but hey, does one really need an excuse for champagne?

Beverages and amazing conversation are two things that never seem to last as long as you’d like them to, and all too soon I had to head back across the street to grab my bags (cases if you will since we’re in London) and cross back across the street to catch my train.

I hadn’t taken a train out of St. Pancras in almost ten years, but was glad to see absolutely nothing had changed in that time, except for the waiting lounge after immigration. Oh yes, security and immigration. If you have a European passport, nice and slick, but if you have a non-European passport and are in the premier queue, they don’t seem to plan for this, and there’s lots of ducking under ropes and such to bypass the queue. Honestly, wasn’t bad, ten minutes tops, and I was in the lounge to wait for the train.

Lounge was nice but way too warm (around 24C), and the crystal glasses for water and wine were way too obnoxiously heavy and elaborate for my tastes. I’m just a simple redneck…it’s not like we’re having tea with the queen!

Soon enough it was time for boarding, and it was a mad rush with the rest of the proletariat to get on the train. Business Premier was at the very far end of the platform (I guess this is so that when you arrive you’re first off?) but honestly it all worked out well. Slightly sexier and curvier figure than Amtrak if you ask me….

Legroom wasn’t amazing, but was much better than I remembered from previous trips where even business class felt rather like a sardine can. The other good news is that Business Premier on this train was maybe 25% full, so there was plenty of room to spread out!

This is probably a good place to mention how the trains work on Eurostar. There’s economy which is, well, exactly what you’d expect. Business which is some sort of middle ground I guess? …then there’s Business Premier, which is the most comfortable way to travel. Complete with real Champagne and printed menus:

…and off we go, at 226 kph!

Not only was a meal served, but it was served in proper courses with an appetizer first and then the main event. The most disappointing part? Despite only being 25% full, by the time the attendant got to me the fish was the only thing left. Good thing the French are about the only ones I’d trust to get plane and train fish right, and it was delicious! Definitely the best meal I’ve ever eaten on a train!

Vanilla mille-feuille for dessert
Goats cheese and basil mousse with red pepper, onion, and olive

Haddock with cheddar and tomato, turnip gratin, pea and majoram puree – fancy french eats!

Upon arrival, Paris was a bit on the toasty side at 35C on the front end of the canicule – or heatwave. The metro was barely tolerable as I headed off to République to my hotel, the Renaissance Paris République. For the one night stay they had upgraded me to a gorgeous suite on the top floor with wonderful views of Paris:

Love the simple decor in the room
Rooftop views of Paris

Simple but elegant design. I hate old and stuffy, and this room struck the perfect balance for me.

It was late afternoon at this point with the time change, so I decided to do my favourite Paris activity: head out for a walk. I didn’t really have much of a plan this time, but found myself wandering by Notre Dame where I ran into the gilets jaunes just hanging about, and fortunately not making too much of a protest.

She doesn’t look terrible from the front, despite the terrible damage from the first just a couple of weeks prior

I walked for nearly four hours around Paris (15+ km) until the sun began to set, and I found myself somewhere down on the Left Bank.

At this point I was about 3km from République, so I decided I could walk the rest of the way back, and grab a very late dinner around 10pm before heading to bed. With only one night in Paris, there was no stopping me from having a croque madame and some wine while people watching from a bistro and despite it being four-five weeks after I’d been there previously, the waiter at the bistro remembered me and was super chatty. Who says French waiters are rude!

Off to bed at a semi reasonable hour – I had to get up in the morning and make my way to a new airport I’d never been to before in order to fly to Tunis!

Quick work trip to Paris

France, Uncategorized 1 Response »

May 262019

So, you’ve probably noticed I haven’t posted anything in a good long time. The main reason for that is…I spent nearly two straight months at home without a single trip….and it was amazing! I’m about to pay for it however, with three back-to-back work trips and a mini vacation all in the span of 18 days. Then it will be a month at home, before a two week vacation to Australia, 20 days in Switzerland for work, and back to back South Africa and India trips in the early fall.

Tired yet? I know I am…and I hadn’t even left! Actually, I’m back already. Normally, when I go to fun places like Paris I try and tack on a few extra days to enjoy the city, but with so many places to be these were all quick in and out trips…so the majority you’ll get is going to be plane reviews…which I know plenty of you enjoy! So, with that, off we go!

In another unusual twist for me, the flights to Paris would be nonstop in both directions. Normally, I would route through either Toronto or Newark to guarantee a 1-2-1 product, but due to the way fares and timing worked, I had to go nonstop…which worked out in the end because apparently United has been working on reconfiguring their 777-200s with Global First faster than I thought…and I got a Polaris 777-200 both ways! So, on to the flights:

United flight 915
Washington, DC, Dulles (IAD) to Paris, Charles de Gaulle, France (CDG)
Depart 17:20, Arrive: 06:55, flight time: 7:35
Boeing 777-200, Registration N216UA, Manufactured 2000, Seat 1L
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 22,325
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,714,913

Yes, you saw that correctly. Only 22,325 miles to date in early May. As I noted above, the year has been off to a super slow start, which has been just fine with me! That’s about to drastically change, however.

Also, this flight confirmed for me that I love the Polaris seat – especially when I can get one of the odd-numbered single seats on the window. Thank God for the super strong air pumping from the vents, because this plane was a furnace. See the little cube circled below? It’s a temperature monitoring device I picked up on Amazon and love! Most of this flight was 77-78F with humidity in the 8-9% zone. Eek! I bought it so I could monitor planes and hotel rooms to see if I was (a) really crazy or (b) legitimate in being warm.

So, on the meal…..the PDBs came in real glassware with a generous pour, the sommelier featured wine goes for $8.75 a bottle per google, but I got the super tasty spicy chicken, so overall it was a pretty good meal!

mmmm warm nuts
“Featured” wine…bwahahah!
Spicy chicken for the win. Paul approves!
Cheese was meh and the sundae had precisely one cherry!

I chose not to sleep on this flight given it was landing at 12:55am Washington flight, and I didn’t have to go straight to work. So I was treated to daybreak over Paris:

Got to my hotel, crashed for a delightful five hour nap, and then headed to the office for my only meeting of the day from 3-6pm. The next two days were jam-packed with meetings as well, but I did manage to get some fun in. Couple of great craft beer places to recommend that I was surprised to find in Paris: La Fine Mousse, Hoppy Corner, and La Robe et La Mousse – two of which were owned by the same people.

Of course, there was also plenty of time for a delicious hotel breakfast the way only France can do with fresh squeezed orange juice, pain au chocolates, fresh crunchy bread with nutella, amazing coffee, and a freshly made omelette. Oh, and I may have spent more than one night having wine and croque madames while people watching from a cafe…as one does in Paris!

United flight 914
Paris, Charles de Gaulle, France (CDG) to Washington, DC, Dulles (IAD)
Depart 12:25, Arrive: 14:50, flight time: 8:25
Boeing 777-200, Registration N223UA, Manufactured 2001, Seat 15L
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 26,186
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,718,774

All too soon, it was time to head back to DC. I had one night in the states because I had an event I couldn’t miss before turning straight around and flying to Germany. Not the most efficient thing ever, but some things take priority.

At least it was a gorgeous day to fly, and I got the 1-2-1 Polaris seating on the 777 again…which was a good thing because had it been the 2-4-2 dormitory class plane I might have completely lost it…. I decided to try row 15 this time, because it was one of the good odd-row window seats, and I heard it can be quiet in the back of the cabin as long as there are no infants in the bulkhead of premium economy behind you. There weren’t, and it was a great seat! That said, foreshadowing…

Meal was the usual from United, though I have to say the catering was a notch up from what I’ve come to expect from the downgraded Polaris catering lately. It was actually much tastier than usual, and I quite enjoyed it. Chicken on the way over, now fish on the way back….yes, this is my attempt at being BP-healthy after years of unhealthy plane and restaurant food. Thank God I’m super active or I’d probably have keeled over by now!

Warm nuts and wine to start…nothing too exciting here…and Prue approves.
Chilled pork and apricot terrine: daring by United’s standards and delicious. I almost felt like I was on Air France!
Roasted halibut…nice and moist for airline fish, and maybe I’m a convert from the beef after all!
One cherry once again: we’re really in austerity mode aren’t we United? Cheese plate was delicious as only the French could do….wish all United cheese plates were this good!

Not too much time to catch up on tv on the iPad this trip, because I had to write up the meetings before turning right around to do another set. I hate working on planes because it’s my relaxation time and tv time (since I don’t have a tv at home) but couldn’t be avoided this trip. Oh well, you can’t win them all.

Pre-arrival….”hamburger wellington” are you kidding me? I had to order it just because it was weird…and actually was quite tasty. The tomato and mozzarella salad was also pretty good. Sometimes it’s good to try something different… Prue, however, is definitely not sure about it.

About 2.5 hours before landing, over Newfoundland, there was a call for a doctor on board. A passenger had fainted and was having trouble breathing. I could just see us diverting after I’d made this ridiculous detour home for one event, but fortunately the passenger was alright and made it to Dulles where the paramedics were waiting for us.

That concludes the super quick trip to Paris. Stay tuned: tomorrow we turn right back around and head to Germany!

Last Minute Completely Unplanned Trip

France 2 Responses »

Apr 082018

Yeah, so it was Saturday morning. Woke up. I was having coffee, looking ahead to a completely boring day with zero plans. Sitting around on the couch sounded so, so nice. But it was Easter weekend…and there was really nothing at all going on…people were out of town…and before I’d finished my coffee I was bored. I had managed to resist the idea the day before on Friday (you know, when I could have actually gone there and spent the night) but I had a feeling today would be different.

30 minutes later, I’d grabbed a shower, threw a few things in a backpack, and was out the door. There was a flight to Detroit in 70 minutes, and from there on Delta I could pretty much head anywhere in the world. I’d always wanted to do a spur of the moment trip to somewhere – anywhere – and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. So without any plans at all, off to Detroit I went.

Quick Uber to National Airport, check in, through CLEAR with no line, and I was at my gate. I might have even had 10 minutes to spare in the SkyClub, but I was already feeling a bit rushed so decided to head to the gate. Time to head to Detroit, and the great beyond!

Delta Airlines flight 6188, operated by GoJet
Washington DC, National (DCA) to Detroit, Michigan (DTW)
Depart 12:45, Arrive 14:20, Flight Time: 1:35
Canadair CRJ-700, Registration N669CA, Manufactured 2004, Seat 4B
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 17,013
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,537,075

Boarded right on time (and yeah, I had 15 minutes to spare, I don’t know why I felt rushed) and ended up in seat 4B, which has more legroom than any other seat on the plane as you can see in the pic below. Given that Comfort Plus has free drinks just like first class on a short flight like this, this seat was actually probably BETTER than ended up in actual first.

Both 4C and 4D remained open, so I decided to move over to 4D right before takeoff. Still pretty much unlimited legroom, and DC is one of my favourite places for a window seat. I’m usually on the A-side so get great Pentagon shots on takeoff, but today it was the Jefferson Memorial and the US Capitol:

I’ve been trying to be nicer to my liver lately, so was content with a bag of snack mix and a diet coke. I should have had some Biscoff cookies, but the little Dorito things in the snack mix are just soooo good!

Landed in Detroit about 15 minutes ahead of schedule, and look what was right across from my gate:

I had a few vague ideas where Delta flew from Detroit. I knew about London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris in the evening, but was surprised to see there were actually THREE flights to Amsterdam, one to Rome I didn’t know about, and of course there was also Canada and the rest of the US as well.

Overwhelmed, I headed to the lounge for a snack to explore options. Meatballs, cheese, hummus, and a beer. Giving United’s famous “brown meal” a run for its money:

After looking at how full flights were, I settled on the second flight to Amsterdam. However, as the flight got closer, more and more people started snapping up the available seats, to the point where even if I did get a seat it would be a middle seat in the 1-2-1 configuration. Now, don’t get me wrong, those seats are way better than 2-4-2 on United where people have to climb over each other, but I was really hoping for a solo window seat since I didn’t plan to sleep.

Given the odds from Amsterdam were looking dicey, I took a look back at Paris…and wow…plenty of seats. Choice made, I bought the ticket, and of course was unable to check in online. Tried the counter in the SkyClub, and they couldn’t check me in either since we were only 50 minutes before departure. Time to run to the gate.

Met with the “how did you get through security if you’re not checked in” the gate agent made a production of reminding me she was doing me a favour by checking me in…and just like that it was time to go!

Unfortunately, I was having trouble refunding my Amsterdam ticket online…but did get the very last seat in business class. Fortunately, I could see online they did eventually unload me and I was able to refund it later. Off to Paris we go!

Delta Airlines flight 98
Detroit, Michigan (DTW) to Paris, France, Charles de Gaulle (CDG)
Depart 18:11, Arrive 8:15 next day, Flight Time: 8:04
Airbus A330-300, Registration N803NW, Manufactured 2003, Seat 9A
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 20,976
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,541,038

Pre-departure “champagne” – I’m still not sure a $5 bottle of sparking wine is “worth it” in the calories department, but hey, it came in an actual glass and this spur of the moment trip was definitely something to celebrate! I tend to be someone who overthinks things, so being spontaneous is something to celebrate!

Mixed nuts to start off once we were in the air, and a glass of wine. These glasses always look like they shouldn’t be stable in turbulence, but I’ve never had a problem. Also, love that the mixed nuts include pistachios, pecans, and cashews – my three favourite nuts.

Appetizer tray. I know others don’t like business class service on a tray, but it doesn’t bother me. The salad was pretty underwhelming, but the appetizer was phenomenal. I don’t know how they came up with this combo, but “grilled apricots with whipped ricotta, truffle honey and crispy prosciutto” was absolutely amazing. I wanted more. Plus a pretzel roll and tomato/basil bisque soup was super tasty and good comfort food.

Another home run with the main course, pistachio crusted australian lamb rack. It’s pretty rare you get lamb chops on the bone on a plane, but they were also cooked medium (best you can expect on a plane) and the pistachio crust was amazing. This mean alone made me want to do more Delta transatlantics before it goes away!

Cheese and ice cream for dessert. Cheese was nothing special, but ice cream with a little hot fudge is always welcome.

I had decided I was going to stay away the whole flight to avoid jetlag, since we would be landing around 1am east coast time in the US. Given I often stay up that late on weekends anyways, it was definitely easy to stay awake…and allowed me to catch up on tv. I never watch tv at home, so I rely on downloads of the shows I like to my iPad to catch up. Good use of time in the air.

Small mid-flight snack with about three hours to go:

I decided I would have breakfast “for science” but the frittata of potato and gruyere was much better than expected and I ended up eating most of it. The tomato hollandaise was super tasty too. I suspect Delta must have gotten a sale on asparagus and tomatoes this month!

Oh, and since it was still technically midnight body clock time, a glass of champagne with breakfast was welcome. Now that’s a generous pour. The crew on this flight was friendly and fantastic.

Landed 15 minutes ahead of schedule, and up into the terminal where I managed to get a shot of my ride to Paris:

See, it was all fate that I ended up on a flight to Paris! Paris has been waiting for me!

During the flight I had done some searching, and fortunately managed to find a flight home that was wide open. Looked like I would have about three hours on the ground, and then it would be right back to Cincinnati. Found the Air France/Delta transfer desk a short walk from the plane, and they had no trouble checking me in to Cincinnati. We had arrived at the M gates of Terminal 2E, so I would have to head to the L gates if I wanted to use the Yotel lounge, and my flight would of course depart from the K gates.

So, good news first. After some confusion and asking around, managed to find out that the Yotel is actually outside security in the L gates, so I wouldn’t have to reclear security. One of the worst things about how Terminal 2E is designed at Charles de Gaulle is that it has three piers: K, L, and M, each with their own security. As far as I know, there’s no way to transfer between them without clearing security.

So, the Yotel was like 80 degrees, so I’m not sure the shower I took really helped all that much, but I suppose it was better than nothing? The lounge visit also came with 10 euro in food credit, which I used on two large bottles of Evian and a bottle of Orangina. Given how hot it was I think I sweat it all out immediately, but better than nothing. Stopped in a cafe in the terminal for a delicious pain au chocolate and espresso, because hey, when in Paris, and just like that it was time to head to my next flight!

Back on the inter-terminal train to the K gates, and managed to find security…where the line was nearly AN HOUR long. Even the fast track/premier line took almost 30 minutes. Once again, CDG demonstrating what an absolute pain it is as far as being user-friendly.

That said, I do love the retro-futuristic design of the K terminal:

Only had about 10 minutes to wait to board after all the checkin/inter-terminal shuffle, so it was a very nice and quick visit to Paris, but time to head home now!

Delta Airlines flight 229
Paris, France, Charles de Gaulle (CDG) to Cincinnati, Ohio/Kentucky (CVG)
Depart 10:35, Arrive 13:53, Flight Time: 9:18
Boeing 767-300, Registration N175DN, Manufactured 1990, Seat 3A
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 25,132
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,545,194

Despite the flight being relatively light in business (maybe 2/3) the agent had assigned me a middle section seat towards the back. A polite request and I got 3A. The odd numbered window seats are my favourite because the large “console” part of the seat is next to the aisle, giving you a little more privacy. The downside is, when the seat is at all reclined it can be a bit tight to get out past the console. Bedding, amenity kit, headphones, water were waiting for me when I boarded. It was now about 3am eastern time, and sleep was beginning to sound amazing.

Bubbles…because…celebration…blah blah….

Cool takeoff right over Paris Le Bourget airport:

Yay, more pistachios!

After the amazing appetizer on the way over, this one was a bit more disappointing. I don’t “do” shrimp (aka cockroaches of the sea) but in exchange the salad was definitely and upgrade. Oh, and fresh baguette was just as good as having pretzel bread. The thai coconut soup, however, was outstanding and probably the best soup I’ve ever had on a plane:

Grilled beef tenderloin (a nice medium) and fregola sarda pasta. Definitely well above average for steak on a plane:

The cheese was also much better than the other direction, although I’d expect nothing less for a flight originating from Paris. Morbier, Cantal, and Pavé d’affinois with a bit of chutney. Oh, and of course I didn’t pass on the ice cream.

Having eaten, and now about 430a body time, I absolutely passed out for the next five hours and had a wonderful nap. Waking up about an hour before the pre-landing snack was served, a pretty good cuban sandwich:

Hello Cincinnati!

I should probably say that part of what had sold me on Paris was the hope I could take this route back. Back in 1988 the first time I ever flew Transatlantic was on a Delta L1011 from Cincinnati to London Gatwick. Back then, I remember Cincinnati airport being pretty busy, and certainly when I went back in the mid 1990s it was quite busy.

Now, however, it seemed like a bit of a ghost town. We hit immigration right after another flight from Cancun, and now it was time to put Global Entry to the test. This was the first time I would be entering the US since my Global Entry had supposedly been reinstated, so I looked forward to seeing if it was true. The only “evidence” I had was an email telling me that upon review they agreed they would reinstate it and…yup! Went perfectly.

Only one question from the agent when I turned in my receipt of “where are you coming from?” “Paris.” “Just Paris?” “Yeah, just Paris.” “Welcome home.” Whew, no questions about how long I had been in Paris that would have required an awkward explanation.

To get back to the gates TSA was right in the arrivals area, but unfortunately no PreCheck, no CLEAR, so off come the shoes, out come the laptops, etc etc. Ugh. But the cool thing was, right after this it was an escalator up right to the departure gates. I could have probably even pulled off a 30 minute transit here if I needed to.

But, that done, I had time for Starbucks. Yay!

This airport has certainly seen busier times. View from the SkyClub:

Time to board the flight back to DCA. Gracias and Merci Delta for a fun trip!

4D once again, the same seat I had on the way to Detroit just…24 hours prior. Wow, this had really been a whirlwind.

Delta Airlines flight 6214 operated by GoJet
Cincinnati, Ohio/Kentucky (CVG) to Washington, DC, National (DCA)
Depart 16:00, Arrive 17:28, Flight Time: 1:28
Canadair CRJ-700, Registration N354CA, Manufactured 2002, Seat 4D
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 25,544
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,545,606

Cool Kalitta Charters II 727 on taxi:

Lots of great plane spotting on the taxi with all the cargo that moves through Cincinnati, so that made having a window seat really worth it.

Quick hour flight to DCA, nothing special, no beverage service “due to the length of the flight” though water was available to anyone who requested it. The guy sitting next to me asked for a beer, but was told no. Kinda defeats the purpose of Comfort+ except the added legroom.

Overall, I felt really privileged to have been able to do something so crazy. Would I do it again? Most definitely – but it surprisingly took a bit more out of me than I thought it would. It was a great excuse to be lazy, catch up on tv watching, and just enjoy flying for the sake of it. Now, time to do it again soon!

British Airways from Paris to London, and Overnight in London

Airports, Business Class, Flights, France, Tuvalu 2016, United Kingdom No Responses »

May 222016

Got to sleep in a slight bit since my flight wasn’t leaving until around noon, and I just hoped there wouldn’t be metro/RER drama this morning on my way to the airport. Stopped for a coffee then headed to the metro; quick transfer at Les Halles and caught an RER after just a few minutes. Unfortunately, the train was absolutely packed and was hotter than a sauna. Everyone was starting to drip sweat, and since I had extra time decided to get off at Gare du Nord and wait for the next train.

Next train was much cooler, and empty to the point I even got a seat, and from there it was a quick 30 or so minute ride to the airport. Quick walk back over to Terminal 2A, where there was a super long check-in queue for British Airways – even in the priority line. Seemed most passengers were connecting onwards to North America and had 1,400 suitcases each. Finally got to the front of the line, and got to have a bit of an argument with a check-in agent who insisted my rolling bag could not possibly fit in overhead bins. She insisted I check it.

I told her it does fit, agents don’t have a problem with it, and finally she gave in and said “fine, I’m working the gate too, we can ask the flight attendants!” With that, I headed off to a painless security queue and eventually made my way to the lounges…since the every-so-friendly check-in agent hadn’t told me which lounge to go to, when confronted with the choice of Cathay or American, well, I made the logical choice.

Since I’d only had coffee I was pretty hungry, so decided to see if there was anything interesting to eat….and OMG there it was…crack from Hong Kong. I was given a buzzer to await my crack dealer to arrive…

Soon it buzzed, and crack in a bowl was delivered – DanDan Noodles. The glass of champagne almost didn’t happen since I encountered some kind of stopper I couldn’t figure out how to get off the bottle. Neither could the other two people who were trying. Fortunately, we were saved by a lounge attendant, and brunch was salvaged!

Got to the gate just as they were about to begin boarding and of course nothing at all was said about my bag…which of course fit just fine in the overheads just as it had on the way in.

British Airways flight 309
Paris, Charles de Gaulle (CDG) to London, Heathrow (LHR)
Depart 12:05, Arrive 12:25, Flight Time: 1:20
Airbus A319, Registration G-EUPS, Manufactured 2007, Seat 5F
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 75,762
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,265,287

Super quick flight, but not too quick…and lived up to the challenge of managing two minis of champagne before landing. Another very impressive meal for such a short flight that hit the spot perfectly.

Took the Heathrow Express into the city, and assuming that I would have Etihad chauffeur service I’d booked in at the Le Meridien Piccadilly. Unfortunately, Etihad decided my ticket was a connection despite the overnight, and thus not eligible for chauffeur service in London. Not a big deal at the end of the day…until I found out the Bakerloo line wasn’t running from Paddington to Piccadilly, meaning a transfer. Three trains to get to the hotel wasn’t bad in the middle of the day, but the next morning that wasn’t going to happen.

There was a line of eight people waiting to check in when I arrived at the hotel, so did something I rarely do which is go to the side of the counter dedicated for SPG Platinum check-in. No problem until the next in line was called, and I walked over to the agent. I got rudely shoved by a rather rotund American gentleman who was the next in the regular line and insisted “I was next!” I told the agent I was waiting for Platinum and his comment was “well I’m gold so f*** off.” What’s that thing about the ugly American again… Not wanting to waste time, I waited the two minutes.

It was 2:15 at this point, and I was told my room wasn’t ready. They had upgraded me to a junior suite, but it would be another 30 minutes before it was ready. I was told I could either leave my bags, or go wait in the lounge. Since it was only 30 minutes, I opted to wait in the lounge and the agent said she would call up when the room was ready.

An hour went by, and still no call. So I went down to the front desk, and “oh, yeah, it’s ready – sorry I forgot.” Ugh. I know the hotel can’t be blamed for the rude guy in the check-in line, but so far I wasn’t overly impressed. On the plus side, the junior suite was quite nice, and unusual for hotels in London the temperature was actually decently on the cool side.

I was starting to drag at this point, so walked around the corner to perhaps the poshest Starbucks I’ve even been in…which didn’t stop them from spelling my name wrong yet again:

Spent the evening catching up with friends, including drinks, followed by dinner, followed by more drinks. The hotel did turn out do be in the perfect location for walking from place to place, and was definitely a good choice! Got a nice view of Piccadilly Circus at night on the walk back to the hotel:

With that, my short stopover in London had come to a close and it was time to get some rest so I could enjoy the capstone of the trip – flying Etihad in Apartments and First Class to Washington via Abu Dhabi!

Two Days in Paris

Attractions, France, Tuvalu 2016 No Responses »

May 212016

Arriving Paris early afternoon, I was looking forward to getting to my hotel and resting a bit. Of course, the trains had something completely different in mind for me. Back in January when I was in Paris, after an annoying hour waiting for passport control I ended up having major drama with the trains due to some track problems that took over three hours to get into the city from the airport. Unfortunately, this trip was to prove to have even worse drama.

The walk from terminal 2A where British Airways has its gates to the RER station is relatively long, but not too bad and was nice to have the exercise after spending all night on a plane. Got to the train station, bought my ticket, and then there was an announcement. I only began to hear it because people started yelling and the station flooded with heavily armed police. I decided the wise thing to do was follow the panicking crowds back up the escalators in the direction the police were yelling and pointing.

When I got to the top of the station and started walking back towards the terminal the announcement was much clearer: please evacuate the station due to a suspicious package. Seriously, that’s all? It seems to happen pretty frequently in the D.C. metro these days, so was surprised at the level of panic. After waiting over an hour, we were finally allowed back into the station. I headed towards the platform for the RER, and was directed back again by the police. Seems now, the Terminal 2 RER station was closed due to track problems. Please head over to Terminal 3 and get the train from there. Seriously, ugh.

Took the inter-terminal shuttle train over to the Terminal 3 train station, only to find out with a bunch of other passengers, that trains were now suspended all the way to Aulnay-sous-Bois about six stations down the line. Oh, did I mention it was also pouring rain at this point? Instead of getting on the shuttle bus towards Aulnay, I decided to wait it out for 15 minutes in the station. At this point, they still had no idea when the line might reopen, so I resigned myself to the shuttle bus, which took nearly an hour to Aulnay after stopping off at every station along the way to pick up more passengers. Fortunately, I’d managed to get a seat because the bus ended up packed with soaking wet uncomfortable people. It was NOT a pleasant experience.

Fortunately, once I got to Aulnay the ticket I’d purchased at CDG still worked for the trip into Paris (it better since it’s a shorter trip!) and I made it the rest of the way to the hotel in less than 45 minutes. As an added bonus, it was now only misting out so the five minute walk to my hotel from the Metro station wasn’t bad at all. By this point, it was nearly 5pm and all of the afternoon had been lost. Fortunately, this time of year it stays light until nearly 21:30 in Paris, so was able to go out and grab some drinks with friends still.

Got back to the hotel around 9pm, and was ready to collapse. The restaurant I’d wanted to eat at was completely packed and couldn’t promise a seat until after 10, so I pulled up TripAdvisor and decided to see what else was within a short walk since it was nearly 21:30 at this point. Of all things, there was a Thai restaurant that was highly recommended just around the corner.

Communication was an interesting experience. Their accents were incredibly difficult in French, so we made due with some Thai-French-English blend which resulted in me getting my Pad Thai just as I wanted it – no fish, extra chicken, and very spicy. Ironic to get Pad Thai after I’d just been in Thailand a few days prior, but hey, that’s Globalization for you!

Slept a solid 10 hours which was awesome with the big time zone shift the night before, and headed out in the morning to get some coffee. After coffee I felt like going for a walk, so just decided to start wandering. About 15 minutes later I was at the Louvre, which was absolutely packed with tourists. After taking pictures for three different Russian weddings and a group of loud Midwesterners (seriously the only people in the area without selfie sticks – which are EVERYWHERE in Paris these days) I snapped a quick photo for myself:

The day was the perfect amount of overcast – just enough to keep things cool for a long walk, but the sun poked through just enough times to keep things warm as well. Headed out of the Louvre past the Place du Carrousel:

Kept walking through the Jardin des Tuileries and stopped for a bit at one of the fountains to people watch, and watch some baby ducks splashing around:

Past the statue of Julius Ceasar:

To another small pool, where I sat for a bit to take enjoy the view of the Grande Roue de Paris:

This is where things got a little weird. A tour group of Americans came by and their French leader asked them to get themselves arranged to take an end of tour photo. I wasn’t really paying attention – just zoning out and enjoying the view – and he came up to me and asked “excuse me sir, can I bother you a moment?” My tired brain wasn’t registering at the moment, and he sounded like another trinket seller trying to get me to buy something, so I asked him to please go away. He persisted and asked “no, I just want you to take a picture please.” This is when I’d realized I’d been a little rude, and of course agreed to take the photo.

He got the group together, I gave them the “1-2-3 Cheese” and then “one more” and went back to sitting down and enjoying the view. He switched back to English with his group and said “yes, they’re good! sorry about that, it’s those kind of people who give us Parisians a bad name with tourists!” Never in my life has my terrible French been mistaken for Parisian, so I guess – in a way – it was a compliment!

Statue at the Place de la Concorde:

The Obelisk of Luxor:

Love this kinda artsy shot of one of the fountains…ruined only by a Calvin Klein ad in the background:

Took a nice leisurely stroll up the Champs-Élysées stopping once at the park and another time in the middle for some coffee and people watching, and finally got to the Arc de Triomphe:

I could only have so much playing tourist, so didn’t bother going up to the top for the view, plus the lines were absolutely insane! Instead, since my “short walk” had already taken me so far, I decided why not keep going. Wandered down some side streets I’d never found before, which appeared to be through a bit of an Embassy district. Also found a little sign of home:

Kept walking until I got to the Trocadero Gardens, and finally got a great view from across the Seine of the Eiffel Tower:

Kept walking along the Left Bank, and eventually the pedestrian Passerelle Debilly:

By this point, I’d had enough of walking. I considered walking up the Left Bank all the way to the Musée d’Orsay and Notre Dame, but it was already mid-afternoon at this point, and I was getting pretty tired out. So, I caught the RER and decided to get off at Bastille, since I hadn’t wandered through that area in several years:

By this point, I realized I was starving since I hadn’t eaten in over six hours and had just had a few coffees during the long walk. I picked a café at random that looked just local and busy enough, and grabbed a seat for some people watching. Relatively friendly service for Paris, efficient, and a tasty glass of Médoc and a Croque Madame for a tasty late lunch:

With that, I ended up meeting some friends out for evening drinks and passing out early. The long day of walking had worn me out but it was nice to just take in the city without any plans or itinerary. Was a great way to spend a full day and enjoy Paris without being too touristy. Drinks with local fiends and just taking in the city and people watching made for a very nice trip.

Fortunately, my flight out the next morning wasn’t too early, so I also got to sleep in just a little bit. Next up, quick stop in London!

a FUNny thing happened going to and from Tuvalu…Cathay Pacific First, Etihad Apartments, Fiji Airways Biz Class

Fiji, Tuvalu, Tuvalu 2016 4 Responses »

Apr 252016

Long time readers of my trip reports will remember the last time I tried to go to Tuvalu. I took a four week trip intended to hit all the little island countries in the South Pacific, and due to flight schedules there was little room for error.

Everything was going well, until I tried to go to Tuvalu. See, there’s only three flights a week to Tuvalu, all from Suva, Fiji. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. That means you have to spend two, sometimes three days there. Oh yeah, these flights are also very prone to cancellation since they’re at the edge of the plane’s range, and it has to carry enough extra fuel to get back to Fiji if there’s weather at FUN.

Yes, the airport code for Funafuti, Tuvalu, is FUN. Fun is what I did NOT have the last time I tried to go to Tuvalu. They canceled the flight to FUN. I tried to go again two days later, still no FUN for me. I gave up, and had to admit defeat, and carry on to Samoa.

Oh, and Fiji Airways in their wisdom delayed that flight by 16 hours. That wasn’t fun either. The only good thing I can say about Fiji Airways is that they give you a food voucher when they cancel your flight…and with it you can buy delicious chocolate cake at the one shop in Suva airport. Mmmm the cake. Looking forward to having that again, but paying for it myself.

So, I’m headed back to Fiji now, and I’m going to stay there as long as it takes to get to Tuvalu. I only have 5 countries left to visit, and Tuvalu is the hardest, so gotta get it done! It’ll be my 192nd country visited! I’m hoping it happens on my first or second try so that I can use the rest of my 2.5 week vacation to take the flights I have planned back from Fiji. See, getting to Tuvalu should be easy. I even built in a two day buffer in Fiji on the way there in case I get delayed on the way:

Very straightforward. Hop down to Miami on an American 737, and then a new 777-300ER in business class. Then, I’ve left myself four hours in LA (just in case) and I’ll connect to the 11 hour flight on Fiji Airways to Nadi, Fiji in business class. We will assume that will be delayed…maybe by a whole day…but, hey, buffer. Then it’s off to Funafuti, Tuvalu for two days.

Getting back? Well, the quick and easy way would have been to come back the way I came, and hey, depending how long it takes me to get to Tuvalu I might just do that. But see, if all goes well, two things have conspired against that plan. First, American recently devalued miles in a major way, so I cashed some in for high-value rewards….like Hong Kong to Paris in Cathay Pacific First Class. …and like the new Etihad Apartments on the A380. Finishing it all off will be Etihad First Class on the 787 direct from Abu Dhabi to Washington. All new experiences for me! So, how did I fit this all together?

So yes, after I get back to Fiji from Tuvalu I’ll be going:
Nadi, Fiji to Hong Kong on a Fiji Airways A330 in business class – 10+ hours
Hong Kong to Paris on a Cathay Pacific 777 in first class – nearly 13 hours of pampering
Paris to London on British Airways in EuroBusiness – aka how many mini bottles of champers can I consume in 45 minutes
London to Abu Dhabi, UAE on the Etihad A380 in Apartments Class – I wish this was longer than the 7.5 hours it will take. Very excited for my own apartment
Abu Dhabi to Washington on the Etihad 787-9 in first class for a whopping 14 hours. This should be a very interesting flight.

I’m looking for suggestions of must see/dos on this trip as I’ve never flown Cathay or Etihad before. I hear one of the more unique experiences the Etihad Spa offers in Abu Dhabi is a shave…I wonder if I can get a whole head shave from the guy….

Roughly, the parts for the trip report will be:

Washington DC, National to Nadi, Fiji with American Airlines and Fiji Airways in business class
Two days in Fiji
Nadi to Funafuti with Fiji Airways, and two days in Tuvalu
Funafuti to Nadi, and three more days in Fiji
Fiji to Hong Kong with Fiji Airways, two days in Hong Kong
Hong Kong to Paris in Cathay Pacific First
Two days in Paris
Paris to London with British Airways, overnight in London
London to Abu Dhabi in Etihad A380 Apartments, overnight in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi to Washington, Dulles in Etihad 787-9 First Class

Sit back and fasten those seatbelts…we’re off in just over 48 hours!

Paris to Freetown, Sierra Leone on Air France, visiting Freetown

Airports, Business Class, Flights, France, Sierra Leone, West Africa 2015-16 No Responses »

Jan 262016

Fortunately, my adventures on the RER were much less of a problem today – and not only that – I managed to catch and express train and was at the airport barely 45 minutes after leaving my hotel…which gave me 3.5 hours to spare. I was going to need it, however, to figure out my way through this maze of an airport.

Leaving the RER station, there were a bunch of Air France kiosks, which made checking in and getting my boarding pass easy. So far so good. Rather long walk, but eventually navigated my way through the sea of checkin counters and found the area for departures. Exit immigration was a breeze with no line at the business class counter, and priority security was also rather empty…save the woman with about 200 metal bracelets and trinkets all over her body. Seriously, do people not thing ahead when they are flying?

Regardless, found my way to the lifts underground, and to the Air France lounge with plenty of time to spare. To top it off, my flight would be leaving from the main terminal 2E building, meaning a short walk from the lounge. Looked like everything was going well today!

Since I’d only grabbed a quick coffee at Starbucks, I decided to find out what my food options were in the lounge.

A lounge with real cheese and not Tilamook? Score!

Main course of a chicken and mushroom stew of some sort, and cheese wrapped in ham…with an apple tart for dessert. Not at all bad for lounge food Air France. Not bad at all!

Since I had plenty of extra time thanks to the RER running well today, it left me a few extra hours to get some work done in the lounge before it was time to take the short walk to the boarding gate.

Air France flight 770
Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) to Freetown, Sierra Leone (FNA)
Depart 13:35, Arrive 19:10, Flight Time: 6:35
Airbus A330-200, Registration F-GLCB, Manufactured 2001, Seat 5E
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 9,374
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,176,412

As soon as I was seated, pre-departure champagne was offered along with amenity kits. I decided to fit in this time, and when I wasn’t offered a blue one on the tray, asked if they might have any blue ones. The flight attendant apologized, and immediately went off to fetch one. Hah!

Today’s menu…rather tasty looking once again!

Today’s flight was the same number as my flight from Conakry two days prior, and apparently it does a circle Paris-Freetown-Conakry-Paris every couple of days. Worked out perfectly for me, and obviously lots of others because today’s flight appeared to be completely sold out in all classes. Everyone I could see in business had either American passports of Chinese, leading me to believe it was largely a mix of development workers and the usual Chinese “infrastructure” people. Tasty snack of cashews and cranberries along with a creamed pea mousse:

Shrimp starter, along with more fois gras. Looking around – I found almost everyone poking at…and then refusing to touch the fois gras. Next time I’m on Air France I’m going to ask for them to take double helpings for me from all those who can’t or won’t appreciate it!

Extremely tasty risotto, and cheese! I’m branching out from my usual beef offerings this trip with vegetarian risottos, scallops, monkfish…what is this world coming to?!

Trio of desserts. It’s no Jeff Sundae, but it’s way tastier!

My impression after two medium-haul flights on Air France: nobody can beat them for business class food. Sure, Emirates and Singapore can try and be “fancy” but they save the truly impressive stuff like lobster and caviar for first class anyways. Air France serves good, solid, high quality food in business class that doesn’t taste and look like it came out of the dollar bin at your local WalMart. Normally I’m the first to find airplane food boring and meh, but I can honestly say the Air France meals were things I would order in a restaurant. Well done Air France!

…and as a nod to Air France, my seatmate was displaying extremely Haute Couture – a bedazzled New York Yankees sweatshirt:

This is where stuff got interesting. After a great flight, we landed at Lungi International Airport where the passport queues were extremely slow and sweaty. Country #189 visited! Now, Lungi Airport is rather interesting. It’s about 10 miles or so from the capital of Freetown, but those 10 miles are if you can walk on water. If you can’t you take the long way around the bay by car, which usually takes 3-4 hours. Yes, that’s right, hours. So, what most people do is take the ferry.

I had read nightmares about the ferry, and the process of procuring tickets, which were approximately $35-40. For $60, the Radisson would send someone to meet you at arrivals, transfer you to the ferry, give you your ticket, and pick you up on the other end. Sounded like a bargain to me…and I went with it.

My driver was waiting for me in the arrivals area, and handed me my ticket. He took me to the bus area, where I would wait for the bus to the ferry. Yes, that’s right, first you need a ferry ticket. Then the ferry company drives you to the pier. Then you take a ferry. Then you need transport on the other side. Well worth the premium I paid.

Fortunately, the ferry company’s van had awesome air conditioning, and soon we were off. About a 10 minute drive to the pier in complete darkness, but it didn’t matter, because once we got to the pier we waited nearly an hour to board the ferry. No answer why, other than soon soon. Eventually we boarded, and it was clear they were going to cram an entire A330 of passengers on a ferry which was marked “Capacity: 55”

I personally counted at least 80-90 people, and there was lots of yelling and complaining about the boat being overloaded. But, see, there’s a problem. It had one deck. With one door. In my foolish rush to board I had moved away from the door, and if this thing sank, there was absolutely no way I was getting off on time. I was hoping reason would win it, but no, they just slammed the door. A staff member gave some half-hearted safety demonstration that included comments about life jackets and the easter bunny…not sure if either really existed..and the motors sputtered to life.

Fortunately, it was pitch black outside, and we couldn’t feel the terror we were about to embark on…the first five minutes weren’t too bad, but then the waves started, and the boat started pitching pretty hard side to side as the waves would hit the boat which was loaded down worse than a pregnant woman well past her third trimester. I tried to strike up a conversation with the local couple seated next to me (we were some of the lucky ones with seats) but that didn’t work when they told me they’d taken this ferry dozens of times…and it had never been loaded down this badly. They were clearly worried.

I started looking for small and weak people between me and the door, deciding who I would trample when we capsized. I also started practicing holding my breath, trying to figure out how long I would have to get to the door once the water came rushing in.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, that’s when it started. Now, Sierra Leone had recently been declared free of Ebola, and to do so they constantly reminded people of the way it spread: avoid bodily fluids of sick and dead people. Well, that’s when the first woman lost her cookies…all over a couple of people also standing in the middle of the boat.

A couple of minutes later, it happened again with another person. All told four people threw up all over other passengers. While it made the time pass by quickly, if a sinking boat didn’t kill us there was a reasonable chance Ebola would. Eventually, we made it to the other side…the air heavy with the smell of vomit and fear.

True to their world, the Radisson shuttle driver was waiting for me, and soon we were off to the hotel. Quickly messaged Jordan and Dan that I’d arrived, and that they were free to meet me in the hotel bar/restaurant as after checking in I would need something to make me forget my near death experience.

This item on the menu didn’t reassure me:

Yes, you may have a beer, but only after you sanitize your hands:

After a couple of beers and some food, it was time to head to bed so I could get up at a reasonable hour and maximize my time in Sierra Leone. Unfortunately, the room air conditioning in no way met my standards, nor did the internet which only reached about a foot into my room. I was too tired to care, and had good data service on my cell phone, and eventually passed out for eight solid hours of well-needed sleep.

Got up to have a bit of breakfast before heading out, and was surprised to run into Dan and Jordan there. They had some sort of buy one get one free rate that didn’t include breakfast, and given the hotel wanted over $25 for it I hadn’t expected to see them. The buffet was rather basic, but enough to do the trick, and certainly better than several we had had on this trip.

They had arrived the prior day, and agreed to show me around the area near the hotel so I could maximize my time before leaving. We headed down to Lumley Beach, which thanks to “National Exercise Day” on Sunday, was packed:

I was doing my best to “STOP the EBOLA Virus” but given all the vomiting on the ferry the night before, I wasn’t overly confident.

The beach was packed with people playing football, lots of people just walking, and vendors selling water and other drinks in the incredibly hot sun:

I spotted one football team getting ready to take a picture, and rushed over to ask if I could take their picture as well. This got them to do their championship pose, and I found out they had just won the beach league tournament of some sort. Given the dozens of games going on at the beach, there seemed to be tons of different leagues and casual games going on, and most of them even had referees. It was a rather large affair and apparently THE thing to do in Freetown on a Sunday.

After a while of walking around we eventually headed back to the Radisson to try in vain to cool down ever so slightly with some cold drinks before heading to the airport for our onward flight to the final new country of this trip: Liberia!

Conakry to Paris on Air France, visiting Paris

Airports, Business Class, Flights, France, Guinea, hotels, trains, West Africa 2015-16 3 Responses »

Jan 242016

The guesthouse was nice enough to give me a ride back to the airport, but unlike the approximately 20-25 minute drive to get to the guesthouse in the morning, it took us more than 90 minutes to get to the airport. I had left plenty of time so it wasn’t a problem, but was still mildly annoying. Plus, I got a free long French lesson out of it, since it was just me and one of the owners in the car, so we covered everything from US politics to the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris, African dictators, you name it. Quite a good conversation for a couple of folks speaking their non-native languages who had just met less than 12 hours prior.

Air France check-in was no problem at all, and immigration and security were a breeze as well. I was soon camped out in the common-use lounge Air France uses to wait for my flight. It was still festively decorated for Christmas as well:

Decent selection of beverages, and some pastries that were a bit past their freshness:

The downside on the beverages…I ended up having three beers, and as I got up to leave and board my flight she came running over asking me to pay for the third one. I don’t have a problem with that itself, but she should have informed me when I ordered it that there would be a charge. Oh well, there were plenty of electrical outlets, comfortable seating, fast internet, and good AC, so if that’s the biggest problem with a lounge in Guinea I’m pretty ok with it!

As we were boarding, nurses were waiting in the jetway, and writing temperatures on the boarding pass to “prove” you weren’t sick at the time of boarding:

Air France flight 770
Conakry, Guinea (CKY) to Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG)
Depart 23:10, Arrive 06:25, Flight Time: 6:15
Airbus A340-300, Registration F-GLZK, Manufactured 1997, Seat 6E
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 6,445
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,173,483

I had changed my seat right before boarding to 5E, since according to ExpertFlyer there were two seats left to sell, and 5E and 5F were both open on the seatmap. It turned out to be the right call, because even though I was in the last row, I had nobody sitting next to me. Amenity kits came in a choice of colours, and I noticed several of the passengers around me being very particular about which one they got…and the crew seemed to think this was completely normal. Seriously, the contents were the same (I asked) so people were being fussy on the colour?

Welcome aboard champagne. Yes, champagne. Real champagne. In a glass. Take that United!

I do love monkfish, and figured if anyone can do it right on a plane it’s the French, so I broke (for the second time this trip) my no seafood on a plane rule and ordered it:

Not a bad menu for an 11pm departure!

Dessert and starter served all at once. Mmm, cheese, profiteroles, and fois gras. This has the makings of the best business class meal ever!

The monkfish was absolutely amazing, and the mashed pumpkin was a tasty addition:

Managed to get almost four hours of decent sleep, and woke up just before landing in Paris. It was my first time dealing with the situation at Charles de Gaulle outside the United area, and what a mess! So many parts to the terminal, connected by a maze of passageways and trains, but eventually I did make it to immigration where the wait was over an hour in the business class line! They were questioning every passenger very hard – probably due to a combination of the refugee situation and the recent terror attacks. My turn? When I finally got to the front it was a look at my passport “where do you live?” “Washington DC” stamp and go. No questions beyond that, but in my hour of waiting saw at least 20 different people pulled into the office for secondary.

Long hike to the train station to catch the RER, which was a nightmare. There were track problems going on, and four trains in a row got canceled. It took over an hour to get a train into the city, and once we finally moved it took probably 15 minutes between stations. Finally, I arrived at Les Halles just over three hours after leaving the airport. Yes, three HOURS. There were also problems on two metro lines, and the station was more than a little congested:

To the point people were getting majorly impatient:

Eventually I made it to my hotel just after 11am, despite landing before 7am. Absolutely crazy. First order of the day was to take a short nap, and then head out on a long walk:

I usually stay at a small family-run hotel in the Marais, and decided to head out on my usual walk starting first past Notre Dame:

From there, I continued up past the Pompidou, Louvre, and eventually down the Champs Elyssees to the Arc de Trimophe. Unfortunately, no pictures of that part of the walk since with coffee and pastry stops along the way it was super dark by the time I arrived. I had hoped to have a bit more of the day, but the train/metro disaster kind of squashed that, so I had to settle for just a long walk, which was pretty awesome.

Since it was after dark, and headed into the weekend I headed out to grab drinks with a couple of friends who live in Paris before calling it a relatively early night. I still had to get up in the morning and head back to the airport for Air France adventure part two, and a few more days in Africa. Given how the trains had been operating I decided not to risk missing my flight, so headed to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

Barcelona to Paris and Evening in Paris

Airports, Flights, France, Hawaii-France-Andorra-Vegas, Restaurants, Spain No Responses »

Sep 252014

After dropping off Pépé I headed straight for security, since this time I’d managed to get Vueling to deliver my boarding pass to my phone. Security was a piece of cake, and soon I’d made it through and eventually found my way to the Priority Pass lounge. Signs were very poor, and I couldn’t seem to figure out I needed to take the escalator upstairs.

At this point, I was starving. I hadn’t eaten any real food since breakfast, and it was now late afternoon. I probably should have grabbed something in Llívia, but wasn’t really thinking. I was praying for some food in the lounge. Um, no. here were a couple of stale looking sandwiches, cheese and crackers, and peanuts. But there was beer. Local beer. Which kinda made up for it. Beer on an empty stomach is good, right?

About 30 minutes before boarding I headed to the gate, and there was already a line 100 deep forming to board. Ugh, the indignity of flying low cost carriers. Eventually an announcement was made…in spanish only…to split into two lines…one for the first 15 or so rows, and the other for the last 15. Everyone looked confused…because most of them were french. Translated for a few nice old ladies, and managed to skip ahead in line a bit. It was a mess.

Vueling flight 8244
Barcelona, Spain (BCN) to Paris, Charles de Gaulle (CDG)
Depart 17:00, Arrive 18:50, Flight Time 1:50
Airbus A320, Registration EC-MBF, Manufactured 2008, Seat 14D

Flight was about 95% full, but fortunately the E and F seats in my row were empty…or were they. Two 20-something french guys moved into them from the row behind…but I wasn’t going to argue about it.

The flight attendant came around to do her safety briefing…asking first if we spoke Catalan or Spanish. Si. The two french guys gave her a blank look. She asks again “do you speak english?” Another blank stare. She tries to tell them in English that they must move, because you must speak Catalan, Spanish, or English to sit in the exit row. They looked at her like she was an alien.

At this point, the door was closed, and it was delaying the flight. None of the crew, it appeared, spoke french. So, in order to get the flight moving…and maaaaaybe because I wanted the whole row to myself. I translated…explaining to them. They wanted me to tell the flight attendants a long story about how they knew what to do, they could handle it, etc. I started telling them….and the flight attendant raises her voice. YOU. GO. TO. YOUR. OTHER. SEAT. NOW. OR. WE. WILL. TAKE. YOU. OFF. THE. FLIGHT.

Reluctantly, they finally moved, and we were under way.

About 15 minutes into the flight, as the crew was starting the drink service, I went to the washroom. I came back to find them in the E and F seats again. I told them the flight attendant was not going to be happy…and they just gave me a shhhhh!

Well, they came around with buy on board, and the fireworks started.

The flight attendant tried once again to tell them they couldn’t sit there. It ended with the two of them up in her face, and two other flight attendants’ faces, in the aisle, just shy of yelling at them. “Why can’t we sit there? Is it because we’re french? Why don’t you speak french when you fly to france” No translating needed, they weren’t even listening at all. Finally the flight attendant threatened to “have the pilot land the plane” and one of the french guys called her a “racist spanish pig” and took a swing at her.

Out came the zip ties. In a first after 2,000,000 miles of flying, I had to help a flight attendant hold down a passenger while his hands were zip-tied behind his back.

Oh, and he still didn’t get to sit in the exit row…and I got my pringles and beer comped 😉

Upon landing, we taxied past Concorde:

The Gendarmes met the flight, and I had to walk with them to an office and give a statement. Only took about 10 minutes, and I was pretty pleased with myself that my french was adequate for giving an official statement. Let’s just hope they don’t call me back for a court appearance or something. That would absolutely suck 😉

Took CDGVal to the RER station, and ended up waiting nearly 15 minutes for a train. Straight shot to Châtelet, and then roughly a 10 minute walk to my hotel. I was pretty tired by this point after driving nearly 8 hours through Spain and France, but was determined to enjoy my night. Headed to Les Philosophes for dinner, where I had no problem scoring a table for one. It was nearly 9pm by this point so they were out of lots of things, but the restaurant was packed. Ended up having a nice chat with a couple from Québec on their honeymoon at the next table over.

But first, red wine and bread. I still don’t understand why red wine in France is always colder than anywhere else in the world.

…and an amazing onion soup, with onions from their own garden.

…and perhaps the simplest, yet most amazing, steak tartare I’ve ever had.

Unfortunately they were out of the apple tart dessert I wanted, but this chocolate mousse was absolutely terrible and went terribly with my wine 😉

Now, it was nearly 11pm, and the smart thing to do with a 10am flight would have been to go to bed. I wasn’t smart.

Went back to the hotel, made a few phone calls, and a little bit after midnight, I was thinking “it’s only noon in Hawaii…if I go to bed now, I’ll never sleep in Hawaii. Let’s go for a walk.” So, I started walking.

Past the Pompidou, the Jardins de Luxembourg, up the Champs Elysée to the Arc de Triomphe. Back down Ave. Kléber to Trocadéro, over the Pont D’Iéna, and to the Eiffel Tower. It was an amazing stroll, Paris by moonlight, and absolutely magical. I’ve been to Paris probably 50 times, but this was a whole new side of Paris, and I loved it! Walked back along the left bank, and finally got back to my hotel around 5am…this was not going to end well…but it was 5pm…an appropriate nap time in Hawaii.

So, I aid down in my hotel for a 1 hour nap:

Alarm woke me up fortunately, quick shower, and I was out the door…the long trip to Hawaii was about to begin…again!

Perhaps my craziest routing yet…Hawaii, Andorra, and Vegas, OH MY!

Airports, Andorra, Flights, France, Hawaii-France-Andorra-Vegas, Spain 2 Responses »

Aug 092014

Earlier this year, United published, either by mistake or not – it’s not entirely clear – a $1500 all-inclusive business class fare for the summer from a handful of U.S. cities to a handful of European cities. There were somewhere around 100 possible combinations. Unfortunately, Washington was not one of them.

This was probably a good thing, because my leave time for 2014 is already all committed, due to my upcoming four weeks in the South Pacific in November, and two plus weeks in East Africa over new years.

But wait…Baltimore is on the list…now that’s tempting…even for a three day weekend. But it was $1500 for any combination…Baltimore felt lame when perhaps I could do it from the west coast. Yup, I found San Diego…but that meant getting to San Diego…and if I’m going to go all the way to San Diego, I wonder if….YES once again United seems to want to FORCE me to go to Hawaii. Honolulu to Paris, business class in August, $1500. In contrast, the lowest coach fare at the time was about $1650. This is an absolute bargain.

Alas, I didn’t have the leave. Didn’t stop me from looking how I could conserve days, and when I could do it. Wait, I need to be in Las Vegas for a bachelor party late-August. Las Vegas is on the way back to DC from Hawaii. That was already planned Wednesday through Friday, so I just needed a way to get Monday-Tuesday off. I trimmed a couple days off my South Pacific trip…and it was set.

Now…to justify the cost of flying to Hawaii. Ok, Hawaii-Paris would earn 25,000 more miles than DC-Paris, so that justifies $400 of the fare to Hawaii. My ticket to Vegas was going to be $1200 for a P fare, so suddenly $1600 is justified. Buying DC-Honolulu and upgrading with a regional upgrade, done. One way Honoulu-Vegas on a P fare…done. Vegas to DC on a P fare…done. It was all too perfect.

Unfortunately, to guarantee the upgrade, I had to fly DCA-Cleveland-LA-Honolulu. Ugh. Leaving at 6am. Double ugh. Oh well. But then, there was a schedule change. I whined to United I wasn’t comfortable with a 30 minute connection in Cleveland now. I found upgrade space on DCA-San Francisco-Honolulu leaving at 8:30 – 2.5 hours later – and connecting to the same Honolulu flight. I begged. They relented. It was getting too awesome. Simply too awesome.

The routing was set:

You may have noticed Barcelona in there. See, I decided that 48 hours in Paris in August might get boring since the city clears out a bit. Plus, I’ve been to Paris literally dozens of times. So, I did what any good country collector would…set out to find the last country in Europe I haven’t been to: Andorra. Only way really to get there is to drive from Barcelona and Toulouse. Barcelona had better flight connections…plus, the only automatic transmission rental car I could get was a Smart Car. The chance to drive, my 6’3 self in a smart car, through the Pyrenees was way too much to pass up. I booked it.

Then, looking at a map of Andorra, I noticed something super fun.

See this?

Thats Llívia, Spain, a little tiny Spanish enclave not connected to Spain, but completely surrounded by France. To a geography nerd like me this is perhaps the coolest thing ever. Then, I thought…wait, I’m going to enter Andorra from Spain…I could exit out the other side of Andorra into France, and then drive to Llívia, back into Spain!

But of course, this isn’t nerdy enough. So, I’ll get to Andorra, and spend the night. Next morning, drive into France, then back into Spain at Llívia, and have coffee…or whatever one does late morning in Spain. Then, I’ll drive for a very short way BACK into France at Bourg-Madame and have a nice lunch. Maybe a Croque Madame in Bourg-Madame…then back to Spain and Barcelona Airport, where I will fly to Paris for the night. Before flying back to Hawaii.

So, are you lost yet? So far we’ve done:

Day 1: DCA-San Francisco-Hawaii – Overnight Honolulu

Day 2: Day in Honolulu, and Honolulu-DC redeye

Day 3: All day in DC where I hope to have brunch with friends, play some hockey, before the redeye DC-Paris

Day 4: Paris-Barcelona, drive in my little Smart Car to Andorra

Day 5: Drive Andorra to France to Llívia, Spain for coffee, to Bourg-Madame, France for lunch, to Barcelona, Spain for a flight to Paris, France where I’ll spend the night, get a great meal hopefully and maybe some drinks with friends.

Whew. Because next up is:

Day 6: Paris-San Francisco-Honolulu, and dinner in Honolulu

Day 7: Honolulu-San Francisco-Vegas

Day 8-9-10: Vegas. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Day 11: Vegas-Houston-DC

I’m already tired, and the trip hasn’t started. If I pack strategically, I can take a suitcase to Honolulu on Day 1, with everything I’ll need in Vegas, and leave it there to be picked up on Day 6. Of course, if I forget anything, I have 10 hours (random) in DC on Day 3 to pick up anything I forgot…plus pack a weekend bag for Paris and Andorra, lol

This is crazy. I’m insane. But you’re going to read it…admit it… 😉