Departure, April 9-11

This year we decided to treat ourselves to a little luxury. For the past few years we’ve flown internationally on Air France. They have premium economy seats with a little more room (really nice for the 10 or 11 hour flight) and somewhat better food. Cathy Jo discovered that with the purchase of just a few more miles, we could upgrade our flight to France to business class. Lie flat seats! After a couple of hours on the phone with customer service, it was accomplished. This year we would fly direct Los Angeles-Paris on a massive Airbus 380.

Our flight left at 3 pm but we wanted to take advantage of another business class perk, the lounge. We arrived at the airport just about noon and wandered in just in time for lunch.

Cathy Jo entering the Inner Sanctum.

After a nice buffet lunch complete with complimentary wine, it was off to the gate, just in time for boarding through the “preferred” line, of course.

The 380 has two levels and we were on the second level just over the wing. After settling into our seats we enjoyed our welcome glass of champagne. Along with the usual entertainment fare, the seatback screen featured views from three different exterior cameras, one on the top of the tail.

Waiting for push back.

We boarded through a jetway at the rear of the plane.

Right on time, we left the gate and were soon soaring eastward. 

Then the meal service began. Cloth table coverings. Real silverware. Wine and a digestif. We need to work on earning more miles!

Cathy Jo’s “quick” meal. Mine included the main course, lamb chops.

Seats fully reclined and stretched out, we got a little sleep before landing in Paris at 10:30 Wednesday morning. We were planning a trip to Malta before we went to Oldtimer but the only flight from Paris to the island in the Mediterranean left just about the time we landed. We spent a quiet afternoon at an airport hotel with a brief walk around the village and an evening meal at a local restaurant. We boarded the Air Malta flight Thursday morning for the trip to Valetta.

By 2 pm we were picked up by our AirBNB hosts for a trip to our apartment for the next 5 days, “Margerita in Cospicua”.