EDIspotter
28th Nov 2006, 18:55
We look the trip on 3rd Nov for my girlfriend's birthday. We arrived at the airport around 3.45am, and I finally told her where we were going after weeks of keeping it secret. Thankfully, she was pleased and shocked.
Check in opened around 4.15am, at the same time as the early-bird KLM to AMS and queues quickly formed. Polite check in staff checked our baggage thru to YYZ and gave us both boarding passes and explained where our connecting flight was leaving from in CDG – same as our arrival terminal – T2F.
We made our way up to security by 4.30 am but it wasnt opened yet ! A large queue formed and at 5.05am the shutter came up. After a firm check of our hand luggage we were in the departure lounge. The only shop open was the duty-free, the others were still opening up. Eventually World News was open and we bought water and newspapers.
We made our way round to the gate and had a seat there and the area slowly filled up a bit. I knew it wouldnt get too busy as I had seen our BAE 142 parked on stand on the way in – holds less than 100 pax.
The 'Dam flight was called first, rightly so as it was due to depart 10mins before us. Close to 6am, our flight was called and we made our way downstairs, along the covered walkway and out on to the tarmac where the 142 was waiting for us.
We had a French crew, dresses quite “middle eastern” but very polite. We waited a while for a slot, and taxi'd out towards the runway, right behind the KLM 737.
Take off we smooth, and as we commenced the climb, the noise levels rose ! A few pax started to look at each other – obviously too used to modern Boeings and 'Buses.
Little turbulence on the way over, our route taking us down the east coast then crossing directly into French airspace.
There was a cabin service on the flight, coffee, tea and orange juice offered first, followed by a small ham and egg roll and minature blueberry muffin – all very good quality.
Our approach to CDG let us see the top of the Eiffel Tower through the mist, along with other landmarks like the Parc des Princes.
Landing was smooth, but the pilot did stand on the brakes a touch – although nothing like my GSM landing at EDI last year !
Parked up at a remote stand and 1 bus took all the pax to the very modern glass roofed terminal 2F.
We climbed the stairs and at the top we were faced with a huge bank of screens detailing all departures from every terminal – great for those passing through to another destination.
We joined the queue for security at the entrance, which was huge, and my girlfriend asked security staff it we could skip the queue as we believed the YYZ flight was already boarding – no we were told, we would have time to make our flight.
The queue moved slowly and we passed through into the terminal and upstairs to the gates. Our gate had the flight as “closed” and we thought we may have missed it for a minute, but the huge group of people suggested otherwise!
The gate displa changed to boarding at 10h 40 and we just decided to stand and wait rather than go for a walk. LCD screens in the seating area showed us the weather for Toronto and displayed info on the A343 we were flying on and the names of the flight crew – a nice touch.
At around 10:50 we began to board and I was very disappointed to walk down a nice airbridge type glass corridor to find stairs at the bottom and a bus waiting.... We were bussed to a very remote stand (so remote it could have been at Orly!), and boarded in groups of 30-40, at random, not by seat number.
We found our seats in row 30, with exits and toilets 3 rows back. The A340 was configured in a
2-4-2 formation and there was no-one in the 4 next to us.
Legroom was good, better than any economy class I've experienced before, pitch 32-34” for sure. Seatback touch screen TVs, with remote control in the armrest which could be removed and hand held. There were 6 films, 4 recent, one 90s classic and 1 french. There were also News, Documentaries, TV Soaps and Nature programmes to choose from. There were 16 music channels as well, from all around the globe. Games could be played via the remote control – including WWTBAM.
We settled into our seats for Taxi, flight about 70% full. My girlfriend fell asleep, and an indication of how smooth and quiet take off was is that she didnt wake up until we were in the air. On screen display kept us aware of our location, speed and altitude – quite an impressive feature. Our route took us straight across France and a channel, along the south coasts of England and Ireland, before heading North-West over the Atlantic towards Canada.
Immediately after take off, headphones were handed out for the IFE system. These were over-ear, rather than in-ear ones, which are far more comfortable. The first drink service then came round, offering the full range of soft and alcoholic drinks, including champagne.
Thereafter, the meal service began, with the “Amerique du Nord” menus being handed out. Starter was a rice salad with seafood, well what seemed to be diced seafood sticks anyway, but it was nice.
Main was a choice of chicken or fish, and both of us chose the chicken. It was 2 small breast strip portions in a creamy curry sauce with aubergine and rice – again very nice barring the rice which was quite chewy. Dessert was fig tartlet and a pot of natural yoghurt. Unfortunately the tartlet was like it had been left out overnight then stuck in the fridge after the dew point. I ended up destroying it and putting it into the yoghurt to give it some taste ! Tea and Coffee were served after the meal, the Coffee being very nice and the tea distinctly poor.
Outside of service times there was a trolley with the full range of drinks placed in one of the doorways for self service. Small packets of pretzels were also available.
We progressed nicely across the Atlantic, and after what didnt feel like 5/6 hours, we could see land below. We were not that far away from Toronto, and with only a couple of hours left to fly, a snack service came round. A nice little cheese sandwich and oversized fairy cake hit the nark nicely, as did the final drinks service.
As we started out decent from the North side of Lake Ontario, we could see snowy uplands below, but we neared Toronto, the weather cleared.
Landing was clean and braking was heavy, we taxi'd to Terminal 3 behind a PIA 777, looking as if it was straight out of a hangar, but had in fact come all the way from Karachi and Islamabad.
Disembarking took quite some time, with only one door open and connected to an airbridge. We didnt quite get our first breaths of Canadian air yet! We had quite a walk along the corridors towards immigration, I'd say a good 7-10mins. At least I could see outside and set eyes on some nice little WestJet 737s on the chocks.
Before heading upstairs to immigration, the pax were met by two armed officials, checking passports and asking various questions. We were allowed to continue, on to the “real” immigration, where there were a row of desks and pax from both AF and PIA flights queuing up to enter the country.
After more questions, we passed through to the baggage hall where I saw our cases coming out one after the other as we made our way towards the carousel – first time I've ever seen that happen, usually one appears, then a wait.
We collected our baggage and made our way to a small information desk where we were directed outside and towards our bus stand. We boarded and headed downtown.
I'll post the return leg when I get the chance , but here's some pics meantime. And, I've just booked up for EDI-CDG-JFK & back with AF in February !
A340 from gate
[IMG]http://i14.tinypic.com/49bk5ty.jpg[/IMG (http://i14.tinypic.com/49bk5ty.jpg%5B/IMG)]
More A340
[IMG]http://i11.tinypic.com/33u732e.jpg[/IMG (http://i11.tinypic.com/33u732e.jpg%5B/IMG)]
T2F @ CDG
[IMG]http://i11.tinypic.com/4ddlgev.jpg[/IMG (http://i11.tinypic.com/4ddlgev.jpg%5B/IMG)]
Pics taken on Sony Ericsson K800i, set at 2mp and uploaded via tinypic
Check in opened around 4.15am, at the same time as the early-bird KLM to AMS and queues quickly formed. Polite check in staff checked our baggage thru to YYZ and gave us both boarding passes and explained where our connecting flight was leaving from in CDG – same as our arrival terminal – T2F.
We made our way up to security by 4.30 am but it wasnt opened yet ! A large queue formed and at 5.05am the shutter came up. After a firm check of our hand luggage we were in the departure lounge. The only shop open was the duty-free, the others were still opening up. Eventually World News was open and we bought water and newspapers.
We made our way round to the gate and had a seat there and the area slowly filled up a bit. I knew it wouldnt get too busy as I had seen our BAE 142 parked on stand on the way in – holds less than 100 pax.
The 'Dam flight was called first, rightly so as it was due to depart 10mins before us. Close to 6am, our flight was called and we made our way downstairs, along the covered walkway and out on to the tarmac where the 142 was waiting for us.
We had a French crew, dresses quite “middle eastern” but very polite. We waited a while for a slot, and taxi'd out towards the runway, right behind the KLM 737.
Take off we smooth, and as we commenced the climb, the noise levels rose ! A few pax started to look at each other – obviously too used to modern Boeings and 'Buses.
Little turbulence on the way over, our route taking us down the east coast then crossing directly into French airspace.
There was a cabin service on the flight, coffee, tea and orange juice offered first, followed by a small ham and egg roll and minature blueberry muffin – all very good quality.
Our approach to CDG let us see the top of the Eiffel Tower through the mist, along with other landmarks like the Parc des Princes.
Landing was smooth, but the pilot did stand on the brakes a touch – although nothing like my GSM landing at EDI last year !
Parked up at a remote stand and 1 bus took all the pax to the very modern glass roofed terminal 2F.
We climbed the stairs and at the top we were faced with a huge bank of screens detailing all departures from every terminal – great for those passing through to another destination.
We joined the queue for security at the entrance, which was huge, and my girlfriend asked security staff it we could skip the queue as we believed the YYZ flight was already boarding – no we were told, we would have time to make our flight.
The queue moved slowly and we passed through into the terminal and upstairs to the gates. Our gate had the flight as “closed” and we thought we may have missed it for a minute, but the huge group of people suggested otherwise!
The gate displa changed to boarding at 10h 40 and we just decided to stand and wait rather than go for a walk. LCD screens in the seating area showed us the weather for Toronto and displayed info on the A343 we were flying on and the names of the flight crew – a nice touch.
At around 10:50 we began to board and I was very disappointed to walk down a nice airbridge type glass corridor to find stairs at the bottom and a bus waiting.... We were bussed to a very remote stand (so remote it could have been at Orly!), and boarded in groups of 30-40, at random, not by seat number.
We found our seats in row 30, with exits and toilets 3 rows back. The A340 was configured in a
2-4-2 formation and there was no-one in the 4 next to us.
Legroom was good, better than any economy class I've experienced before, pitch 32-34” for sure. Seatback touch screen TVs, with remote control in the armrest which could be removed and hand held. There were 6 films, 4 recent, one 90s classic and 1 french. There were also News, Documentaries, TV Soaps and Nature programmes to choose from. There were 16 music channels as well, from all around the globe. Games could be played via the remote control – including WWTBAM.
We settled into our seats for Taxi, flight about 70% full. My girlfriend fell asleep, and an indication of how smooth and quiet take off was is that she didnt wake up until we were in the air. On screen display kept us aware of our location, speed and altitude – quite an impressive feature. Our route took us straight across France and a channel, along the south coasts of England and Ireland, before heading North-West over the Atlantic towards Canada.
Immediately after take off, headphones were handed out for the IFE system. These were over-ear, rather than in-ear ones, which are far more comfortable. The first drink service then came round, offering the full range of soft and alcoholic drinks, including champagne.
Thereafter, the meal service began, with the “Amerique du Nord” menus being handed out. Starter was a rice salad with seafood, well what seemed to be diced seafood sticks anyway, but it was nice.
Main was a choice of chicken or fish, and both of us chose the chicken. It was 2 small breast strip portions in a creamy curry sauce with aubergine and rice – again very nice barring the rice which was quite chewy. Dessert was fig tartlet and a pot of natural yoghurt. Unfortunately the tartlet was like it had been left out overnight then stuck in the fridge after the dew point. I ended up destroying it and putting it into the yoghurt to give it some taste ! Tea and Coffee were served after the meal, the Coffee being very nice and the tea distinctly poor.
Outside of service times there was a trolley with the full range of drinks placed in one of the doorways for self service. Small packets of pretzels were also available.
We progressed nicely across the Atlantic, and after what didnt feel like 5/6 hours, we could see land below. We were not that far away from Toronto, and with only a couple of hours left to fly, a snack service came round. A nice little cheese sandwich and oversized fairy cake hit the nark nicely, as did the final drinks service.
As we started out decent from the North side of Lake Ontario, we could see snowy uplands below, but we neared Toronto, the weather cleared.
Landing was clean and braking was heavy, we taxi'd to Terminal 3 behind a PIA 777, looking as if it was straight out of a hangar, but had in fact come all the way from Karachi and Islamabad.
Disembarking took quite some time, with only one door open and connected to an airbridge. We didnt quite get our first breaths of Canadian air yet! We had quite a walk along the corridors towards immigration, I'd say a good 7-10mins. At least I could see outside and set eyes on some nice little WestJet 737s on the chocks.
Before heading upstairs to immigration, the pax were met by two armed officials, checking passports and asking various questions. We were allowed to continue, on to the “real” immigration, where there were a row of desks and pax from both AF and PIA flights queuing up to enter the country.
After more questions, we passed through to the baggage hall where I saw our cases coming out one after the other as we made our way towards the carousel – first time I've ever seen that happen, usually one appears, then a wait.
We collected our baggage and made our way to a small information desk where we were directed outside and towards our bus stand. We boarded and headed downtown.
I'll post the return leg when I get the chance , but here's some pics meantime. And, I've just booked up for EDI-CDG-JFK & back with AF in February !
A340 from gate
[IMG]http://i14.tinypic.com/49bk5ty.jpg[/IMG (http://i14.tinypic.com/49bk5ty.jpg%5B/IMG)]
More A340
[IMG]http://i11.tinypic.com/33u732e.jpg[/IMG (http://i11.tinypic.com/33u732e.jpg%5B/IMG)]
T2F @ CDG
[IMG]http://i11.tinypic.com/4ddlgev.jpg[/IMG (http://i11.tinypic.com/4ddlgev.jpg%5B/IMG)]
Pics taken on Sony Ericsson K800i, set at 2mp and uploaded via tinypic