“Your Attention, Please – Now Boarding Flight 007 For Paris”

Last time, I shared with you how attending an Air France exhibit in Chelsea on a warm June afternoon morphed into spending Christmas week in Paris. Any chance to go to Paris is a gift, whether at Christmas or any other time of the year. And add to that, the wonderful luck we had in being able to take advantage of highly discounted fares, which enabled us to fly in first class (a/k/a La Premiere). Mon dieu!!

Our adventure began at the La Premiere check-in desk at JFK. After handing over our passports, we were given our boarding passes and our personal “handler” – at least, that’s what we called him – arrived. He was very nice and very French and escorted us through Terminal 1 to our waiting area. Along the way, he insisted on carrying our carry-ons as he whisked us through security.

Eventually we arrived at what seemed to be a private dining room, which had 2 tables, a seating area and lots of windows. We were immediately greeted by a waiter who offered us a glass of champagne or cocktail and presented us with a menu. No matter that we were on a dinner flight – perhaps we were feeling peckish and required some grub before boarding. We decided to have champagne and a couple of hors d’eauvres, both of which were yummy.

AAC CPA checks out the menu….

….and has some bubbly with a little tasty thing

After awhile, our friendly handler arrived to escort us to the plane. We were taken to a private elevator and then towards a special boarding area. As we were flying on an A380 (double-decker configuration), we boarded through the lower deck, at which point our handler wished us a bon voyage.

Our chariot awaits

Check out the AF A380 Aircraft

The purser met us as we stepped onto the plane, introduced himself and escorted us to our seats. There are only 9 seats in the cabin, so we could have easily found them ourselves, but who were we to complain?

Our cabin and our seats in front

Once at our seats, we met our flight attendant (FA) and, again, offered a glass of champagne while he explained how the seat worked and presented us with an amenity bag, along with pajamas and slippers, as well as a dinner menu.

The Air France A380 holds up to 516 passengers, so you can imagine that it took awhile for boarding to be completed. While we were waiting to leave the gate, we chatted with the FA and got used to our surroundings.

AAC CPA settles in

Finally, it was time to depart. The plane doors were closed and we pulled away from our gate and began to taxi (which, at JFK, can sometimes seem almost as long as the flight). What’s really cool on the A380 is that there is a closed-circuit camera in the tail of the aircraft, so you can see where you are going. Even though it was dark, it was still interesting to see where we were going, especially at takeoff and, later, at landing.

Taxiing towards the runway

Once we were wheels up, the FA was immediately at our seat to take our cocktail and dinner order. As it was a relatively short flight (about 7 hours) and because we had already eaten on the ground, we opted to have 1 or 2 dishes and then have our bed made up so that we could get right to sleep. We’d always heard that food on Air France was among the best in the sky. And the airline did not disappoint; however, the real culinary treat awaited us on our return home. For some reason, the food when flying out of Paris is superior. More about that later.

Our dinner menu

Note the chef’s bio in the menu. As stated, Joël Rubuchon is one of the most celebrated chefs in the world.

Once we had eaten, we changed into our PJs – by the way, in our cabin there was one bathroom and one changing room, which was particularly luxurious. And the pajamas were kinda cute, too.

I’m a notoriously bad sleeper on planes, even when I have the luxury of a full-size bed (not to mention pharmaceuticals). In this case, I think I managed to get about 4 hours which, for me, is a bloody miracle.

(AAC CPA, on the other hand, can go to sleep while sitting up straight as the plane is taxiing towards the runway.)

I must have awakened about 90 minutes before landing, and our FA offered me some breakfast (heaven forfend that I should be hungry!).

After a delicious (and I mean deeelicious) Croque Monsieur and some tasty fresh fruit, I was ready to change back into my traveling clothes and prepare for gay Paris.

My extremely yummy breakfast

As we made our final approach, the captain reactivated the closed-circuit camera and I was able to watch our descent and landing from my seat. We landed a bit early, and it was a slightly overcast and cool looking day.

Our landing into CDG, Paris

We gathered our carry-ons and our FA wished us a very happy holiday and safe travels.

As we stepped onto the jet way, we were immediately met by our next handler, who seemed to know exactly who we were, as he called us by name. With a brisk “Bonjour et bienvenue à Paris”, we were escorted off the jetway, down a corridor, into an elevator and taken onto the tarmac.

Get a load of this: We were then handed off to a chauffeur and private car to drive us to customs and baggage claim. How much fun is this!!! Our handler met us at customs and whisked us to the front of the line (oops, “Pardonnez moi, tout le monde!”) So customs was a breeze, and then we were escorted to baggage claim.

And then, we had an experience that had never ever happened to us before. Can you imagine what it was? It was so rare that it never would have occurred to us. It seemed inconceivable that it could ever happen. The baggage carousel started to move and – much to our amazement – the first piece of luggage on the carousel was mine! I mean, what are the chances? We both tingled a bit when that happened. Zoweeee!

Our handler assumed that, of course, we’d be met by our own car and driver, but we had to ruin his day and say that a taxi would do nicely, merci. So he escorted us out of the terminal and, somewhat embarrassingly for us, took us to the head of the taxi queue, and made sure that we were given the first taxi. And, off we headed to the City of Light for a lovely Christmas week.

To be continued……

Travel Fantasy Memory – Bucket List Item: Flying Air France to Paris

It started like this in June, 2014:

You – in this case: AAC, CPA – see a poster on the street alerting you to an upcoming exhibit that’s right up your alley (and, best of all for AAC, is free!). And there it is:

Invitation to an exhibit

What a cool thing to do of a summer Saturday afternoon in Chelsea, right? So, after meeting friends for brunch, we head over to the far west side on a street full of interesting art galleries (who knew?) and then into a loft building.

An attractive young woman outfitted in a beautifully tailored Air France uniform greets us. In fact, as we move through the exhibit, there seem to be dozens of Air France uniforms all around us, smiling, helpful and very welcoming.

And what, exactly, is the exhibit? Throughout, you see Air France memorabilia: photographs, videos, samples of their beautiful crystal, china, silverware, etc.

There’s also fun, silly stuff to walk through. Even a kids area where they can play and run around while their folks ogle the exhibit.

AAC CPA attends an exhibit and has fun

But, mostly, as you work your way through, you can sample the various cabin classes on board, which is the real purpose of the exhibit. Air France wants to put butts in seats.

In fact, if you want to try out the seats, go for it!

We start in economy (meh) – looks like lots of seats pushed together.

Premium economy is next – getting better, as there’s a bit more legroom – 6 inches more pitch.

Business? Now we’re getting warmer, the seats are comfortable but, also, angle-flat, not flatbeds – phooey!!

See what I mean about “angle-flat”?

And then it happens, you go through a curtain and, suddenly, you’re in first class (a/k/a La Premiere). And you gasp just a little bit and your heart may skip a beat. It’s magic time.

La Premiere – Pretty swank, huh?

Wouldn’t you just know? This is the one cabin of the plane where you can’t sit in the seat!! “Make ‘em beg for more, and then DON’T give it to them!” The creeps!

After seeing the first class cabin, there’s nowhere to go but down. Literally, that is, as it’s the end of the exhibit. But on the way out, those cute AF uniforms give you posters and the best ice cream sandwich ever. And both are yummy. So are the uniforms, come to think of it.

Cross cut: While all this is going on, we’re aware that a Broadway bound production of An American in Paris will be playing its out-of-town tryout at the Théâtre du Châtelet – IN PARIS!!!! So, in his ever-so-sweetly passive-aggressive way, AAC CPA just casually suggests “Wouldn’t it be fun if we could see An American in Paris (in Paris)?”

Yes, gentle readers, AAC CPA knows how to push-my-buttons.

From there, I’m off and running (actually sitting at my laptop):

First thing: When, exactly, is the show playing in Paris? Easy enough to find out, just go to the Châtelet website and – wait for it – OMG: it’s playing over the holidays. Are seats even available? How about 10^th row center on Christmas Eve?? Woo-hoo! Hold that thought.

Next: Take a big breath and head over to the Air France website and find out what’s available for a round-trip to Paris over Christmas week. It’s the holidays, so it’s going to be difficult to get seats, right?

What I see stuns me. Based on what we’ve heard, flying on Air France in first class (excusez moi – La Premiere) has been a bucket list fantasy dream for a long time. But we couldn’t possibly – the fares would be over-the-moon-too-expensive-out-of-our-budget-impossible.

But wait, for some unexplained reason, the fares over the holidays have been discounted by something like 70%. And, on top of all that, we’d get to fly on the new A380. Whaaaaat? Do my eyes deceive me? Apparently not. Now, I’m not going to lie and tell you that it wasn’t beaucoup bucks but, on the other hand, who doesn’t want to take advantage of a great deal, at least once?

The new double-decker A380

Reminder to myself: How lucky are we that we could even consider such an indulgence?

So, then I call AAC CPA at work (yes, he was still doing THAT), and said: “OK, buster, you planted this seed – how would you like to go to Paris for Christmas and, oh by the way, fly over and back on Air France (traveling in La Premiere!, no less) and, yes, see An American in Paris on Christmas Eve?”

Yes, I called his bluff and what could he say but: “Well, OK, sure.”

And in a couple of mouse-clicks – I had windows open for both Air France and the Châtelet – we locked in our fantasy holiday trip: We were going to be two Americans in Paris, seeing An American in Paris on Christmas eve– IN PARIS!

Seriously, how lucky ARE we??

Next time: the Air France treatment (or, “Is there any way that you can make this flight LONGER?”)

Don’t miss VERITAS – presented by The Representatives

For those of you in New York who have time between now and Saturday, November 7^th, you have 4 chances remaining to see The Representatives’ production of Veritas, by Stan Richardson, co-directed and co-produced by Richardson and Matt Steiner (who is also a member of the cast). I cannot recommend this production highly enough.

Cast of Veritas

Veritas deals with a shameful witch-hunt that occurred at Harvard University almost 100 years ago and destroyed the lives of a dozen students. The play was originally performed at the 2010 New York International Fringe Festival, where it had the distinction of being the first Fringe production to sell out before it even opened.

The incident came to light only in 2002, when a researcher from the university’s undergraduate newspaper, The Crimson, discovered a box of files labeled “Secret Court”. The paper’s staff subsequently had to battle the university’s administration to make public the over 500 documents relating to the Court’s proceeding. Finally, on November 21, 2002 the Crimson published an article entitled Fifteen Minutes, which made public this shameful piece of history.

Attending a Representatives production is a unique event in itself. When we arrived at the Omsted Salon (a series of rooms at Calvary/St. George’s Church near Union Square), instead of tickets we were handed something akin to a baseball card with a photograph of one of the actors with his character’s name on it. We were told that he would eventually seat us in the first of two performance spaces in which the play would unfold. We were then invited to lubricate ourselves with our choice of complimentary wine or water.

Our entry card into the performance

As we approached the beginning of the performance, “Edward Say” arrived to escort us to our seats. Along the way, he explained the mise en scene and told us a little bit about his character. And then he refilled our wine glasses! Thanks, Mr. Say.

The space for the first act was a long narrow room seating probably no more than 100 spectators, and probably a bit fewer. The staging took place in and all around us. You felt as if you were in the middle of the action.

At the conclusion of the first act, a 10-minute intermission was called and we were asked to move back into the space where we had started for more wine. It was there that the play resumed. Midway through the second act, we were directed back into the other room, which had been reconfigured and where we saw the remainder of the play.

Following the performance, we were invited to attend the “after-party”, so that we could hang out and mingle both with the audience and with the cast.

Since 2012, The Representatives has presented over a dozen new works, in site specific settings, many of which take place in apartments (yes, friends of the company “host” productions in their apartments!) to the Olmsted Salon, where we attended last night’s performance.

In their own words, “The Representatives’ dedication to presenting work as soon as it’s written – in people’s homes and other unconventional spaces – has created an underground following committed to hyper-intimate theatrical experiences. Committed to creating a community as much as making art, every performance of ours’ is followed by a party, creating a unique space for our increasingly diverse community to engage in enjoyable (if sometimes uncomfortable) conversations they might not find in their day-to-day lives.”

Tickets are priced at $20 and wine and the after-party is included. Get there if you can – you won’t regret it.

Buy Tickets to Veritas

NY Times Review

Hello – I Must Be Staying!

Hey Everyone!

So, it’s been just about 7 weeks since I started TheCulturedTraveler and I’m thinking that I want to recap what’s been happening with the blog and the life.

OK – full disclosure – I was offered a “blogging 101” primer to help me improve my blogging skills (such as they are) and, perhaps, to breathe new life into this adventure. I’m game for it and eager to see what may happen as a result. Of course, that means that I’ll have to do my “homework”, which means you may be seeing a lot more of me over the next few weeks.

For those of you who have stuck with me (and many, many thanks for that), you’ll know that I had a lot of friends who have encouraged me over the years to share our travel experiences, as well as our culinary and cultural adventures. Living in New York City, we’ve had the very good fortune to take advantage of all that this amazing place has to offer, and we’ve been equally lucky to be able to travel hither and yon and to meet some wonderful people along the way.

Blog Highlight #1 – AAC CPA gets ready for takeoff.

Finally, just before our Queen Mary 2 crossing in later September, I took the plunge and, even since, have posted about 2 times a week. What’s been really interesting to me is that the travel posts get a very good readership, while the posts pertaining to culture and food, less so. That’s something I’ll have to figure out as we go along.

Blog Highlight #2 – AAC CPA on Embarkation Day aboard QM2

My goal is to connect with fellow travelers, culture and food mavens and to share experiences. I’m pretty good on all of these tracks, but I’m also fortunate to have good friends who share their experiences as well which gives me – well – food for fodder.

Speaking of food for fodder: Blog Highlight #3 – Post-theatre dinner at The Ivy in London

I’ve had some success so far in connecting with other bloggers who somehow found TheCulturedTraveler, and that’s been great. It’s given me other blogs to read and, from them, to get ideas about things that I might want to do myself. Hopefully, that’s what my blog will do in turn.

Looking a year ahead, where would I want the blog to be? Here are some initial thoughts and goals:

I’d like to build the blog so that it can be used as a resource for like-minded people.
I’d like to attract a larger following giving TheCulturedTraveler more exposure.
I’d like to make the blog itself more attractive with, perhaps, more bells and whistles, so as to make it more interesting to the people who come to visit.
I’d also like to arrange for “guest-bloggers” to take over the space from time to time and share some of their experiences.

Finally, I’ve enjoyed posting so far and hope that I feel the same way as time goes by.

As always, thanks for reading stay tuned for more of our adventures.

Today’s Blog Highlight – Attending the dress rehearsal of Lulu at the Met

theculturedtraveler

My Adventures in Cuisine, Culture & Travel

Month: November 2015

“Your Attention, Please – Now Boarding Flight 007 For Paris”

Travel Fantasy Memory – Bucket List Item: Flying Air France to Paris

Don’t miss VERITAS – presented by The Representatives

Hello – I Must Be Staying!

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theculturedtraveler

My Adventures in Cuisine, Culture & Travel

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