Thursday, September 06, 2012

The Big Adventure

Well, Mr. K and I have arrived in France.  All in one piece too! We had such fun getting here.  Mr and Mrs. K Sr dropped us off early at the airport in JFK. Mr. K had to go to the ticket counter to get things straightened out for the flight tickets, but it was no problem. We flew on American Airlines (my favorite type of planes...I'm not a pilot's daughter at all...). 

All the little planes in a row...

We had tickets in coach, but we were bumped up to an exit row (legroom!) and then as we were settling into the seats again, we were bumped up once again to BUSINESS CLASS!!!! This is all thanks to my step-mom who just so happened to be on the flight as a flight attendant and told the gate agents that they needed to take good care of us.  We didn't mind in the least. We were separated at first, but the business man saw we were a couple and said he'd switch an aisle for an aisle so we could be together. What a kind man!

For those who have never flown business class this is what it entails:
Water whenever we wanted, even while we were taxiing down the runway to wait in line they came around to give us glasses of water. A menu to choose from (beef, chicken, fish, or vegetarian dishes); we chose the Boursin crusted filet mignon with wilted spinach and mashed potatoes and a grilled tomato which came with an appetizer of warmed salted nuts, then a salad and coconut shrimp on pineapple slices, then the entree, then dessert (praline ice cream, ice cream sundae, or fruit and cheese).

You could have wine with dinner and a sweet liqueur free of charge. I had a Shiraz with dinner and some amaretto with my fruit and cheese dessert (wasn't feeling the ice cream, though Mr. K thoroughly enjoyed the ice cream sundae with butterscotch topping and nuts!).

They give you a duvet and a large pillow to help you sleep when your chair goes back all the way to a Lazy boy recliner position. (Mr. K loved that part and spent quite a few minutes going over the tutorial on the seat.)

We got to have a selection of movies and tv shows that we could watch with Bose noise cancelling headphones (YESSSS!!!!) and we had plenty of storage and leg room. They also give you a neat little toiletry bag that is filled with all the things necessary to make you look pretty the next morning (lotions, lip balm, tooth brush and toothpaste, tissues, eye cover, ear plugs, floss, socks, a comb).

Needless to say, we had a very enjoyable flight.  Plus, I got a chance to see my step-mom at work and where she does the magic. Very small quarters. They even have sleeping closets which is just that.  A closet that you open the door and have two bed shelves. Very small, very tight, very hard. She said she doesn't like to sleep in there and that Dad when he has to sleep (as he is a very tall pilot) can reserve a seat in Business Class. The room that she works in is just about as big as an average walk-in closet but the walls are made of ovens and microwaves and they do everything on little metal carts. Flight attendants do a lot of work and don't get much credit for it.  After seeing what they have to do in the little space they have, I am very appreciative of their work!

She let us sleep through "breakfast" (which is really only 3 hours after dinner) and gave us a good-morning bon voyage breakfast package. We are so thankful.

We arrived in London, chugged milk and orange juice (you're not allowed to have liquids over 100ml through the security lines that are immediately after the flight as you got to connect to the other one), and got to stand in line. We both had our bags searched. Mine was searched due to a candle that looked like a liquid, which she said wasn't a problem and that it happens all the time. Then, come to find out, the bon voyage package that my step-mom gave us was packing "sharps" or in other words, we had real silverware in the package (even though they were dull as could be) and were thus confiscated. Mr. K had his backpack searched and wiped down because of spice jars from McCormick that had the same density on the scanner as a liquid. Oh well. They didn't take those, thankfully.
Then we waited 4 hours for our flight, which was delayed as it was coming from Edinburgh, Scotland. At least, that's the reasoning they gave us. Bad Scotland, bad.
Then we had the 1 hour flight to Paris where M. G (my french friend) picked us up and took us to his home via Citroen car.

And that was our travel adventure! I loved every minute of it (well, okay, maybe not the waiting 4 hours bit).

As the French say: A plus tard! or A+




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