With our flight booked, we proceeded to find the best rental car deal. We found booking a Hertz and pre-paying a few months early saved 20% off the best deal we could find elsewhere. For eight days in France, the rate was $200.
We always like to have our first night’s lodging booked before leaving home, and we found La Poste in Chartres, which seemed reasonably priced and would take a reservation with a credit card. According to Julie’s master vision of our trip, Chartres, a scenic village with a beautiful cathedral located about 60 kilometers southwest of Paris, would be an excellent place to sleep our first night, avoiding the much higher prices for similar quality in Paris.
The flight attendants of our AOM French Airlines flight wore black skirts and tailored burgundy velvet jackets with matching burgundy velvet chapeaus. They looked rather retro chic, like well-dressed stewardesses from 1960 or models on a Paris runway, as they met us with French greetings and phrases directing us to our seats. The fact that we ended up going down the wrong aisle indicated that either the flight attendant didn’t understand the seating arrangement or we didn’t understand French very well.
The twelve hour non-stop flight from Los angeles left a little late, but the passengers were served orange juice almost immediately upon being settled in our seats. Since we left at about 10:00 PM Pacific Standard Time, our strategy would be to sleep as much as possible on the flight so that when we arrived in France at around 6:00 PM Paris time, we would be refreshed enough to enjoy our only evening in Paris on this trip. The attendants courteously offered many rounds of complimentary alcohol or non-alcohol drinks. They also served fragrant meals with small bottles of French wine. We passed on everything, however, except an occasional cup of Diet Coke or water. We didn’t watch the movie, either, and spent much of the flight sleeping. Of course, what I call sleeping on an airplane would be considered a restless night at home in the comfort of our own bed, but we arrived in Orly Field near paris, after a very smooth flight, quite refreshed.
Looking back a dozen or so years later, it seems ironic to me that this airline, AOM, which really did make us quite comfortable on the flight, was driven out of business while seemingly incompetent competitors propped up with government money continue to operate. To our shame, I must admit we selected our flight exclusively based on the cheapest rate for our plans, with no consideration for the quality of service we might receive, which helps explain why airlines keep cutting back on services and making odd changes of itineraries after booking. In any case, I never get over the miracle of being able to reach the other side of the world in a few hours, and I’m happy enough airlines continue to operate to make that possible.
We always like to have our first night’s lodging booked before leaving home, and we found La Poste in Chartres, which seemed reasonably priced and would take a reservation with a credit card. According to Julie’s master vision of our trip, Chartres, a scenic village with a beautiful cathedral located about 60 kilometers southwest of Paris, would be an excellent place to sleep our first night, avoiding the much higher prices for similar quality in Paris.
The flight attendants of our AOM French Airlines flight wore black skirts and tailored burgundy velvet jackets with matching burgundy velvet chapeaus. They looked rather retro chic, like well-dressed stewardesses from 1960 or models on a Paris runway, as they met us with French greetings and phrases directing us to our seats. The fact that we ended up going down the wrong aisle indicated that either the flight attendant didn’t understand the seating arrangement or we didn’t understand French very well.
The twelve hour non-stop flight from Los angeles left a little late, but the passengers were served orange juice almost immediately upon being settled in our seats. Since we left at about 10:00 PM Pacific Standard Time, our strategy would be to sleep as much as possible on the flight so that when we arrived in France at around 6:00 PM Paris time, we would be refreshed enough to enjoy our only evening in Paris on this trip. The attendants courteously offered many rounds of complimentary alcohol or non-alcohol drinks. They also served fragrant meals with small bottles of French wine. We passed on everything, however, except an occasional cup of Diet Coke or water. We didn’t watch the movie, either, and spent much of the flight sleeping. Of course, what I call sleeping on an airplane would be considered a restless night at home in the comfort of our own bed, but we arrived in Orly Field near paris, after a very smooth flight, quite refreshed.
Looking back a dozen or so years later, it seems ironic to me that this airline, AOM, which really did make us quite comfortable on the flight, was driven out of business while seemingly incompetent competitors propped up with government money continue to operate. To our shame, I must admit we selected our flight exclusively based on the cheapest rate for our plans, with no consideration for the quality of service we might receive, which helps explain why airlines keep cutting back on services and making odd changes of itineraries after booking. In any case, I never get over the miracle of being able to reach the other side of the world in a few hours, and I’m happy enough airlines continue to operate to make that possible.
