At Last...

The cruise industry was hit hard by the pandemic which forced widespread cancellations affecting most sailings.

...our trip was on the horizon! Anyone who’s been following this blog post for some time has read about our “never ending trip to France.” It all started back in June of 2019 when my wife and I and two other couples decided to take a trip to Paris followed by a seven-night Uniworld River Cruise in the Bordeaux Wine Region of France. We were so excited and booked the trip for May of 2020 and even made our airline reservations. We were all set. Or so we thought. As we all know, COVID-19 arrived and the world stopped in March of 2020. Our cruise was, of course, cancelled. Like everyone else, we thought the worst would be over in a few short months and decided to re-book for May of 2021 and also changed our airline reservations. Well, the pandemic hung on a lot longer and with greater veracity than anyone might have guessed. Uniworld did not resume any sailings until June of last year and so this trip was pushed back yet another year! Finally, 2022 arrived and we cautiously rebooked the flights and selected our hotels. Uniworld was cruising again and come this May, we were more than ready and more than anxious to begin this very long-awaited journey. And we were delighted to learn the US mask mandate was ended on April 18, meaning we would not be required to don a face covering for the entire overnight trip.

The benefits of TSA PreCheck were again denied me for not ensuring the designation was on my Boarding Pass.

Our departure day of Tuesday, May 17 arrived and, believe it or not, I made the same mistake in not ensuring that the TSA PreCheck appeared on my boarding pass after checking in at the Raleigh Airport. This was the third time this had happened to me and meant I had to leave the TSA PreCheck queue. This time, I made my way back to the Delta ticket counter and let the agent know of the mistake, but she told me my Trusted Traveler Number wasn’t in my profile for this trip. Reluctantly, I was forced to enter the main security area where I was obligated to remove my shoes, belt, liquids and laptop, along with my sports jacket. Upon further investigation at the Sky Club, I learned that since my reservation was made with a travel agent as opposed to being made directly with Delta, it was the agent’s responsibility to ensure that it was entered into the trip record. While our travel agent had included my wife’s Trusted Traveler Number in her record, for some reason, mine was omitted. I can guarantee you that was the last time this will ever happen to me as I will check and recheck to ensure my number is always associated with my travel reservation, regardless of whether I booked it myself on an airline Web site or with a third party agent.

The Delta Sky Club at the Raleigh Durham Airport has a beautiful bar area, along with plentiful seating options.

With that snafu behind me, we joined our friends at the Raleigh Sky Club in the late morning to enjoy some quiet time before boarding our first flight to Minneapolis. That flight was on time and scheduled to depart at 12:35 PM. In the meantime, I noticed the club had set up a very nice all-day buffet, with a choice of Spanish Rice, along with Mexican Green Rice and Steamed Broccoli, as well as a bountiful assortment of Plain and Kalamata Olive Hummus, Fresh Vegetables and all the fixings to make a nice Charcuterie Board. Lemon Squares and Chocolate Fudge Brownies with Caramel rounded out the offerings available on the dessert table. We shied away from eating at the Sky Club, however, as a lunch service was scheduled on the first leg.

Critics and aficionados alike have weighed in on Delta's burger, making it one of their most talked-about entrées.

It was soon time to board that flight and we settled into Seats A and B in Row 2 on the port side of the Delta Airbus A220-300 aircraft. No pre departure beverages were offered nor were any made available after takeoff. Our First Class flight attendant also did something I hadn’t encountered before in all my travels. Once we were in the air, she announced the lunch choices available only once, but did so in a voice loud enough for the entire cabin to hear. The choices included a Cheeseburger, a Vegetarian Plate or a Cold Chicken option (although only one of the latter was catered onto our flight). I chose the Cheeseburger served with Summer Squash and a slice of Blueberry Cheesecake with White Chocolate Shavings. After lunch, snacks were offered and that’s when I concluded the entire service was a bit backwards. At any rate, our flight time was 2 hours and 22 minutes at an altitude of 36,000 feet, touching down on time, close to 2:00 PM local.

Delta was the first North American airline to fly the A330-900neo aircraft and Delta One seats feature sliding doors.

Delta uses Terminal 1 at MSP and our flight to Paris was due to board at 3:45 so we had an opportunity to visit the Sky Club located near the intersection of the F and G Concourses. Minneapolis is a Delta hub city and this was evident as that club was just about as busy as those to be found in Atlanta. We did manage to find seating together at one of the rectangular work tables with plenty of outlets available for charging devices and had just enough time for a quick drink before making our way to our departure Gate G8. We flew on an Airbus A-330-900neo aircraft with 29 Delta One suites arranged in a 1 x 2 x 1 configuration. We occupied Seats 2C and 2G in the center section with our friends nearby. It wasn’t long before we toasted to the success of the trip with a welcome glass of pre-departure champagne! The Airbus A330neo ("neo" for “New Engine Option") is a wide-body airliner developed with modern engines comparable to those developed for the Boeing B787, thereby promising 14 per cent better fuel economy per seat. It is exclusively powered by the Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 high bypass turbofan engines. Statistics aside, my AvGeek colleague from RDU, who subscribes to the premium version of Flight Radar24, informed me that our aircraft that day was only two years old! Good to know as Delta is notorious for hanging onto their aircraft for a very long time.

Delta One suites on the A330-900neo feature intuitive, speedy and rather large 18.5-inch wireless touchscreens.

The beverage service started shortly after takeoff with cocktails, beer and wine on offer, along with Almonds and Olives in individual ramekins. Dinner service was next and began with a tasty Tomato Basil Bisque Soup served with Pesto Croutons followed by a Burrata Salad with Grilled Peach Salsa, Mint and Honey. Sourdough Rolls with Cultured Banner Butter accompanied the three entrée choices which consisted of a Sous Vide Chicken Breast, a Warm Vegetable Plate or a Braised Beef Short Rib. It turns out we all chose the latter which was served with Parmesan Thyme Mashed Potatoes, Dill Carrots, Pickled Red Onions and Mustard Seeds.The 2012 full bodied Château Clarke Listrac-Médoc from Bordeaux, France, paired nicely with the beef and whet my palate for what was to come on our tour of the French Wine Region. I also enjoyed the Ice Cream Sundae for dessert, with High Road Sea Salt Vanilla, Cherry Compote, Chocolate Sauce and Cookie Crumbles. After finishing a movie on the In-Flight Entertainment System, it was time to get some shut eye. Although my sleep was not uninterrupted, I did appreciate the sliding privacy door and the 180-degree flat bed seat, along with the soft blanket and pillow provided to each passenger.

Be patient. On average, it can take between 45 and 90 minutes to clear Customs at Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Mornings always seem to come early on eastbound trans-Atlantic flights. We touched down at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport at around 8:10 on Wednesday morning and taxied to our gate in Terminal 2E. Since Paris was our final destination, we followed the signs for Arrivals and Baggage Reclaim. As we were flying from the US, a Non-Schengen country, our first stop after arrival was at Border Control. There were, however, hundreds of other passengers arriving from all parts of the world at that hour of the morning so the wait was well over an hour! As bad as it was to snake through that very slow-moving line, the Automated Border Control procedure couldn’t have been any easier. We simply had to insert our passports into the terminals, then enter the automated airlock gates and pass our fingers over the sensors to exit. It’s based on face recognition technology, and aims to increase passengers' flow while improving perceived quality. I’ll admit to an improved quality experience but unfortunately, it didn’t seem to have any effect on the time it took to process so many arriving passengers at the same time. Once we picked up our bags, we quickly passed through French Customs and secured our passport stamps before entering the public arrivals area.

We were staying at the Westin Vendome Hotel in town and had made prior arrangement for van service from the airport to the hotel. It took about 40 minutes with morning traffic to reach our destination and we were very fortunate that our rooms were available for check-in mid-morning. I’ll tell you all about our busy time in the City of Light in a future post.

Until next time…safe travels.