Instead I decided to tackle a question I know you all have been wondering but afraid to ask: which is better Air France or Delta?
My flight to Paris took off at 7:45pm on a Tuesday night since it turns out that Tuesday flights are cheaper than any other day of the week. We were trying to arrive prior to May Day. Unfortunately, after getting lost, we missed out on the majority of the festivities that May Day encompasses; instead, the most we experienced were the large number of closed shops. Arg. Lesson learned: don't travel, get up early, or go shopping on May Day in Europe.
I digress.
Atlanta Hartsfield Airport was awesome. My husband and I arrived at the international side of the airport at around 5PM. We walked right in, handed the Delta staff our bags, went through security, and found the waiting area very quickly. There were a few snafus and I had to fix my favorite necklace with tooth floss, but other than that everything went well.
Air France
The line for boarding involved waiting for your letter to be called on your ticket. As such, we boarded after our seatmate who had taken my seat next to the window – the seat that had the extra leg room that I had booked on purpose. After making him move, we discovered that these seats, even for a short person like me (5'2") were tiny. There was hardly any leg room except for the one seat I had purposely booked.
The French staff on board our flight were courtesy enough. Having never really flown before, I did manage to get on one individual's bad side, but she simply corrected me and moved on attempting to get along with me during the rest of the flight.
Justin and I had gone to eat just prior to arriving at the airport, so we were surprised when dinner was served almost immediately upon boarding. I had coke, chicken and gravy, potatoes, quinoa (?), apple sauce, cheese/butter, a baguette, and a slice of coconut cake. The chicken was decent but cold, the potatoes were just that, the cheese and baguette were delicious, the cake was so-so, and I refused to eat the quinoa and apple sauce. (The coke tasted flat and disgusting in case you were wondering.)
Then it came time to shut the windows and sleep (or pretend to anyway.) Given that we were traveling during what would be night time, I just knew I would be tired and sleep the whole way waking up refreshed and ready to go when we arrived in Europe. Then, I had a thought: I would be able to see the sunrise from an airplane! How cool would that be?! The thought excited me enough that I simply could not sleep, and I opened my window halfway to France just to see the sunrise over the Atlantic. Amazing? Eh, not really. But super exciting anyway. :)
Despite not sleeping, I didn't really take advantage of any of the amenities on Air France. I watched the screen on Justin's tv to see where we were, how high up we were, and when we would be arriving in France. There weren't any movies to choose from or music to listen to, so using the screen seemed pretty pointless. I also spent a lot of time looking out the window, bothering Justin (who was trying to sleep), and listening to my ipod. Before I knew it, the staff was turning on lights and serving breakfast.
Breakfast on Air France was made up of a muffin, yogurt, fruit, orange juice, and that baguette with cheese again. It was the perfect breakfast for me. I wasn't hungry, but I devoured the delicious baguette and sweet muffin before my attention once again returned to the patchwork quilt looking landscape that now lay below me.
Exiting the plane happened fairly quickly. We were escorted to the front of the line, and the longest we waited was for retrieving our bags, which given the length of time between our arrival and theirs, we thought they had gotten lost!! Charles de gaulle airport was a pain to navigate compared to Atlanta Hartsfield. This could be due to my lack of flying experience though?
After that, Justin and I spend a wonderful –almost– 3 weeks exploring Europe with friends before our next flight took off Sunday morning at 6AM in Paris, France.
Delta
First of all, our original flight was scheduled for Saturday at 3PM. We missed the flight somehow. (Something about not arriving in time to navigate the airport? Or at least that's the line they gave us. Note: Arrive at Charles de Gaulle THREE hours before. Not two. I'm not sure why.) Anyway, we ended up staying at the hotel at the airport since we had already returned our car and we didn't want any trouble navigating the rail system at 3AM in the morning.
The staff was courteous enough even though they were all less friendly than the staff at Atlanta Hartsfield. And the airport was huge and difficult to navigate. Luckily, a complimentary breakfast of croissants was provided to us at our hotel prior to boarding our plane. Yay! I think that may have been the only good thing about the hotel except for being able to see the sunrise at the airport from our hotel room window.
Once again, after boarding, we were served a simple breakfast. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of either the breakfast or lunch provided, because I was tired and slept most of the flight. I don't remember much about the food other than it was "American" and not served with a baguette and cheese. Highly disappointing, I must say. ;) I had learned my lesson though, and I drank sparkling water on the flight home and was far more impressed with that choice than the coke served to me on the previous flight.
I was also thrilled to have plenty of leg room. And when I finally woke up from my 5 hour nap, approximately 2 hours prior to disboarding, I found an awesome movie to watch.
Audrey Hepburn enticed me to watch it, but after the first scene I was hooked.
"I already know an awful lot of people and until one of them dies, I couldn't possibly meet anyone else."
and
"You're blocking my view."
"Which view would you prefer?"
"The one you're blocking." ;)
haha. Audrey Hepburn is so serious and so funny.
The Delta flight had far more movies to view, music to listen to, and overall things to do than the Air France flight. Pair that with more leg room, and I would say that Delta was far more comfortable and enjoyable to fly than Air France.
Upon arrival, we were out of the airport within 10 minutes making Atlanta Hartsfield my favorite airport and Charles De Gaulle … not. Perhaps next time I should try Lufthansa and fly directly to Germany instead.
What are your thoughts? Have you ever flown overseas? Are there any airlines you recommend? Favorite airports to arrive in/leave from? What do you recommend for someone who is new to flying?
Oh - and be sure to watch the 1963 movie Charade with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. I highly recommend it! :)
