A drive through north-west France

[RooFlyer]

No prices?

First Class. Included.

 

[RooFlyer]

Second, since you will be driving through Dinan, if you haven't already been there, I would make the 33 minute side trip to Saint Malo.

Always appreciate your advice on France. Yes, I have the morning of next Tuesday in St Malo.

 

[ellen10]

Love St Malo. We ate the best moules and frites from a van overlooking the Fort.
And Dinan famous for crepes and galettes.
France is all about the food!

 

[RooFlyer]

Got to LHR T3, retrieved my stored bag GBP50 ! But worth it not to have to cart it up to Manchester and back. Checked in to my flight to Budapest and then joined the LHR T3 Lounge Crawl. There were 15 of us, an amazing number for the location. A greater bunch of dedicated flyers and lounge crawlers you'll never see. Arranged by @JessicaTam - thank you.

A few random pics.

As stocked by the CX F lounge.



AA First



Qantas



World record attempt for the number of S&P squid in one order - 12 (delivered in 2 lots)





BA First





I and I think most of us got to CX J and F, BA J and F, AA J and F, QF. I also got to the AMEX lounge courtesy of @Flashback , who it was great to catch up with again. Oh, and the Avanti First Class lounge in MAN(chester rail terminal).

 

[RooFlyer]

Time to leave. I think there were 6 of us on this flight to BUD. For me it was a quick overnight transit before heading to CDG.

BA870 LHR 20:37 BUD 00:01, A319, 2C Left a fraction early and arrived 15 mins early.

An OK flight - Euro biz, but I had a shadow





Dinner





A walk down to the Ibis Styles. See pics and comments here. Was Ok for a quick overnight.

Back to the terminal in the morning.



Check-in queues very long! Lots of Chinese and American (especially) pax off cruises. Check-in for my flight opens 2 hrs before departure - I was there 3 hrs prior . I stood around for a while and then asked one of the helpers in the terminal where KLM would board from - gates round the corner she said.



So I went there and ..



Zounds! Everyone was there early, like me, but they didn't spend 20 mins in another part of the terminal. I joined the 'Sky Priority' lane (pic above) and fortunately, got chatting with some Americans behind me. They were off a cruise, and one of the cruise helpers pointed out that they could use the self-bag drop machines a few meters away. So could I!


So through security OK and to the KLM 'lounge'. Airside at BUD



A shared lounge - shared with half the airlines on earth, it seems.



Not much more than basic. Beer seemed popular in the morning.



Stupid steps in the lounge.





Very loud Chinese and Americans in the lounge - I bailed and walked around the terminal.

 

[RooFlyer]

KL1364 deo BUD 11:35 arr AMS 13:40 (arrived a few mins late).
B737-800, 1C
Virgin Atlantic Reward

Slightly more leg room than BA.



Although it was obviously lunch, KLM 'did a Qantas' and seemed to serve breakfast. Egg, yohhurt, muesli etc.



Served in a nice box (easy to distribute), in individual serving containers.



Awkward, though. No room for the bread roll - tray table next door (vacant) used.

 

[RooFlyer]

At Schiphol, 3 hour transit the KLM Crown Lounge. Pretty good, but I was too zonked to appreciate it.










So, which way to the gate?



KM1409 dep AMS 16:30 arr CDG 1745, 1C
Virgin Atlantic Reward

Another meal in a box - just a short flight. Twas OK.

 

[RooFlyer]

At CDG on the CDGVal to T3 stop, location of the Novotel. Been here a couple of times before, so got a good room I asked for. Review and pics here.

Next morning to AVIS at T2. A wait and then voila! an upgrade. No thanks. I specified a small car and that's what I wanted, for fuel economy (petrol here abt 2 euro/litre). The guy grovelled around in his key drawer and found a car of the same category. Kia.

The rental car park is u/g and enormous!



My car - only when I got in I realised it was a manual - that's why it was a low category!! Decided to bite the bullet and continue.



A week in and its been a decent car. Good fuel economy and I drove a manual up to about 7 years ago ...