Europe, with an Arctic cruise, a Balkan tour and bits of France and Malta

[RooFlyer]

This journey is on an A350–900, definitely not Q suites. They comparative lack of privacy is very noticeable, but okay for daytime flight.





same as my last flight PDB choice was the lemon and lime drink followed by Arabic coffee and dates. Also orders for post-takeoff drinks and also lunch taken before we leave.



And for the second flight in a row, I completely ignored the safety video, with sound blocked by noise cancelling headphones. I would never, ever do this except the video is some shouting American rapper or something like that completely obnoxious.



G&T after seat beltsoff and some nuts



they were going to serve the meal service shortly afterwards, but again I declined for an hour or so.

I had ordered the caviar entree and a steak for mains but they came back later and said they run out of caviar. What sort of tin-pot airline runs out of caviar?

I replaced it with more lobster.

Amuse bouche some sort of purée potato



then my lobster entree, which was enough for a main course



then there was a steak, perfectly tender although a bit overcooked for my liking but still juicy



And a desert of fresh berries and cream

 

[RB001]

Your cringe-inducing safety video features Kevin Hart, "Qatar Airways Global Brand Ambassador, comedian, actor and entrepreneur."

 

[VPS]

Your cringe-inducing safety video features Kevin Hart, "Qatar Airways Global Brand Ambassador, comedian, actor and entrepreneur."

I shall refrain from saying who the hell is he but I am thinking it even after googling him

 

[Quickstatus]

shall refrain from saying

I can say that I am familiar with him.

He is one of the actors in the movie Jumanji and does comedy with the other Jumanji actor Dwayne Johnson "the Rock" where they take the piss out of one another especially their size difference. You can see elements of this in in the QR video - Hart is very short and one of the kids mentioned he is a fan of the Rock who is a big unit.

 

[RooFlyer]

Your cringe-inducing safety video features Kevin Hart, "Qatar Airways Global Brand Ambassador, comedian, actor and entrepreneur."

I’m proud to say I’ve never heard of him.

Arrived at CDG T1 17 minutes early. Deplaned and the ‘wonderment’ of this terminal came flooding back. I used to come through here regularly about 22-23 years ago for work.

Anyway, it’s not very busy and there was no queue for immigration, a little bit of a wait for bags but again that’s probably because of no wait for immigration.

30 minutes after deplaning and I’m on the shuttle to T3 and 10 minutes later, I’m in the lobby of the Novotel. Short wait to check in during which time some guy is rambling on about actually not staying in the hotel about what his friend wants to do and how he should do it.

Anyway, notice the other Accor premium check-in location and checked in & went up to the room. It’s a fair bit more basic when I was expecting but seems to be on the quiet side so that’s a blessing. In fact, I heard nothing either inside or outside.





I took an Stlnox as it was about 6am in my departure time zone but I only got 8 1/2 hours sleep. I was hoping for more.

 

[RooFlyer]

The safety video I’m talking about

 

[RooFlyer]

First day in Paris. It had to include Notre Dame cathedral of course, and I recounted what had to be done to get a timed entry ticket, above. I got 1:30pm and after a bit of a late start I took the RER B into the city. I had already purchased a two day Ile de France Mobilites pass for E44, enabling travel throughout the Ile de France region, including to and from the Airport.

On the train to the city and hold ups short of Gare du Nord due to "people on the tracks". Off at St Nicholas Notre Dame station and walked by the Cathedral to sus it out. Very long lines for the non-timed entry. No-one at the timed entry!



Repairs still not quite complete. I was surprised to see scaffolding still around the new spire.



With a couple of hours to spare, I walked the short distance to Eglise St Julien de Pauvre

A Melkite Catholic church dating from .They aren't Roman Catholics, but a western Asian (the Levant') Greek sect practicing the Byzantine Rite. Read about them here: Qui sont les Melkites ? – Église Saint Julien Le Pauvre

The church is one of the oldest in Paris, originating in the 6th century. It was destroyed by the Normans in 886 and after several incarnations, the present church was built around 1160. It was begun about the same time as Notre Dame, but was completed first. It only became a Melkite church in the late 1880s after a period of decline and disrepair and being a warehouse after the Revolution..

 

[RooFlyer]

Then across to Eglise St Severin. From Wikipedia:

The church took its name from Saint Séverin of Paris, a devout hermit who lived at the site in the 6th century, and died in about 540. One of his pupils was Clodoald or Saint Cloud, a Merovingian prince who quit the royal family to himself become a monk and hermit, who also later became a Saint. After the death of Severin, a chapel was erected on the site of his cell, believed to be near the oratory of Saint Martin in the present church. This chapel was destroyed during the Norman invasions in the 9th century, then rebuilt in the Romanesque style in the 11th century. Several Sarcophogi from a cemetery of the Merovingian dynasty were discovered during rebuilding on the site in the 19th century.

At the end of the 12th century, due to the popularity and growing size of the theology school attached to the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, the students and teachers were relocated to the Left Bank. The University of Paris was founded in 1215, and Saint Severin became its parish church. The fame of the university and its teachers attracted students and scholars from across Europe, and a larger church was required. Beginning in about 1230, construction began on a new building in the High Gothic style. The church was contemporary with Notre Dame de Paris and Sainte-Chapelle. An additional aisle on the south side was built in the early 14th century.

During the French Revolution the church was closed and turned into a storehouse for gunpowder, and later a storehouse for grain and for church bells, which during the period were often melted down to make cannon.[6] It was returned to the Catholic Church in 1803, but, like other Paris churches, the building is still owned by the French State, with exclusive use granted to the Catholic Church.

The nave



One of the original stained glass windows



One one of the contemporary ones



The columns in the double ambulatory date from the 15th century and are said to resemble a forest of palm trees, with the central, twisting column a feature.







The cloister, unfortunately closed was the church charnel-house and is one of the few remaining in Paris.

 

[ellen10]

Glad you got to Paris and will soon be entering Notre Dame.

I had a little play with the Notre Dame site you used, just to get a look at the procedure of booking tickets. I went on to the site about 23 minutes before the midnight release that you used. It first said 5 minutes and the wait time continually rose, it is now at 32 minutes and it is 6 minutes past midnight in Paris. So I would say you did very well to get your tickets through in just over 5 minutes. Well done!

I don't need the tickets yet, I just thought I would prepare for when when I actually wanted to book timed tickets. We will be in Paris in September, so hopefully I will have better luck then.

I will look forward to your review and photos, enjoy!

 

[henleybeach]

SQ238, departed 9:30, arrived 3:30, B777-300ER, seat 12A.

This was an SQ award flight paid for with mainly velocity FF points transferred into KrisFlyer.

What you might call a fairly typical Singapore Airlines business class flight. The crew were lovely and efficient and the meals and drinks were very good. I don’t like the seat even for a daytime flight. The seatbelt came on a few times in response to some mild turbulence but didn’t stay on for long.

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I booked the cook for lunch and had grilled prawns which came after a smoked salmon starter.

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A nice Sth Australian Riesling to go with it and cheese for afters.

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The lunch service started at about 11 am Melbourne time. At about 2 pm there was a snack and I chose the dim sum

View attachment 445828

The exact same menu from my ADL-SIN flight 3 weeks ago

 

[RooFlyer]

. It first said 5 minutes and the wait time continually rose, it is now at 32 minutes and it is 6 minutes past midnight in Paris. So I would say you did very well to get your tickets through in just over 5 minutes. Well done!

that’s interesting and very educative. I also did some practice runs before hand and the next day I actually tried to get on again to get another ticket as Insurance.

I never went on before midnight Paris time and my longest wait forecast was 10 minutes and it always reduced more quickly than that.

I’d try another couple of practice runs after midnight to see what sort of reaction you get.

As for my second attempt for an insurance ticket, after the wait and countdown, when I got on and after I entered all my details and then told me the maximum something rather had been reached. I don’t think it was tracking my IP as I was using different hotel Wi-Fi, so if anyone wants to do this I suggest to use a different name and email address.

Also, anyone who fails to get a timed ticket I suggest just needs to get there early as when they open, there is a huge volume that the cathedral can take so the line would move quickly.

 

[ellen10]

Well I finally did get through about 20 minutes after midnight but there was nothing left for the next 3 days.

It did say check back later as they release more throughout the day. But i'm not sure.
I will try another day logging on after 8am our time.

 

[love_the_life]

The exact same menu from my ADL-SIN flight 3 weeks ago

and MEL to SIN a few weeks back as well

 

[kevrosmith]

The safety video I’m talking about

In contrast, on recent EK flights, they specifically stated, “we don’t use gimmicks or celebrities… we just want to give you the safety info…”. Seemed to be staff and “regular” people in the video.

 

[kevrosmith]

If you’re planning on visiting other major (and minor) museums in Paris, the Paris Museum Pass was good value and allows ability to skip entry queues at some places. Some places still needed a booked time entry, but having the Pass sped things up in most places. It is consecutive days though, so may not suit for your trip if you’re back & forth to Paris a bit.

https://www.parismuseumpass.fr/en

And just to clarify… it’s not just Museums. Also some churches and chateaus and some a bit further out. Includes the Air & Space museum at the airport at Bourget.

(Will you be in Paris during the Air Show at all…?)

 

[RooFlyer]

If you’re planning on visiting other major (and minor) museums in Paris, the Paris Museum Pass

Thanks; mainly churches this time, but have bookmarked it for next time.

Notre Dame. I'm sure everyone is familiar with the fire and how its been re-built virtually the same. I got my entry ticket but rocked up 15 mins early (they go in 15 min slots) but there was no problem in going straight in.

Entering, the crowd was massive but moved reasonably. With the re-build, everything got a clean and it was amazing how light and 'new' looking it was - not the usual grime of centuries in these cathedrals.

The scene on entry





One of the great rose windows.



The Choir screen dating from the 14th century depicts scenes from the life of Christ. This is the Last Supper.







The reputed Crown of Thorns of Jesus Christ is housed at Notre Dame and was saved from the fire. The reliquary of the Crown of Thorns is below, but the actual crown is not visible today - otherwise in the centre of the golden circle.

 

[RooFlyer]

Items from the Treasury

Virgin and child in silver, early 19th century



The Chapter House





Crown of Thorns reliquary, housing the CoT reliquary ring; early 19th century



Reliquary statues, 18th century



Reliquary bust of St Denis, first Bishop of Paris



Bust of St Louis, Louis XIV,

 

[RooFlyer]

More of the Choir screen, SW side







The nave is incredibly light and bright

 

[RooFlyer]

Outside, I was a bit surprised at the amount of scaffolding still around, and the cranes. Ugh. sorry about the date stamps; only just noticed I had selected that in error.





Love a good gargoyle and grotesques













The famous flying buttreses



Top of the new spire

 

[RooFlyer]

I was really looking forward to visiting the Musée de Cluny, or the Museum of the Middle Ages (hat tip to @TheRealTMA for pointing it out). Unfortunately a lot of the galleries were not open, so they gave us a 'discount from E12 to E10 (!). Nevertheless, some treasures on display.

The museum building consists of two main parts - a 3rd century Roman frigidarium and the late 15th century Hôtel de Cluny.

The Frigidarium - the cold bath house, with its internal facing stone removed, showing the original structure





One of the museum's treasures is the collections of the heads of the Kings of Judea, originally on the Notre Dame cathedral, but removed during the French Revolution.







The other building is the Hôtel de Cluny - wikipedia

The Hôtel de Cluny is a rare extant example of the civic architecture of medieval Paris, erected in the late 15th century to replace an earlier structure built by Pierre de Chaslus after the Cluny Abbey acquired the ancient Roman baths in 1340. At that time, the mansion was part of a larger complex that also included a religious college (French: Collège de Cluny, no longer extant) on the location of the present-day place de la Sorbonne.

The Cluny mansion was rebuilt under Jacques d'Amboise, abbot in commendam of Cluny 1485–1510, combining Gothic and some early Renaissance elements. D'Amboise used it while also Bishop of Clermont and Abbot of Jumièges. Later users included Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII of England, who resided there in 1515, after the death of her husband Louis XII; James V of Scotland in 1537, on the occasion of his wedding with Madeleine of Valois; and several 17th-century papal nuncios, including Mazarin. In the 18th century, the tower of the Hôtel de Cluny was used as an observatory by astronomers Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, Jérôme Lalande, and Charles Messier who in 1771, published his observations in the Messier catalog. The chapel also housed the printing press of Nicolas-Léger Moutard, official printer of the Queen of France from 1774 to 1792.[6] During the French Revolution in 1789, the mansion was confiscated by the state, and for the next three decades served various purposes, including the use of the former Abbots' chapel as a dissection room.

In December 1832, archeologist and art collector Alexandre Du Sommerard bought the Hôtel de Cluny and used it to display his large collection of medieval and Renaissance objects. Upon his death in 1842, the collection was purchased by the French state. The building was opened as a museum in 1843.