A flight a day ...

[JessicaTam]

Will be interesting to see if we get bears with two kids when we travel in September.

Bears or glares!

 

[JessicaTam]

I am now sitting in the Sakura Lounge in FRA waiting for my quick flit over the channel and back to NCE.

The SIN-JFK and JFK-FRA were both great with terrific crews. I will be providing feedback. I swear the FAs have a sixth sense. I woke up about two hours before landing in FRA and was just moving to sit up a bit when a FA appeared at my shoulder asking if I would like breakfast. And yes the cabin was completely dark.

The flight to FRA was on a 777. I was expecting a 380. So hopefully I will get that on the way back to SIN next week. That will also give me the opportunity to compare all 3 J seats. So far I prefer the 777 over the 350. The nook for my feet is slightly bigger on the 777, making it slightly easier to sleep on my left side. I had to lie on my right on the 350 as the foot nook is a little too small to lie the other way.

I'll have these seats back anytime, thanks.


That being said, it was still comfortable and I managed to sleep well enough.

 

[TomVexille]

Bears or glares!

Why not both?

 

[AIRwin]

The flight to FRA was on a 777. I was expecting a 380. So hopefully I will get that on the way back to SIN next week.

I believe the A380 has now been redeployed to MEL ironically?

No more SQ Suites to Frankfurt

First World problem - but we were super excited to be coming back from Europe in August next year in a Singapore Suite. Seems the Airbus is being replaced by the 777-300ER on this route. I wouldn't have forked out for Advantage fares for the regular first class offering, but guess we are stuck...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[JessicaTam]

I believe the A380 has now been redeployed to MEL ironically?

No more SQ Suites to Frankfurt

First World problem - but we were super excited to be coming back from Europe in August next year in a Singapore Suite. Seems the Airbus is being replaced by the 777-300ER on this route. I wouldn't have forked out for Advantage fares for the regular first class offering, but guess we are stuck...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Oh well, so much for that idea!

 

[blackcat20]

Why not both?

It cant be any worse than our LA flight

 

[JessicaTam]

I had to head to LHR to pick up two more ~.

So after a delightful lunch of sweet corn chowder with a glass of champagne


And tarragon chicken with a 2010 Bordeaux


I chose to finish off the meal with a classic vodka martini

 

[JessicaTam]

I may not have consumed the cost of the flights, but I gave it a good shot.

 

[SYD]

I may not have consumed the cost of the flights, but I gave it a good shot.

I suspect a few peeps here are wondering what squiggles (“~”) are since QF enhanced them off the system several years ago. Without fanfare I might add!

 

[Quickstatus]

Miss Tomcat has been given bears on all her SQ flights to date

No bears on the 351 Bus and only one kid on this bus
Will try on the next Bus

 

[JessicaTam]

Well that was interesting. After a very pleasant lunch in the CCR I went to head to the gate - except there wasn't a gate. That didn't show up until 10 minutes before boarding. So I headed to gate 18 to find that the plane had arrived but was still being cleaned. We boarded about 30 minutes after we should have left and then waited. And waited.

French ATC had put restrictions on flights arriving at NCE due to the number of them (lots of private jets!). It was another hours before we taxied and made it into the air. Fortunately there was just enough light to make out the coast as we landed. I caught a cab into town as I had just missed the tram and met up with @Flashback and Mrs Flashback. We headed out for dinner at ten o'clock! Pizza D'Or was around the corner and it certainly filled the spot after a long day! PIZZA D'OR - 34 ave Georges Clémenceau, Nice, France - Yelp

 

[JessicaTam]

Friday and my first day at the track. I headed to the train station early to find there was a queue.


Actually it was the queue to get to the next queue.


Things moved pretty well and soon I was on the train. It was about 20 minutes before we headed off. The trip along the coast was spectacular. I was in an aisle seat so no pictures.

Monte Carlo was very well organised. I found where to collect my tickets and there was of course another queue. But this one only had three people in it!

I headed to find my seat before going for a wander to buy the obligatory very expensive team shirt, and not so expensive lunch.

My view from stand K3. For those who know the track, the swimming pool is at the far right of the stand.

 

[JessicaTam]

I got back in plenty of time to watch FP1 and it was possible to see the tops of the cars head up the hill at the start of the track before they made their way back to in-front of us. You can sort of make out the ramp at the far left of the pic in the last post.

The session was red flagged with three minutes to go so I figured it would not restart and headed out. I beat the bulk of the foot traffic and made it back to the station to be in a good spot to board. I got chatting to a Nice local who had gone to Monte Carlo for the day - just for the atmosphere. She reckoned the locals were not too happy with all the tourists as the track is in place for three weekends of various codes. We both agreed that the tourists are what provides much of their countries income!

 

[JessicaTam]

I suspect a few peeps here are wondering what squiggles (“~”) are since QF enhanced them off the system several years ago. Without fanfare I might add!

To gain status with BA you need to fly at least four times with them or a BA codeshare. Hence the four ~s. Heading LHR-NCE-LHR in Y ticked off the last couple for me.

 

[JessicaTam]

The train travel from Nice to the track was well organised. Queues to make sure boarding was orderly, and they only let enough people onto the platform who could fit on one train at a time.

I had a different seat for that race and was opposite the pits with a bit of a view of the track below it. The view of the pits was much better than usual as there wasn’t the high wall between it and me.

 

[JessicaTam]

I enjoyed the race although until the rain it was a bit processional. Great to see the action in the pits even though they are in and out so quickly.

 

[JessicaTam]

@Flashback hired a car on Saturday so we went for a tour of the mountains. Lots of windy roads, but some spectacular views.



And if anyone wants a recommendation for pizza, Pizza d’Or in Nice is cheap and cheerful and great quality.

 

[JessicaTam]

A relaxed departure from Nice on the 1000 train to Paris, that would give me an hour or so to make the 1710 to Frankfurt with a change from Gare de Lyon to Gare de l’Est via the Metro - easy.

I do like European trains (have I mentioned that before?) and was happy to spend the day watching the world go by. With all the troubles BA was having this week I am actually glad to avoid that headache.

One day AU will catch up - or not!

 

[JessicaTam]

Wifi on the trains was not bad but a bit patchy at times. Flying SQ J also gave free wifi which worked most of the time. Nothing free on BA - £4.99 as a starter so I didn’t bother. I will see what AA has to offer later this week. I know QR is good - I once dialled into an AFF mod meeting using it.

 

[RooFlyer]

With all the troubles BA was having this week

What's up? Haven't heard.