Paris CDG VIP Fast Track "La Conciergerie" Review

Although the general public may not be aware of it, Paris airports offer personalized services to assist premium customers. As with all Premium services, "La Conciergerie" comes with different levels of service: VIP Fast Track, VIP Premium & VIP Ultimate.

I recently had the chance to try their VIP Fast-Track Departure service and must say I was quite impressed and happy with it. Upon our arrival at CDG, I called the Concierge number that had been texted to me while I was on my way to the airport. A few minutes later, our concierge showed up at the entrance of the 2E terminal. She accompanied us to the Air France First Class checkin counter (we were flying Economy, I am a Flying Blue Platinum member) and handed our passports & frequent flyer cards directly to the checkin agent. Two minutes later, we were already on our way to security through shortcuts that are not accessible to the general public and that are faster than the regular fast-track lanes labeled "Acces No1" for premium passengers.

Le Camion Qui Fume - Food Truck - Paris

Making a close to perfect burger requires two major skills: humility and method. Kristin Frederick (pictured above), the chef behind "Le Camion Qui Fume" (The Smoking Truck), is gifted with both.

Humility is essential when it comes to burgers because no matter how talented a chef you are, you have to recognize that the best burger can only be a classic burger. It is thus essential to feature it in your menu no matter how fancy, smart or inventive you think you are.

La Cantoche de Paname - Paris

As many scientific breakthroughs are the results of random acts, it only seems logical to conclude that the same rule must apply to the Art of Burger. In their almighty Cheddarness, it seems that the Burger Gods deemed me worthy of witnessing such an occurrence. Or maybe they wanted to balance the forces of Cheddarness for the better as my lunch at Blend Hamburger on the same day had been a bit disappointing.

Blend Hamburger - Paris

Blend Hamburger opened less than a month ago. If you believe the hype (and there are enough famous songs advising you not too), this burger joint is rumored to be The place to have a great hamburger in Paris. It hence won't come as a surprise that the wait to be seated is rather long.

Air France A380 Business Class Review: From Paris to New York

Flying aboard the A380 has finally become a reality for me and although this A380 review is not the first one in its category, the flyertalker in me had to do it! So, here is my experience flying aboard AF6 from one airport named after a French president to another airport named after an American president.

As you can see in the picture above, the A380 is huge!

There are three jetways for boarding: two for the lower deck and one for the upper deck. The one closest to the cockpit is for First Class passengers. The configuration is as follows:

- Lower deck: First class in the front and then Economy all the way to the back of the plane
- Upper deck: Business Class in the front and Economy all the way to the back of the plane

This is a view from the jetway to the upper deck:

View from the upper deck business class cabin:

View of the inside of the business class cabin. Nothing new in the implementation of this business class compared to other planes besides the change from the color blue to brown for the seats. The A380 doesn't feature the latest business class seats introduced by Air France last year.

Note sure if the colors are accurate on this picture: the seats are brown instead of the usual blue:

Champagne as a preflight drink. Why can't they fill the glasses a bit more?

Starters: foie gras & shrimps

 

Main course: chicken fillet. This was good but my first choice of main course was Truffle Taglioni. They had unfortunately run out of them when they got to my seat.

The Mezzanine: located all the way in the front of the upper deck. This is a huge waste of space in my opinion. Three screens where you can view artwork or whatever the inflight entertainment system is showing whenever/if it is actually working. Why don't they make it a full bar?

Staircase to the lower deck at the back of the upper deck:

Inflight Entertainment System: in addition to the usual audio/video offerings, you can see live videos from the plane with three different cameras: one in the front, another one in the tail and the last one underneath this big bird! However, the system had to be rebooted for the first three hours of my flight before it finally worked. Nothing was available until then: no movies, no music. In general, the system offers many choices of on-demand videos but it is very slow and feels unresponsive. The old Inflight Entertainment System on Delta, though less sophisticated, is at least snappy which feels great in terms of user experience.

All in all, I was amazed by the quietness of the A380 even during take-off and landing. The downside to it is that you can hear passengers snoring two rows behind you and you realize how noisy business class seats can be when electric motors are in action. Another issue was service. Although the crew was very nice and attentive, it seemed they were overwhelmed by the amount of passengers in the business class cabin. It took more than an hour and half for service to begin. If you add that to the two hour delay before take-off on this particular day, I ended up eating lunch at 5:30pm after feeling famished for almost an hour!

Fine Dining: L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon Paris Etoile - Review

As I had never eaten at any of Joël Robuchon's restaurants, I decided to take advantage of my week-end stay in Paris to eat at the recently opened Atelier de Joël Robuchon Etoile located right on the famous Champs-Elysées Avenue in Paris. Even though this restaurant opened its doors only six months ago (December 2010), it has already earned two Michelin stars, hence achieving the same recognition than the original Atelier located rue de Montalembert.

Though the place is dark, its minimalist decoration give it an Asian touch and it's probably no coincidence that the chef is Japanese. The menu is not the same than at its sister location, though some dishes can be found in both establishments.

In addition, I must say that Robuchon's idea of eating at the bar in a more relaxed setting than what is usually experienced in top restaurants is great. Our waiter was very nice, knowledgeable and we interacted a lot more with him while sitting at the bar than at any other Michelin starred restaurant. I thought that added an even more positive note to the overall experience. As for the food, I must say this was one of the finest meals I have experienced and in my honorable opinion, it undoubtedly beats the meal I had at Auberge de L'Ill in Alsace last week. Not only were the preparation perfectly executed but they were also creative, original and sublime. My taste buds are still in awe two hours after leaving the table! Here are the dishes we got to try and I can only advise every single one of you to try them out on you own:

Amuse bouche: Lemon & Basil & Tapenade Jelly:

Sea Urchin on a spicy carrot jelly topped by a gold leaf:

Caviar with smoked salmon dices on a soft-boiled egg (the highlight of my meal):

Lobster with asparagus and morels:

Duck Foie Gras with almond stuffed cherries:

John Dory with coconut milk and coriander:

Quail with Robuchon's signature mashed potatoes:

Mango Mango dessert:

Red fruit sorbet with carambar cream:

Disneyland Paris - New York Hotel

My wife, daughter and I went to Disneyland Paris last week-end. We did enjoy our stay and had great time there!

We got there at 1 am for our first, and obviously very short, night at the Holiday Inn Hotel at Disneyland Paris. We had booked a regular room, and probably thanks to my Priority Club Platinum status, were upgraded to a kids' suite which was rather big with a small separate room for our daughter. The buffet breakfast included in the rate was good and we must say that for less than 200 euros for the night, this was a pretty good deal.

After that breakfast, we checked out and drove 2 mins to reach the New York Hotel. We were stopped at the gate and asked if we had a reservation. As we said yes, the employee that had stopped us checked on a list and said "Oh, you have a suite. Put this card on your dashboard so that they will know when you get to the main entrance". We did but didn't feel anybody had noticed this rather huge card showing the hotel logo.

As it was 8 am, there was no wait to check in. We went to the main check-in area. They couldn't find our reservation but soon realized that this was due to the fact that we were staying in a suite and actually had to check in at the "Empire State Club". So we went there and were welcome by 2 gentlemen who proceeded with our personal check-in. Our room was not ready yet (we had to wait until 3 pm to check-in and check-out was at 11 am on our departure day).

We recevied our park tickets and VIP Fast Passes which allowed us to use the Fastpass lanes on a bunch of rides. The fastpass lane allows people to get to the ride in advance, register and get a time slow at which they can return in order to use the Fastpass lane. The great thing about the VIP Fastpasses (that only people staying in suites or at the Castle Club at the Disneyland Hotel receive) is that you don't have to register in advance and thus can use any fastpass lane whenever you want (from 11 am until 2 hours before the parks close) and as many times as you want. We really thought this was a great perk as it saved us a lot of time.

As for our room, I wouldn't say it was magnificent but it was quite decent and spacious. When we got there, we found a note from the general manager welcoming us, a picture frame, a gift for our daughter as well as half a bottle of champagne on ice.

This was nice! Breakfast for suite guests is served in the Empire State Club lounge and Disney characters come and go during breakfast hours which makes for a great and personal encounter with them for children!

We had also booked a lunch at the "Auberge de Cendrillon". It was great fun as our daughter had the opportunity to talk to Cinderella, Snow White & Sleeping Beauty. She even danced with them and was thrilled by the experience!

All in all a wonderful week-end and we can't wait to go back!

Dinner At White Room - Maison Blanche in Paris (France)

I recently went to White Room - Maison Blanche in Paris to have dinner.

I must say I was impressed with the place and the magnificent view of Paris it offers! The settings was definitely in accordance with my taste and the food excellent.

The only thing that they could improve is the olives they use for their dry Martinis!

After dinner on week-ends, the main restaurant is transformed into a night-club and I must say I had a blast there!

This place is a must-go if you're in Paris!

http://www.maison-blanche.fr/