Just one more flight to get to Paris. At first sight, an anecdotal flight, but one that will certainly demonstrate the inconsistency in the way sanitary measures are implemented.
For the record, all the articles relating to this stay in Gothenburg.
- Hilton Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport – Executive Room
- Paris-Frankfurt, Lufthansa Business Class
- Frankfurt-Gothenburg, Lufthansa Business Class
- Restaurant VRÅ, Gothenburg
- Clarion Hotel Post, Standard Double Room
- Restaurant Koka, Gothenburg
- Radisson Blue Scandinavia – Junior Suite
- Restaurant Natur, Gothenburg
- Upper House Gothenburg – Deluxe Suite
- Restaurant l’Atelier Gothenburg
- Gothenburg-Frankfurt, Lufthansa Business Class
- Frankfurt-Paris, Lufthansa Business Class ( here)
Ground course and lounge in Frankfurt
Arriving in Frankfurt from Gothenburg, I had to walk a little along the famous tunnel that leads to Gate A, from which my flight to Paris departs.
With a little time to kill, I went to the Senator lounge. This is where the joke begins.
To say the least, the lounge is…empty. Almost as much as the airport. In comparison, Gothenburg Landvetter looked like an international hub! And, of course, there’s no service on offer “due to sanitary constraints”, and it’s forbidden to consume anything there, not even a bottle of water.
A snack is provided but, as on the outward journey, at the lounge exit. So I’ll stay a little over an hour watching series on my iPad in the deserted lounge before thinking I’ll have something to eat.
So I head for the exit of the lounge, where I’m handed the much sought-after grail: a small sandwich, a large breztel and a bottle of water. But where to enjoy this delicious gift? Well, the question is quickly answered: as it is forbidden to eat in the airport’s restaurants, bars and lounges, we find refuge…in the terminal.
I reach my boarding gate to realize that people are crowding the counters of bars, restaurants and other take-away stands to buy lunch.
And so I end up doing everyone else: I sit down in the gate waiting area near a table where I can finally enjoy my lunch.
I’ll leave you to imagine the scene: hundreds of passengers seated in an improvised restaurant area, with no masks, no respect for distances… all because they’re not allowed to eat in the bars, restaurants and lounges, where the tables could be kept far enough apart.
But obviously, in this “neutral” zone, no one is responsible, so everything’s fine and no one finds fault with these wild picnic areas.
I find this frankly ridiculous. Either sales and consumption in the terminal are banned altogether, or they are allowed and made to take place under the best possible conditions, but this in-between time looks like absolutely nothing, and passengers laugh about it among themselves. Needless to say, everyone takes the time to eat, finish their drinks, or even buy something else to drink to put off putting their masks back on as long as possible!
If for “Monsieur Fernand” one should never leave Montauban, then in these strange times one should never leave Gothenburg.
From a distance I keep an eye on the gate where no one is in a hurry.
Finally our A319 arrives and we can board.
Boarding in Frankfurt
We still manage to board the plane 15 minutes late. Priorities are respected and I’m the first to step into the jetway leading to the aircraft.
This time there were no kind words written by the crew on the plane door.
The steward who greets us as we enter the aircraft winks at me as he looks at the “tags” on my suitcase. “Ah, you’re multi-alliance! But you’re missing a OneWorld”. I smile back, or at least I try to with the mask on.
The business cabin of the Lufthansa A319
Nothing but classic, with a leather Nek seat that I like despite its lack of thickness, which is quickly forgotten.
There will be 3 rows of business class on this flight.
Lufthansa still offers a very attractive pitch in business on medium-haul routes.
It’s finally time to leave. The 15 minutes’ delay will have been made up and we’ll leave the gate on time.
The flight and the service
On the bright side: in these times of pandemics, Frankfurt has very short turnaround times!
We’re soon airborne, flying high over the German countryside.
A change in service protocol from “Before the Covid”: a bottle of water is brought right away.
Then come the meal trays.
I find that the quantities of business class meal trays have decreased significantly since “before COVID”. but it’s good, done, with lots of taste.
The charcuterie is good and the vegetables very well seasoned, unlike the bland burata served on departure from Gothenburg.
The dessert, a cream with a red fruit coulis, will be light and glide along on its own.
I’ll accompany it with a glass of wine. I will get two refills before arriving in Paris before finishing with tea.
A short and pleasant flight. In the distance, the sun is setting in this month of November.
The engine nacelle deserves a lick of paint!
Lufthansa staff
On such short flights, staff don’t have much opportunity to stand out. Or, to be more precise, it has very little to do, but if it does it badly, it has the opportunity to be noticed badly!
Between the steward’s wink at boarding and the fast, efficient service, I have nothing to complain about. As is often the case with Lufthansale, the “soft product” is very consistent and holds no surprises.
Oh yes! As is often the case, the staff will make the effort to speak to me in French.
L’arrivée à Paris
The skies around Paris are clear and we’re quickly on final approach. I love the reflection of the sun on the aircraft during sunset landings, especially in winter sunshine.
Roissy, a dreary plain!
A very short drive to an almost empty terminal 2C.
As the 2C is not designed to differentiate between Shengen and non-Schengen lanes, we have to go through a border control. Given the queue, a jumbo jet must have arrived shortly before without my noticing it, and unsurprisingly the border police is undersized! Fortunately, there’s hardly anyone in the “accès numero 1” priority queue.
A few people in the terminal, but nothing like the normal crowds on a Sunday at 6pm!
Bottom line
A totally uneventful flight, but an experience tarnished by the experience on the ground.
On the one hand, in Frankfurt, the ban on eating in lounges and restaurants has led passengers to improvise picnic areas in the boarding areas, while on the other, police checks have been carried out in a terminal not designed to handle Schengen flights.
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