This flight between Paris and Bordeaux on Air France is a reflection of what the airline’s short-haul service has become: bland. No complaints, but nothing to get excited about either, apart from, for once, a more human crew than we’re used to.

It’s time to leave Paris for my destination, Bordeaux. Why plane instead of train? For reasons of convenience, because I find it more pleasant to be in the air than on the ground, and because I find it hard to give a single euro to this public money pump called SNCF for the little it gives us in return. It’s not because we don’t appreciate a good train, as you’ve seen and will see in the future in our train travel reviews.

What’s more, since I wanted to try out the brand-new Sheraton Mérignac, it was in my interest to arrive at the airport rather than the train station.

Oh, I forgot! In these times of recurring strikes I was less likely to have my trip cancelled if I traveled by plane than by train (thank you SNCF for cancelling my last Christmas Eve, by the way…) and if I’d found a schedule that suited me I’d have had no problem getting to Bordeaux via Frankfurt, Munich or Zurich.

You’ll find all the articles about this Bordeaux getaway at the bottom of the page.

Booking

Economy flight booked for 173 euros, about the same price as the SNCF. With almost no service at all, I might as well go for the least time-consuming option.

Check-in

I try to check-in several times the day before my departure but in vain. Air France reports that some of its online services are dysfunctional, and this must be the cause.

I finally managed to do it the night before, but I couldn’t add my digital boarding pass to my iPhone. One more bug. I’ll settle for the PDF version I received by email.

Ground experience

I arrive at the airport by CDGVal from the Moxy hotel a good two hours before my flight. I’m glad to be back on the path to 2F, a place I now only visit occasionally.

There’s hardly anyone at priority security checkpoints, and the staff will be adorable. For once, we’ll even take the time to chat and have a few jokes with the security staff.

I head for the Air France lounge.

I scan my boarding pass to get in and settle in. Nothing to say, it’s infinitely nicer and more pleasant than the former lounges that occupied the 2F’s two peninsulas.

There are plenty of areas to enjoy the lounge in your own way, whether you’re dining, relaxing, working, with friends or on your own, but I’ll be content to stay on the 1st floor.

The food and beverage offer is spread out over a number of “islets” to avoid large crowds and long waits.

It’s late morning and the breakfast service is still in place. Really not that exciting.

I really miss the much less attractive Lufthansa lounge in T1, which offers a much wider range of products.

The spirits offer is in place, but not yet champagne.

The range of soft drinks is decent, with all the basics, but I regret that water is no longer served in bottles but by the glass from the fountain. For me, a very heavy consumer of sparkling water, given the size of the glasses, I have to return to help myself at least every 10 minutes.

What’s more, the sparkling water will be…barely sparkling.

I have mixed feelings. This lounge is really beautiful and an undeniable improvement on the old ones, but I just can’t get comfortable in it. In fact, if I’ve never managed to write a full article dedicated to this lounge, there must be a reason.

It’s hard to find a seat that suits me, it’s really crowded and I’m wondering whether the desire to give people more space isn’t being done to the detriment of capacity. Is it really higher than the combined capacity of the two former lounges, which were often full? I don’t know, but if it is, it doesn’t show.

A few glasses of water later, I head for the gate…

You can see the 2F’s characteristic architecture.

On the other hand, comfort is still deplorable. When the sun hits the glass structure the temperature quickly reaches uncomfortable levels that the air-conditioning doesn’t compensate for and I wonder how anyone could have thought that the width of the aisles would allow the queues of people waiting to board to coexist with those trying to reach their gate.

In a nutshell: reaching my gate is a happy mess.

Boarding

I see the inbound flight disembarking at 11.10am… I think it’s going to be hard to board at 20!

Bingo! Boarding is delayed by 30 minutes! This is one of the things that annoys me: the delay has been known for at least 45 minutes! Why not announce it beforehand?

Finally, much to my surprise, priority boarding began at 11:30 a.m….. only to have us wait for 10 minutes in the heat of the jetway!

I’m finally on board at 11:40.

The cabin

It’s hard to take decent photos when a horde of passengers are suddenly released to enter the aircraft.

It’s my favorite Air France medium-haul seat, leather, comfortable, plush, even if the leather is a little worn.

Legroom is good.

Boarding takes a long time, but the crew is very active and takes the time to talk to passengers and look after them. It’s a change from the automatons of my last flights.

But it’s so long…

We’re told the flight will be delayed due to air traffic control constraints…we haven’t finished boarding everyone anyway.

It’s 12.25pm and we’re still missing passengers from Pointe à Pitre and some luggage…

Boarding will end at 12.35pm and we will leave the gate at 12.45pm, i.e. an hour late.

We’re still waiting for an apology…

The flight

Service begins shortly after takeoff. Bizarre protocol: it starts from the middle of the cabin, with one cart going up and the other going down. As a result, passengers in the front of Economy class, who are generally the most “high-status” travelers in this class, are served last.

No surprises here: a drink and a galette.

Connoisseurs will recognize the Liaison series starring Eva Green and Vincent Cassel (Apple TV+).

Given the amount of coffee I’ve been served, there’s no risk of my cup overflowing in case of turbulence!

The start of the descent is announced.

The service

Don’t expect much from this type of flight. But at least the crew were pleasant and friendly during boarding. On the other hand, they reverted to their mute, inexpressive automaton mode during the flight.

Arrival and disembarkation

The approach to Bordeaux is one of my favorites, with a beautiful view of the city. Unfortunately, this time we’ll be doing a loop to land facing north, something very rare at Mérignac.

So much for the view, which is far less inspiring.

We land and taxi to Hall A, as Hall B, where Air France usually operates, is still closed for renovation. At least we’re at the gate, which is much nicer than parking at a remote stand, as was the case during my last stay here.

On the other hand, the journey to the airport exit will not be the most pleasant: how could one have designed a terminal where you have to go up and down stairs several times, knowing that people often have suitcases as hand luggage! Stupid.

Bottom line

You shouldn’t expect much from a 50-minute domestic flight. As long as nothing goes wrong, everything goes well.

I was even pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of the crew during boarding, which I wasn’t used to any more. In flight, however, it remains cold and bland. Of course, the length of the flight doesn’t help, but I remember when I used to fly this route several times a week for several years, and I felt more enjoyment and attention from the crew.

I won’t agree with those who say that on short/medium-haul routes there’s no longer any difference between Air France in Economy and easyJet….there are plenty of differences, and these are the ones that count for me (cabin baggage size, lounge, etc.). But frankly, when it comes to in-flight service, between nothing and a good Buy On Board…

And the crew can no longer make a difference.

And I’ll have to look in my archives for the last time I took an Air France short or medium-haul flight that boarded on time and took the expected time to board.

Articles on this Bordeaux getaway

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