Seven Weeks Away – Reims day 1 (or one and a half…)

This trip is really pushing the boundaries of my blog title – seven and a half weeks away, which is at the same time scary and exciting!

I’m in Reims, France right now, finishing off Day 1 of this trip. More on that later though, as I’ve been told in no uncertain terms I MUST blog about the trip over. 

I’d booked the flights for this trip on Etihad, with Virgin points. Haven’t flown them before, but they just started flying from Perth a few weeks ago, and are cheaper than Singapore. One of the perks of business class with them, even on points, is that you get a chauffeur pickup, which is lovely, and makes sure you get to the airport nice and early! 

One of the other perks of being there nice and early was that a staff member pulled me aside and asked me if I wanted to pay to upgrade to First, since they had a plane change and it had First on it, which this flight won’t be doing regularly. $720. I thought about it for about three seconds and whipped out the credit card. Woohoo! 

After about half an hour of the staff wrestling with the computer (at one point there were four of them), I had the boarding pass for 1A in my hot little hand. Ahhh… “suite”!

Unfortunately this didn’t expand the lounge offering – Etihad are using the Qantas international lounge in Perth, and it’s pretty lacklustre in terms of the food and drink offerings. I had a glass of Seppelt bubbles, and then decided to save myself for the plane, as there’d definitely be some French bubbly on board. I’m glad I did have a couple of corn thins with cheese though, as there was a delay… apparently caused by a bunch of travel agents being shown through the plane since they won’t be using this one often and otherwise they wouldn’t get a chance! 

Eventually we were let on board, and those of us who had taken up the offer of the paid upgrade were busy exploring our new surroundings. I had a chat with the couple next to me, who were heading back to the UK to visit family, and they had the centre two suites, that can be converted by the use of a drop-down screen in the middle, to a large “couple” room!

These “suites” basically give you double the space of a business class lie-flat seat, if not a bit more, plus there’s a screen for lots of privacy. The tv is much bigger, as is the table, and there’s a footrest on the other side of the table, so you can apparently “invite someone to dine with you”!

There was a little gift box with two choccies in it to welcome us aboard, and it took about three minutes for our first drink orders to be taken. The bubbly didn’t disappoint – a white and a rose, and both were pretty tasty. We were also given pyjamas and slippers, which were pretty swish! 

After more delays, we eventually took off about an hour late, but we were supposed to make up the time in flight, which we did. 

Dinner was the next experience – wow! Our personal chef came around to discuss food with us, and would make dishes on request. I didn’t go that far, but ordered the crusted seared tuna and the special of the day, a lamb dish. There was also an amuse bouche of smoked salmon, asparagus and creme fraiche, then appetiser of Middle Eastern dips. After entree, there was even a palate cleanser of sorbet!

Again, lots of choices for dessert, and it looked like they had run out of my first choice, the cardamom and orange flower flavoured rice pudding, so I was given a quartet of tasting desserts. I’d had a bit of that (they were okay) and our chef du jour came back with a rice pudding he’d scavenged from Business class, so I ended up with what I wanted after all – and woah, was it worth it!

After this dining experience, it was time to don the comfy pyjamas and get some shut-eye. Unfortunately at this point, the turbulence started… and kept up for most of the 6 hours we still had to go. I have to say, turbulence is still pretty bouncy in the pointy end as well as the rest of the plane! There were a few of us looking a bit green by the time we were nearing Abu Dhabi, and our lovely attendant was very concerned, bringing me ginger ale even though they’d locked everything up for landing. 

Luckily, I managed to make it through without seeing if the airsick bags in First were any different to those anywhere else, but my churning insides meant I wasn’t able to appreciate the first class lounge in Abu Dhabi. I took advantage of the showers in the Six Senses Spa (huge, great sandstone panelling, awesome rainshower, nice amenities) and ordered a ginger tea, but that was it. There’s a huge bar there, and a la carte dining, rather than the scungy toasted sandwiches and limp salads I’m used to in Australian lounges! Never mind, next time…

Feeling a bit more human after the tea and shower, I headed out to the gate to catch the next flight, to Paris. Back in Biz for this one, which seems really small after the private expanse of the suites! At least it’s still lie-flat seats though, and Etihad have these amazingly snuggly blankets – something that feels like silk on one side, backed with a plush velvety fabric. Sooooo good! If I could have fitted one into my carryon… Maybe on the way back? 😉

After a two hour delay (waiting for passengers and then their luggage from a delayed flight from Vietnam – argh!) we eventually took off, landing only an hour late in Paris. The staff in Biz were attentive, but not quite the same level of personal service that we had from Ricky and the team in First. They did locate my GF food order without me having to mention it, though, and the omelette with vegies after a fruit starter for breakfast was just what I needed. I did manage to sleep for more of this flight, too, thanks to very little turbulence.

We arrived in CDG with a bit of excitement – a guy in the cabin behind had been taken ill and was being given oxygen, meaning we were delayed disembarking while he was taken care of. Another strange occurrence was that there were four police people at the gate, checking all our passports as we left the plane. Not sure whether that’s normal, but it certainly all seemed a bit strange.

Collecting bags was a bit of a zoo, but I found mine quickly and headed off to look for signs to get to the train station. I was heading straight from Paris to Reims, half an hour by the fast train from the airport. Speaking of, CDG is huge, and had huuuuuge queues of people waiting to check in – thousands and thousands. Wow.

I had to run the gauntlet of the whole airport to get to the train, but things were pretty self-explanatory once I got there. Look at the tv screens to find your train’s platform, and go out there once it’s put up. I had my first incidence for the day of my fabulous ability to blend in – I had someone ask me for directions (in French), to which I shrugged and “je ne parle francais…”

The train was pretty empty, and made good time through the countryside to Reims. The hotel is only about 10 mins walk from the train station, but takes a bit longer dragging bags. Lucky for me, my room was ready early, so I was able to go throw my things around and have a shower – it’s quite warm here, and dragging those bags was a sweat-inducing experience! 

I’m staying at the Holiday Inn, since I was status matched to platinum with IHG this year and I wanted to see what the perks were. So far I think my early checkin is about it, plus a drinks voucher for any level of IHG member. The room is quite large, but has a musty smell. I just found out I can open one of the windows though, which is letting some fresh air in. The room doesn’t have any tea/coffee mugs, even though there is a kettle – it’s takeaway-style cardboard only! Seems a bit weird, since everything else is up to scratch. 

The hotel staff member who checked me in recommended that I go up to Mumm champagne cellars today, as they’re quite close, only about 15-20 mins walk from the hotel. They also have a discount voucher for Mumm tours, so I was happy to do that, and she rang up and booked me in. 

After freshening up, I hit the town, wandering around taking in some of the sights. The Cathedral is pretty amazing, and I was asked for directions again in French, which I wasn’t able to help with again! 🙂

I found a Monoprix supermarket which has some gluten free bits and pieces, and cheese is so cheap! I grabbed a 200g camembert for 1.20 euro! Home brand, but it’s “real”, and comes in the wooden box thingy, too!

Next stop, bubbles. I was running early, so walked around a bit more before getting to Mumm. The tour includes information about how they make champagne, and a tour of the chalk caves, or cellars that the wine is aged in, as it’s a constant 10C all year round. Lots of stairs, but not too bad. 

After the tour we had our tastings. It seems I was the only one who booked for the “excellence” tasting, which included the rose and the white 2006 vintage. Most of the group just had a glass of the Cordon Rouge. I did like my two, but they went straight to my head, since I hadn’t eaten since breakfast on the plane at 7am, and it was now close to 4pm!

I managed to say no to the gift shop and wandered past another supermarket to stock up on water, more cheese, and a cheaper bottle of bubbles…

I’ve been hit with jet lag (or just tiredness from lack of sleep) and am tempted to have a *really* early night, but I might try to stay up ’til a reasonable time by at least checking out the terrace bar and restaurant upstairs, which according to the sign in reception, promises champagne and whisky (wish R was with me, as we’d both be happy!) Although given 8.30pm is as light as it is at about 4pm at home at the moment, sleep cycle adjustment might be tricky!