Lift off

Days 1-2 - Travelling

October 1 – Melbourne:

Weather – Clear and warm 22C

Home and Melbourne Airport

The flights to Paris via Dubai were scheduled to depart at 9:15pm so the vast majority of the day was spent in a mad rush, running last minute errands, cleaning the house in preparation for the house sitters and finally packing our bags for the trip. We started well with an early breakfast from the new café, Peach, just across the road from us. We’ve been spending a bit of time there and it was nice to start there on our final day. The day itself was a postcard day for Melbourne in the spring. A warm and sunny 22C, the Cherry tree out the front was in full bloom, and with our newly completed fence, the house was looking pretty good. So good you almost didn’t want to leave. I said almost. Anyway, with late flights that gave us some time to finish everything off, Jo arrived around 3pm with some food, which was great as we had completely cleaned out the fridge before the house sitters come on the 11^th Oct. Taz had volunteered to drive us to the airport, and so he arrived around 5:30. The plan was to get to the airport about 6ish and then check in and through to the Qantas Lounge as Katie had some passes.

Unfortunately, check in took a long time, and boarding actually started at 8:25pm so we only had about 40mins in the lounge. Enough time to make a toastie, have a celebratory glass of something with bubbles in it, and for me to have a shower. I always like to start a long trip clean. And lugging bags around an airport gets you sweaty, so it was nice to get a shower in before boarding.

Ready to check in at Melbourne Airport

We were flying code share Qantas – on an Emirates A380, full flight and took a long time to board. By the time we were in the air it was closer to 10pm. I was looking forward to flying Emirates as I had heard good things about them. The fit out we were on was a little dated, and I don’t think it’s their latest version. I thought the seats were quite wide with a good level of leg room, and even when the person in front reclines all the way back, you still feel as though you have some room. The amenities are very basic, and for all airlines, they seem to be getting cheaper and lower in quality, almost to the point of worthlessness. One thing I thought was great was the cabin crew cam over and took a polaroid of Lucy and gave her a little passport book to commemorate the trip. She also got a little back pack – so the kid’s amenities were ok. The screen was very big, although the interface was quite limited. I think Qantas has a more comfortable seat and better interface, however I think the Emirates screen is better. Service and food were pretty poor on the Dubai leg, took forever to get them to bring water, and they didn’t check in except when they were serving dinner and breakfast. In both cases the food was some of the worst I’ve had. Honestly, I quite like most of the offerings from Qantas – this was nowhere near the quality. I don’t think their food warmer was working either as a few items were cold. The plan felt a little dirty if I’m honest and the back area which on the Qantas A380’s has a snack area, was just toilet’s that really needed a clean. I’d give it to Qantas in Economy when comparing my recent experiences on international travel. I can speak for Business or Premium though as I didn’t even get a look.

At the Airport in Dubai

We arrived in Dubai, fairly tired and with that thin film of grime that seems to attached itself to the weary traveller. The airport itself is much nicer than Melbourne and has many, many shopping options. It was a bit warm, although let’s be honest, it was 5am and already close to 30c outside, so that I can understand. All the three of us wanted as we got off the plane for our 3hr layover was a nice place to sit and something decent to eat. We went with the Jack Daniels grill for breakfast as they had comfy looking seats near and was near our gate. I wish we hadn’t… I ordered the eggs benedict and got what appeared to me like two hard boiled eggs on a microwaved muffin, with a teaspoon of week-old wilted spinach and some turkey bacon. There was some sort of watery yellow sauce – maybe ½ at teaspoon if I’m being generous, off on the side, and one of the eggs had rolled over to sit in the spinach. Not ideal. Katie's omelette looked like they had borrowed the breakfast from the plane and plonked that on a plate. Lucy’s Nutella pancakes did look ok though. So, I guess that’s a small win. Given the whole thing cost 317AED – I would have liked a couple more wins…

After “breakfast”, there was about 45mins until the gate opened, so I decided to find out if there was a shower I could use, and Katie and Lucy went off for some shopping. I did manage to find a shower, for 110AED you could purchase a 25min shower in one of the spa places, complete with filtered water (Better for your skin somehow), shampoo and conditioner for those with hair, body wash, toothbrush and tooth paste and bottled Evian. Not bad I thought. So I had a shower, changed clothes and generally felt like a new man, as I walked to meet Katie and Lucy at the Gate.

Day 2: Flight to Paris

I am currently writing this at 36,000ft somewhere over Turkey – and a little too close to Ukraine for my liking… Flight from Dubai to Paris is 7hrs10m so our total time from home so far has been 24hrs and 35mins. Another 4hrs flight time to Paris, with I would guess another 1-2hrs to get to the apartment, So door to door 30hrs, which is pretty standard for us when we travel. Only this time it’s Paris and not Deland (Not that there's anything wrong with Deland - it just doesn't seem as exotic as Paris)! I am also whatsapping with Megan and Jo as I write this – oh the wonders of modern technology.

Seems a little close to Ukraine

Once we arrive in Paris I will update and post some photos

Finally arrived to our apartment in Paris.

For those of you who are interested - Our tickets are one world, around-the-world itinerary. And we get back Dec 8^th -  First leg Melbourne-Paris (Emirates), then we are travelling internally in Europe on trains. We depart UK Oct 20^th from Gatwick on a BA flight to Orlando, then American Airlines from Orlando to San Francisco in early Dec, and then Home from San Francisco on a Qantas flight arriving back on the 8^th Dec. It’s all ticketed through Qantas so we should score a few points to use for the next trip.