24 hours before our flight departure, Air France emailed us for check-in and gave us a tempting offer. For just 15% more of our ticket price they wanted to know if we want to upgrade to Business Class where we could lay flat? The question was not whether or not we wanted to lay flat on an red-eye 11 hour flight, it was, did we want to spend 15% more? It took us about 15 seconds to decide, um, yes. Upgrade please! The most challenging part of any international travel is the discomfort of a coach seat for so long and trying to get comfortable – to have this opportunity – we were both so excited at even the thought.
From the moment we found our seats – and were offered champagne pre-flight, we couldn’t have been more giddy to discover all of the luxuries of the upgrade. Our own space, non-stop meal service, slippers, toiletries, unlimited movies, your own down comforter. How do you even want to sleep? The whole time I felt like Belle in the ‘Be Our Guest’ scene of Beauty and the Beast.
We kept looking over at each other with the happiest grins as we were discovering all of the extras of the flight. Worth EVERY BIT of the 15%. After dinner was served (and they get to it very quickly so you can maximize the flight time and sleep), I finished watching my movie, did my nighttime routine and fell blissfully asleep for the rest of the flight. It felt impossible that they woke me up one hour prior to landing to serve breakfast. That was the quickest 11 hour flight EVER!
When we arrived in Paris we had about 1 hour and 30 minutes to get to our next flight. That seems like a good buffer – but really, it is tight as you have to get through security again and passport control. And for some reason Passport Control had only 3 agents open for plane loads of passengers. The passport control area is muggy and you are in a sea of people – you feel yourself melting and you slowly get processed through and you remember the unique joys of summer travel. One hour later we were at our gate for Milan and they were already boarding.
Our flight to Milan was grounded after we boarded for 35 minutes because of the Paris air show, huh? And, ironically, the hour flight seemed longer than the whole 11 hour flight to Paris. Also, once we boarded, it felt really hungry as we were now used to eating every 3-4 hours. We awaited the air service with eager anticipation. And they served us….wait for it, wait for it…our choice of beverages and two tiny tiny fruit cobblers. That was a first? We were like, welllll, we are hungry and this is what they are serving, so ‘Bon Appetit!’
We arrived in Milan, claimed our bags and headed to the train station to take the 1 hour train to Milano Centrale, (the train station closest to our hotel). The train ride was about an hour but very comfortable and in an air conditioned coach. It didn’t seem long at all and it was very easy to get to our final destination. Once in Milano Centrale, we took a cab to our hotel – which was really only about a 5 minute cab ride.
Our air conditioned room was waiting for us and we grabbed a quick bite in our hotel restaurant where we dined on wine, proseco, salads, meatballs, and risotto. The beverages were lovely, the risotto was outstanding, the meatballs not so much. It was like a cross between a crab cake and a meatball with no sauce. But still, it was altogether good. And we had arrived safely, cheers to that!
