We had plans to wake up early and take another self-guided walking tour, but with our extreme fatigue, we slept until about 11 AM, which gave us enough time to get organized, check out of the hotel, and find some breakfast before catching our ride back to CDG airport.
It turns out that it’s very difficult in Paris to find some place willing to serve breakfast past 11 AM. We did manage to find a restaurant willing to sell us some pastries and coffee, but they were reluctant to let us eat it there. Apparently they were concerned about their lunch crowd seeing someone actually eating breakfast at this late hour! Those rumours about the French being a little strange? Well, they’re all true!
We headed out to Charles de Gaulle garbage dump airport to catch our Air Madagascar flight.
We arrived to find long lines everywhere, except for one section of about 8 check-in booths, all fully staffed without any line-ups, dedicated specifically to Air Madagascar. I’m still unclear why so many agents are dedicated to this airline, which runs only 5 flights per week out of this airport, and all to the same destination. I’m not complaining, but it just doesn’t seem like a model of efficiency to have so many idle agents in one place and massive lines elsewhere, but then, that fits in perfectly with the whole theme of CDG garbage dump airport.
We were forced to check more baggage than we would have liked, as the rules in Europe do not allow as much carry on luggage as in North America, but went along with it and hoped everything would be waiting for us when we arrived in Madagascar.
Arriving at the gate area, we were pleased to see the Air Mad 767 parked at the jet bridge. They only own the one, so if it was in for repairs, I’m not sure how we would have got to Madagascar.
On the plane, we were pleased to find we were assigned two seats (a window and aisle) in an exit row, with tons of leg room. The unfortunate part is that the seats didn’t recline because it was an exit row, but I didn’t quite follow that logic. As is typical, the row in front of us didn’t recline so it wouldn’t block our exit in the event of an emergency, but there was no exit behind us, so what exactly are they worried about blocking? Anyway, the plane was not full, so we sat there for a few hours enjoying the leg room, and before it was time to try to catch some sleep, we moved to some other seats that did recline to allow for better sleep.
Below is a shot of the interior of the aircraft. Note the overhead CRTs… how quaint!
The plane was a little old and could use an interior facelift. I’d read that they’d purchased their 767 used from Air Canada, but they were supposed to have ordered a brand new one from Boeing a year or so ago. Perhaps it’s still on order? The Malagasy cabin crew were extremely friendly and professional.