Day 25: Paris to Dubai

Given the news had been reporting that there were to be more national strikes re the raising of the pension age in France, I arranged to get a shuttle to Charles de Gaule airport.  With my luggage I really didn't want to deal with the metro and the possibility of strikes.

The shuttle ride was pretty uneventful apart from one section where we couldn't continue as the police had blocked the road. There were some protest signs on the road, but this was really the first evidence I'd seen of any of the protests, although I didn't actually see any protesters!

Having arrived at CDG quite early, I was able to drop my bags off, and as I'd checked-in online earlier this morning, and thus avoided the check-in queue.  Seriously, I don't understand why more people don't do the online check-in. About and hour before our scheduled boarding time, the Emirates A380 arrived at the gate. It is a monster.

Last year when mum & I flew from Singapore to London we were on the A380, but as our flight was at midnight, you couldn't really appreciate just huge it is. Unlike Singapore Airlines, Emirates doesn't have any economy seating on the upper deck, so I was on the main deck. I'd selected a seat quite near the rear of the plane, on the aisle side of the middle 4 seating section. And to my surprise the seat beside me was vacant – SCORE... which meant I was able to stretch out and enjoy the flight.

How I wished I was able to go up those stairs...

One of the interesting things on the flight was when the in-flight map showed us passing over Iraq.  Thankfully we didn't make an unscheduled stop in Baghdad.

The flight arrived in Dubai just after midnight and by the time I collected my luggage, it was probably just after 1am. Thankfully, Mel & Niaz were able to pick me up and it was then a fairly short trip back to Mel's apartment which is to be my home for the next 2 weeks.

Flight EK074 - Seat 87D
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport – Dubai International Airport (6hrs 40mins)
Lunch – Beef pastrami; Fillet of cod (served with a classic béarnaise sauce, accompanied with chunky mashed potatoes, broccoli and rustic carrots); and Lemon and cream torte (lemon fruit filling topped with buttery biscuit crumb and encased in a creamy vanilla mousse).
Entertainment – Salt (with Angelina Jolie); Killers (with Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher); and The Ghost Writer (with Ewan McGregor)