It all started when
@mileagejunkie started a thread with a deal from ALG to HOUSTON in AF First Class / LA PREMIERE for about $500. There were some fares with a stop in JFK. I immediately jumped in and booked two sets of two tickets for pretty much the furthest date, possible, hoping to either get a visa to ALG or have some schedule changes so that I can drop the first ALG leg.
COVID came around which saw all ALG flights canceled, thus giving me a CDG starting point. Always wanting to visit Morocco and $10 to R' Meir Bal Hanes a segment starting in CMN was added. For some reason the Houston segment is now to ATL and my routing is CMN [Business] -CDG [First] -JFK [First] -ATL. I'm writing this mid air, and still plan on pushing off the Houston [ATL] segment for a later date [as a side trip].
So I had my return from Morocco and needed a way to get there. I had points sitting at Etihad from an old planned and canceled Morocco trip. I tried booking available award seats, their system was down and by the time it was working it was gone. Due to time constraints, I ended up booking a Wednesday 12:10 pm flight 10 hours before departure.
I and my wife had no clue where we would be for Shabbos or which hotel we would be staying in.
We parked on a local street next to JFK, thanx to DDF tips on local addresses for free parking, and then took an Uber. While checking in we met another Jew which frequently visits Morocco. He was extremely nice to us and helped us with a ride to Marrakech, set us up with a driver, tour guide, and a local Jew who set us up for shabbos [More on that soon].
Our flight was empty with just 44 people on board.
Originally our plan was to sleep in a local CMN hotel and rent a car in the AM and drive to Marrakech. Car prices were expensive and because we found a ride to Marrakech we had decided to go there directly. Upon landing at 1150PM we hopped along with this other guy to Marrakech.
On the way to Marrakech, we had decided to try a Riad for the first night. I called a few decent places and found one that was still open. Upon arrival at 3AM no one answered at the Riad, so we tried the Le Meridian. Le Meridian was full so we booked the Radisson Blu.
The Radisson was nice but more of a typical city hotel. I wanted a local experience and the following day found a great deal on SnapTravel and paid $866 for 3 nights at the Four Seasons. The Four Seasons is a beautiful hotel with great service, they are very accommodating towards the Jewish culture.
The first day we woke up at around 1 noon and paid $150 for a local guide and driver who took us to the Atlas Mountain area. We toured an old village and house, drank some tea, were mispallel at the kever of R Shlomo Bal Chanash, went to see how clay pottery is made. We got back around 7 pm. Booked a hot air balloon for the next AM.
We then went to a new kosher restaurant "Wasabi". The food there was amazing.
The next morning [Friday] we woke up at 5AM and went Hot Air Ballooning [paid about $380 for 2 people]
and then ate breakfast at the Atlas Asni [ another new kosher, not really a restaurant but more of a hotel program with no guest... ] Breakfast food was ok [paid 200 Durham pp].
We then took a local tour guide to show us the Jewish quarters in the Medina, the Shuk, Jewish Cemetery, Bahia Palace and some garden [paid $70].
Friday night there was a minyan of about 15 in Hotel Asni. If you cut through the Worker's Entrance at the Four Seasons, it's only a 10 minute walk to Hotel Asni and Movenpick. We ate with about 30 other people at this new restaurant/eatery, it is nothing to be talked about. I understand this was their first week, so no judgment. It's under the supervision of the OU with a full time Mashgiach. Davening was early and the meal was rushed due to all establishments having 9PM curfew.
We had arranged to eat the Shabbos morning meal at a local family [which we compensated handsomely]. Our host davened in the old city shul, which was about an hour walk. The other Jewish guests staying in hotels nearby the Four Seasons had arranged for someone to walk them, so we hopped along. Davening was beautiful with about 20 people. A nice kiddush after daveing was sponsored by a guest. Thereafter, we walked with our host to his house, about 45 minutes away. We had a festive meal which lasted about 4 hours. He also hosted some other locals and foreigners as well. We then walked back to the Four Seasons ourselves which took about 30 minutes, with easy-to-follow directions from our host.
Shalosh shudos, Mincha, and Marrev were in Hotel Asni. [Hotel asni charged 500 Durham PP food Friday night and 200 Durham for SS]
Our long awaited departure flight from CMN was Sunday morning. A local jew was driving to Casablanca, so we paid him instead of paying a taxi [which costs about $130]. We left our hotel at 6AM and arrived at the airport at 815AM and checked into our AF flight with standard EU business class. The 3HR flight was uneventful.
Upon landing in CDG there was an AF worker waiting with an I-PAD displaying our names whisking us down the stairs to a waiting Audi, enroute to the LA PREMIERE lounge. Before entering the lounge we passed private security. The lounge feels very exclusive. There were about 5 other people there [there are many TR'S on this experience so I'll make it short] Our driver asked us what time we would like to be driven to the plane and off he went. The chef informed us we can order for next time visiting, kosher food, in advance, for the lounge, by contacting Air France [10 days in advance]. On this ticket we had no interest in doing so as we were not looking to attract extra attention to it [due to the fair amount paid]. The chef bought us some fruit and tea, mentioned that some Jewish guests bring their own wine.. I went for the shower, grabbed a bite, and off we went to our waiting Audi. We were once again whisked thru the airport turmoil to the LA PREMIERE jet bridge.
We were introduced to our LA PREMIERE flight attendant which warmly greeted us.
We had originally booked the 2 center seats 1E and 1F, but because there was a different family the FA asked us to switch to 1A and 1E. We agreed. The FA showed us our kosher food and discussed with us exactly how and when we would like it served. The food was from Amsterdam, it was very tasty and delicious. Wifi login for LA PREMIERE wasn't working so the FA had the pilot request a login voucher code from the ground station and around 10 minutes later we had our code and full wifi. Our flight was amazing.
