On June 11th I found out about the Paris Air Show being held this year at Aéroport Paris-le Bourget from June 17th to June 23rd. The days Monday to Thursday are for trade visitors and Friday to Sunday are open for the public. Originally I had planned to go on Sunday but thought that I would go Monday and just register as a trade visitor, which is what I ended up doing. The crowds on the public days would have been too overwhelming.
To get to Paris from Tel Aviv I took the 12:55AM flight Sat Night to Istanbul and then connected about 4 hours later with a TK flight to Paris. I must say, during the wee-early hours The Turkish Lounge did live up to its reputation and I must say it is a VERY nice lounge, if only I didn’t keep kosher,
. When I landed in Paris it was too early to check-in to the hotel, stayed at the Hyatt Regency CDG for the one night. I got access to the lounge, had some drinks and fruit, then went right back to the Airport and took the RoissyBus to Paris, this was around 11, 11:30.
In Paris I went to eat at Il Pallazo, took the recommendation and had the Mozzarella sticks, or more like Mozzarella Squares, and the Sorentina Pizza. After Lunch I took the train to the Eiffel Tower and walked around that area for about a couple hours until I finally took a taxi to the RoissyBus stop and went back to the hotel. I finally got back to the hotel around 7 PM, got my room, went to the lounge to get some drinks, and finally passed out around 9 PM after sleeping only 2 hours Saturday night and with a busy day Sunday.
Monday morning, this is where all the fun happened. I woke up around 9 AM and saw it was pouring, not a good sign for an airshow. I left the hotel about 10:30 and took a taxi to Airshow and when I got there is thankfully stopped raining. After receiving my pass, and as I stepped outside this has to be an Aviation or Airplane Enthusiast as I was just amazing with all the planes, missiles, helicopters, drones, everything else that was on display. Their were over 2,000 vendors on display inside and out. Just some of the items on display were the actual Iron Dome unit with their missiles, the Heron drone, air force jets, two 787s, an A380, not a show to miss. The flying displayed were absolutely amazing to watch and something that will not be easily forgotten.
After being there from 11am to 5:30pm I finally decided to leave since my flight home was that evening. This time I took the free shuttle bus to the CDG and then caught on with the free airport shuttle back to the hotel to get my bag. I then caught the shuttle again back to the airport to check in for my flight back to Tel Aviv. I was flying Swiss Airlines through ZRH on my way back. In the airport I got access to the Star Alliance Lounge and took a long needed shower after being out in the Sun all day walking around. The flights back were perfect expect for the plane change from Zurich to Tel Aviv which was supposed to be an A330 but was switched to an A321, but still had the middle seat empty. Landed back in TLV around 3:30 AM and my trip came to an end.
Two days, four flights, four countries, an amazing trip to be repeated in 2015 for the next air show. Money well spent, even though the hotel and the flight back was using miles/points.
PM me for access to online photos if you want to see more.