Reduced Posting - Paris Here We Come

The husband and I are headed to Paris with friends.  We drive to Dulles International and then will fly to London on Virgin Atlantic and connect on Air France to Paris.  We will spend a week in Paris followed by a week in London.  Posting will be reduced for the next day or so while we travel, but I will post about our experiences as is my normal habit.  On the home front, the house sitter/dog sitter is all arranged.  This will be our friends' first trip to either city so the husband and I have served as trip planners and will be the tour guides, if you will. We kick of Paris with lunch at the Plaza Athenee where I staid many times in my days as in-house counsel.  Bon voyage! 

Plaza Athenee courtyard restaurant.

A Great Memory: What it Was Like to Fly the Concorde

Believe it or not, I do read things that don't relate to politics or LGBT rights and activism.  And I came across a piece in CNN yesterday that was fun for me because it looked at something that I actually did back in my days as in-house counsel for an oil company: I flew the Concorde.  It was in August, 1981, after a 10 day negotiating trip to Morocco.   I was already in Morocco with three other company representatives when the air traffic controller strike hit and air travel became a chaotic nightmare to and from and within the USA.  We generally flew first class on overseas trips at company, but the Concorde was off limits under normal circumstances.  Under the circumstances, the Concorde offered the assured way to be sure we got back to America.  The Moroccan government made the reservations for our party and few flew from Casablanca to Paris, spent the night at the always fabulous Plaza Athenee - perhaps my favorite hotel in the world - and then took Concord to New York City, leaving Paris at 12:00 noon and arriving in New York around 8:30 am.  We maintained Mach 2 all the way across the Atlantic Ocean.  As the CNN piece notes, it truly was something special (I still my boarding pass holder and the menu - each flight had a unique menu).  Here are some article highlights (check out the 28 photos in the article): 

In 1976 -- over 40 years ago -- elite passengers were crossing the Atlantic in under three and a half hours, flying at twice the speed of sound in the Anglo-French Concorde.

Only 20 of the sleek, delta-winged SSTs were built, and just 14 were delivered to two airlines -- seven each to Air France and British Airways.

With superlative service and cuisine, exclusive airport lounges and stratospherically high airfares, Concorde passengers flew far above other flights, and cruised faster than fighter jets to their destinations.

But what was it really like to rub shoulders with the rich and famous on a Concorde flight? CNN Travel asked some former passengers.

"The flight attendants loved being on it; the passengers loved being on it," says CNN's Richard Quest, who flew Concorde five times. "You were aware of being part of a very small group of people that were privileged enough to be on Concorde.

With an interior fuselage width of about eight and a half feet (2.63 meters), Concorde's cabin was just wider than that of today's Bombardier Regional Jet. The SST had a single aisle, with a two-two seating configuration.

"The quality and style of food service was exceptional, . . . . "I felt more strongly that I had entered a private club. It was a brief glimpse into a life I had not known, polite, considerate, and beautifully detailed. It was impossible to not feel spoiled, and valued," says Ford.

Concorde was the first -- and still only -- passenger aircraft that had turbojet engines with afterburners. Called "reheat" by the British, raw fuel was introduced into the exhaust of the plane's four engines, immediately increasing the engines' thrust by almost 20%.

"Each takeoff was a phenomenal experience, the performance such that we had to warn the passengers in advance what to expect. The roar of the Rolls-Royce Olympus engines, combined with being pushed back into your seat, was like no other civilian aeroplane."

Reheat was also used to push the plane from subsonic to supersonic speeds.

Cruising at Mach 2 -- or 1,350 mph -- at 60,000 feet, Concorde flew five miles above and 800 mph faster than the subsonic 747s plodding across the Atlantic.

While Concorde no longer takes to the skies, it can be visited at a number of aviation museums around the world.

It truly was an experience that I will never forget.  I can still close my eyes and recall the takeoff and the steep pitch of the plane as it gained altitude with the afterburners fully engaged.  

My boarding pass holder

The menu cover

The Plaza Athenee - Paris

Paris Vacation - Day 2

Our day today so far has been a busy one.  But first, I want to mention our wonderful experience at the Le Dome du Marais a 53 Bis Des Francs Bourgois last evening.  The setting under a huge etched glass dome that changed colors ranging from gold to blue to red and green was elegant and the wait staff, especially our waiter Jurgen, were wonderfully attentive.  As for the food, it was over the top.  On the way back to the apartment, we passed by a fully illuminated Notre Dame (above).  By the time were were finished with dinner, we were to exhausted to hit the gay clubs last night.  We plan on making up for that tonight.

West facade of Chateau du Versailles

Hall of Mirrors

A selfie of sorts taken in a mirror in the chateau

As for today, first, we were up early to meet our tour guide for Versailles near the Eiffel Tower and then it was off by train to the chateau and its utterly magnificent gardens.  Nothing prepared me for the immense size of the gardens which literally cover thousands of acres.  Touring just a small portion of the equated to at least a three mile walk. Of the rooms in the chateau itself, the most spectacular was the Hall of Mirrors pictured above.  Views of the gardens are below.

Grand vista

After Versailles, we took the train back into Paris proper and got off at Pont le Alma and crossed the river and walked a block to the opulent Hotel Plaza Athnee for a late lunch in the outside terrace (we we too late lunch in the beautiful courtyard restaurant) before walking up Avenue Montaigne to the Champs Elysee, passing all of the fashion design houses.Eight hours later, we are back at the apartment taking a rest before heading back out into the Marais neighborhood to reconnoiter some of the clubs. 

Courtyard - Plaza Athnee

Terrace restaurant

Gay Marriage Goes Upscale: Plaza Athenee - New York

Years ago when I was in-house counsel for an oil company my favorite hotel to stay in when in Paris was the understated yet opulent and glamorous Plaza Athénée located 25 Avenue Montaigne (other hotels we sometimes stayed at were the George V and the neighboring Prince de Gaulle).  I was told by a senior partner of a Parisian law firm that the Plaza Athénée was where old European money stayed and at the time among the shops in the lobby were  Harry Winston and  Bulgari  boutiques.  Wikipedia reports that famous guests who have stayed at the Plaza Athénée over the years include Mata Hari (who was arrested here), Josephine Baker, Rudolph Valentino, Grace Kelly, Jean Harlow, Gary Cooper,  and Jackie Kennedy.

My glory days of traveling like the very wealthy ended when I left the oil company and moved back to Virginia from Texas, but years ago, the Plaza Athénée opened a branch in New York City, the Plaza Athenee - New York which captures much of the the magnificence and elegance of its larger sister in Paris.   And now, the Plaza Athenee-New York is marketing wedding packages to the LGBT market.  The image above is from the March issue of Out Magazine (it appears following page 44) and shows that savvy businesses and retailers recognize the viability of the LGBT market despite the nay saying and threatened boycotts by gay-hating Christofascist groups such as AFA.

I am glad that New York State and the folks at Plaza Athenee - New York believe in marriage equality.  Now that my brother has an apartment in New York, we may not stay at the hotel, but we will certainly stop by for a drink or more.

One of the ironies of Virginia's anti-gay extremism is that the state - which includes tourism as one of its biggest industries - is losing huge amounts of money from the LGBT market.  Why visit a state where one is clearly not welcomed or deemed equal.  And compounding the problem is the flow of money from LGBT Virginians who leave the state to marry(many of our friends have married in New York and Washington, DC) and vacation.  As noted many times on this blog, bigotry does have a high price.

The photos below are of the wonderful hotel in Paris:

Front Facade

Lobby

Patio Courtyard