Having decided to walk to the airport when we woke this morning it was chucking it down and we wouldn't have managed suitcases, back packs and umbrellas so we decided to use the hotels paid shuttle bus. We also had time for a cheeky bacon sandwich before we left as for once breakfast was included.
This flight was a Qantas one so we could access the lounge but it was a pretty miserable affair, no fizz until 11:00 and barely any food. Never mind we should have a good offering at Melbourne before the long flight and then of course plenty on board.
A few views as we took off from Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport which was exciting as the runway is out on the water.
I had hoped to see Melbourne's skyscrapers from the air but the airport is about 24kms north of the centre and so we never got near enough. It's well into autumn here now so I hope they get some rain soon.
I managed to get all the letters in this time.
We both had a memory of Qantas Melbourne lounge from when we flew home via Perth in 2020 and have always said it was one of the best we'd ever been in. Things have clearly changed as this was average to say the least; no windows (we remember a good runway view), quite oppressive and mediocre F&B offerings. So after a while we moved to the Marhaba Lounge instead and although this wasn't perfect it did at least have comfortable seating and was bright.
The 11 hour flight to Colombo has been wiped from my memory so it can't have been either very bad or very good. We had a 2 hour layover at Colombo Airport in the Serendib Lounge (small but quite nice) before boarding the next flight. Unfortunately our pre ordered meals weren't loaded and there was very little on the menu I could eat but I'm sure I won't fade away.
Arriving onetime into CDG I was very anxious we'd miss the flight to London as although I'd allowed 4 hours between flights we had to enter France, retrieve our suitcases then change terminals and exit France and after the outbound experience this certainly didn't seem nearly enough time.
We were one of the first off the plane but still this is what we were greeted with at immigration - chaos!!
The signage was unclear and we, along with many others, joined the wrong queue but luckily a helpful French airport person (yes there is one) moved us through the barrier and the people we were pushed in front of didn't mind (a charming American couple). To cut a long story short it took us over 1/2 hour to clear immigation, the luggage was out timely, the transfer shuttle was packed and slow but we made it with time to spare even though the BA desk is tucked away in a corner of the Terminal far from any others (Brexit take that!).
We've had an amazing time, the wonderful 10 days with the family and then Sydney plus of course the bonus of a mini holiday to Colombo. If Sri Lankan Airlines offer similar deals in the future I'll bite their hand off even if it does mean negotiating CDG.