Easyjet KRK-CDG-KRK (pics)
Alright well here's report number two from my European vacation. For those of you who haven't read the first report, after more than ten years since the last visit my family and I finally went back to Poland this summer to visit our some of our relatives that still live there. To get to and from Poland we did LOT Polish ORD-WAW-ORD and I'll post a link to that report below for those of you who haven't checked it out yet. On top of our trip to Poland, both of my parents also wanted to go visit Paris for a few days, so they booked us Easyjet KRK-CDG-KRK. I haven't been in Europe anywhere outside of Poland and I haven't flown any European airline other than LO so this gave me a few things to look forward to. While we were in Krakow we stayed with a family friend kind of guy and his wife, both of whom would also be coming along with us to Paris for a few days. After checking out the mountains in the south and the city of Krakow itself, it was finally time to head out, so on with the report...(June 17-20)
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KRK is only about ten minutes away from this guy’s house and our scheduled departure was 10:30 AM, so we left a bit after 8:30 and got there before 9:00. We went inside the terminal and found the place to be PACKED with people. Since we all came over in two cars, we waited for the rest of the group to show up before heading over to check in.
As I suspected, the line was pretty long and they only had two people checking pax in for our flight to CDG, so it was about twenty minutes before we got up and got our boarding passes. Not surprisingly, we were in boarding group B. Here's a shot of the departures board showing some of the action that day at KRK.
Unlike the packed conditions downstairs, there was nobody in line for security! ()-) And hey, I didn't even have to take my shoes off for the first time in a while. After getting through that I noticed right away that the departures area is kind of tiny, but I'm going to guess that they have more than one here at KRK? The only plane parked on the tarmac was a Germanwings A319 until eventually the arrivals started coming in. I'm not really familiar with this airline, but I'm guessing it’s a charter?
No guesses needed here, LO ATR from WAW.
One of three FR arrivals coming in.
Germanwings A319 headin out.
And then here's that same LO ATR taxing in.
Eventually our plane landed from CDG and right after it parked it was announced that boarding would be starting shortly. For some reason the ticketing agents downstairs and our printed out itinerary both stated that our flight would be on a 737, but as I suspected that wasn't going to be the case.
We waited for all the group A passengers to board first and then it was our turn to head down to the bus. Our bus stopped next to the rear airstairs and I rushed up and was able to get seat 19A.
After a few minutes the doors closed, engines started up, and we started taxing. It was a short taxi and after holding for a bit at the end of the runway, we took off from KRK and turned heading west. It was a pretty smooth climbout and we went up all the way to 38,000 feet for our cruising altitude. Not too long after we leveled off the food/drink service started coming through and then after that the shop came through. I didn't have any money and I wasn't sitting by my parents so I wasn't able to get anything, so perhaps maybe something on the return flight. {crossfingers}
The language on this flight was kind of inconsistent though. The entire crew was French, which made sense, but then sometimes they'd announce something in English and French and then sometimes only in French. ?:-| Sometimes they'd even randomly play some recorded announcement in polish. Anyways, here's a shot while cruising over Germany.
The 29' seat pitch wasn't too bad at first, but after about an hour you kinda of started to feel it a bit. For an almost two hour flight it was manageable, but I probably wouldn't want to be on a longer one. Eventually the engines started wining down and we started the descent into CDG. We flew past the airport before turning around over Paris to line up for landing.
Once lined up and cleared to land, the rest of the way in was a bit rocky as if it was pretty windy out there.
Just before touchdown as we flew over some of the airport I was able to get my first view of the Airbus A380! {airplane} It was a smooth touchdown and much to my surprise the flaps were barely extended for the landing.
In CDG.
I've read CDG reports on here before so I was expecting our plane to be remotely parked, however, after a long taxi we parked at a jetbridge just as another Easyjet A319 was pushing back.
As I was walking out I got one last shot of our plane parked at the gate. I think it was going to GLA next.
It was a short walk over to the baggage claim as everything seems to be kind of compact here in terminal 2B, not to mention maybe a bit old looking? It took about twelve minutes for our bag to come out, but our companions' bag was the last one off the belt!
Surprisingly, we didn't have to go through any customs inspection or passport check, just walked straight out. We then took a bit of a long walk over to the train station and then it took my dad another thirty minutes to figure out how to buy the train tickets. {covereyes}
We took three different trains and eventually got to the hotel.
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Now usually the first day when we arrive somewhere we just kinda relax and stay at the hotel for the rest of the day, not this time! It was straight off to the Eiffel Tower.
We waited in line to go up for over an hour, but it was well worth it once we got up. Here's the view from the top.
Here's the Arc.
And then I took this shot once we got back down.
The next day we did more sightseeing throughout Paris. Here's me and the Arc.
Next up was the Cathedral of Notre Dame.
At night we took a riverboat ride which provided us with some stunning views of the lit up Eiffel Tower.
On our last day we took the train out to Versailles. Here's an interior shot of the palace.
And then the outside.
Then we went back to town for a bit near Place Pigalle and it turned out to be full of sex shops. {drool}
Thought I'd upload this pic of the guy from Krakow who came with us. :-I
Finally here's a pic of our hotel.
As for my overall impression of the city of Paris, well it was actually a bit more "dirty" than I thought it would be. I mean yeah you know in a lot of places it was really nice in like the classic kind of way you'd expect, but then you'd go other to spots and there'd be people constantly on your back to buy something from then or give them money. Not to mention anywhere you went the bathrooms were just filthy. {ill} I don't know maybe my expectations were a bit too high, but don't get me wrong I still enjoyed my stay. Anyways after a couple of eventful and tiring days in Paris which involved a lot of walking, it was time to head back to Poland.
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Scheduled departure time from CDG was 11:55 AM so we left the hotel at 9:15 and after once again taking three trains we got to the airport about hour and a half before departure. After a ten minute walk from the train station we got up to the ticket counters.
It was the usual wait of ten minutes in line and once again we were in boarding group B. Security for our gate was right behind the ticket counters and in no time I found myself in the rather tiny departures lounge. I took a glance up at the monitor and here's what it said.
That wasn't particularly good news because once we got back to Krakow we only had about an hour and a half to get over to train station and catch our ride to Poznan. Anyways, I decided not to worry about that for now and instead do some spotting. It was kind of limited from where I was so I tried to make the most of it.
Even before our plane pulled in to the gate, it was announced that boarding would be starting and everybody got up to form a line. Eventually our plane arrived, everybody came off, and then they started sending people from group A down the jetway. Once group A was done we were some of the first people to go through from group B and then we ended sitting in the jetway for another twenty minutes before finally getting let onto the plane.
I went back and managed to get 17A this time. Once we pushed back and started taxing I was able to get my second view of the SQ A380.
We taxied to the end of runway 9/27 (I don't know which) and then after an AA 767 we took off to the east before turning around to head back to Poland. Even though they called for a delay, the flight at this point was actually on time so our connection in Krakow looked a bit more promising.
This time we went up to 37,000 feet for our cruise.
The service was the same as on the last flight, first came the food/drink and then the shop. This time I was sitting by my parents and wanted to buy some stuff, but my dad was back to his stubborn self and wouldn't give me any money. {bored} Anyways, during the second half of the flight there was a consistent light chop and we flew through clouds so there wasn't anything to see. Here's a cabin shot that my mom took so sorry if it kinda sucks.
Without much of an announcing from the crew, we started descending into KRK. The whole approach just didn't feel very good. It wasn't that it was turbulent; it’s just that the whole way down you'd feel that we were going up, down, side to side, and it just wasn't really that smooth. Due to the poor weather outside we couldn't see anything until just before landing so that didn't really help either.
After flying over the old Krakow we crossed the airport highway and landed in rainy KRK.
It was a bit of a long taxi back to the terminal and we parked in the same spot we left from a few days ago.
Once we got out through the back and headed for the bus I snapped some shots of our A319.
While driving back to the terminal I snapped a shot of the LO 767 that was there. I fully expected it to have come from ORD, but it turned out to be the EWR flight. Not to mention this was also SP-LPG, the newest addition to the LO fleet and only in service for maybe a week when this picture was taken.
We went inside to wait for our bags to come out and I gotta say the baggage claim area at KRK is pretty tiny. They only have one main baggage belt and then another one that's really small. It must get pretty hectic/crowded when they get four 3-4 flights come in at once.
It was a short wait for our bags though and once again with passport/customs check we were outta there in no time. We walked over to the tram/trolley stop which took us to the main train station, and yes, we did end up making it in time for the train to Poznan. {relieved}
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Well this is my 12th trip report and I hope you enjoyed reading it! As for my overall impression of Easyjet, well, it got from point A to B for a cheap price so I guess that's really I can ask for in this case. As stated above I didn't buy any food/drink, but some of the stuff they had listed in the magazine looked like it might be pretty decent. Also, I’ll post the link to the LOT Polish ORD-WAW-ORD report below so make sure to check that one out if you haven’t yet. Finally, it takes some work/determination to write these reports so comments are always appreciated! Thanks! {wave}
Alright well here's report number two from my European vacation. For those of you who haven't read the first report, after more than ten years since the last visit my family and I finally went back to Poland this summer to visit our some of our relatives that still live there. To get to and from Poland we did LOT Polish ORD-WAW-ORD and I'll post a link to that report below for those of you who haven't checked it out yet. On top of our trip to Poland, both of my parents also wanted to go visit Paris for a few days, so they booked us Easyjet KRK-CDG-KRK. I haven't been in Europe anywhere outside of Poland and I haven't flown any European airline other than LO so this gave me a few things to look forward to. While we were in Krakow we stayed with a family friend kind of guy and his wife, both of whom would also be coming along with us to Paris for a few days. After checking out the mountains in the south and the city of Krakow itself, it was finally time to head out, so on with the report...(June 17-20)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
KRK is only about ten minutes away from this guy’s house and our scheduled departure was 10:30 AM, so we left a bit after 8:30 and got there before 9:00. We went inside the terminal and found the place to be PACKED with people. Since we all came over in two cars, we waited for the rest of the group to show up before heading over to check in.
As I suspected, the line was pretty long and they only had two people checking pax in for our flight to CDG, so it was about twenty minutes before we got up and got our boarding passes. Not surprisingly, we were in boarding group B. Here's a shot of the departures board showing some of the action that day at KRK.
Unlike the packed conditions downstairs, there was nobody in line for security! ()-) And hey, I didn't even have to take my shoes off for the first time in a while. After getting through that I noticed right away that the departures area is kind of tiny, but I'm going to guess that they have more than one here at KRK? The only plane parked on the tarmac was a Germanwings A319 until eventually the arrivals started coming in. I'm not really familiar with this airline, but I'm guessing it’s a charter?
No guesses needed here, LO ATR from WAW.
One of three FR arrivals coming in.
Germanwings A319 headin out.
And then here's that same LO ATR taxing in.
Eventually our plane landed from CDG and right after it parked it was announced that boarding would be starting shortly. For some reason the ticketing agents downstairs and our printed out itinerary both stated that our flight would be on a 737, but as I suspected that wasn't going to be the case.
We waited for all the group A passengers to board first and then it was our turn to head down to the bus. Our bus stopped next to the rear airstairs and I rushed up and was able to get seat 19A.
After a few minutes the doors closed, engines started up, and we started taxing. It was a short taxi and after holding for a bit at the end of the runway, we took off from KRK and turned heading west. It was a pretty smooth climbout and we went up all the way to 38,000 feet for our cruising altitude. Not too long after we leveled off the food/drink service started coming through and then after that the shop came through. I didn't have any money and I wasn't sitting by my parents so I wasn't able to get anything, so perhaps maybe something on the return flight. {crossfingers}
The language on this flight was kind of inconsistent though. The entire crew was French, which made sense, but then sometimes they'd announce something in English and French and then sometimes only in French. ?:-| Sometimes they'd even randomly play some recorded announcement in polish. Anyways, here's a shot while cruising over Germany.
The 29' seat pitch wasn't too bad at first, but after about an hour you kinda of started to feel it a bit. For an almost two hour flight it was manageable, but I probably wouldn't want to be on a longer one. Eventually the engines started wining down and we started the descent into CDG. We flew past the airport before turning around over Paris to line up for landing.
Once lined up and cleared to land, the rest of the way in was a bit rocky as if it was pretty windy out there.
Just before touchdown as we flew over some of the airport I was able to get my first view of the Airbus A380! {airplane} It was a smooth touchdown and much to my surprise the flaps were barely extended for the landing.
In CDG.
I've read CDG reports on here before so I was expecting our plane to be remotely parked, however, after a long taxi we parked at a jetbridge just as another Easyjet A319 was pushing back.
As I was walking out I got one last shot of our plane parked at the gate. I think it was going to GLA next.
It was a short walk over to the baggage claim as everything seems to be kind of compact here in terminal 2B, not to mention maybe a bit old looking? It took about twelve minutes for our bag to come out, but our companions' bag was the last one off the belt!
Surprisingly, we didn't have to go through any customs inspection or passport check, just walked straight out. We then took a bit of a long walk over to the train station and then it took my dad another thirty minutes to figure out how to buy the train tickets. {covereyes}
We took three different trains and eventually got to the hotel.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Now usually the first day when we arrive somewhere we just kinda relax and stay at the hotel for the rest of the day, not this time! It was straight off to the Eiffel Tower.
We waited in line to go up for over an hour, but it was well worth it once we got up. Here's the view from the top.
Here's the Arc.
And then I took this shot once we got back down.
The next day we did more sightseeing throughout Paris. Here's me and the Arc.
Next up was the Cathedral of Notre Dame.
At night we took a riverboat ride which provided us with some stunning views of the lit up Eiffel Tower.
On our last day we took the train out to Versailles. Here's an interior shot of the palace.
And then the outside.
Then we went back to town for a bit near Place Pigalle and it turned out to be full of sex shops. {drool}
Thought I'd upload this pic of the guy from Krakow who came with us. :-I
Finally here's a pic of our hotel.
As for my overall impression of the city of Paris, well it was actually a bit more "dirty" than I thought it would be. I mean yeah you know in a lot of places it was really nice in like the classic kind of way you'd expect, but then you'd go other to spots and there'd be people constantly on your back to buy something from then or give them money. Not to mention anywhere you went the bathrooms were just filthy. {ill} I don't know maybe my expectations were a bit too high, but don't get me wrong I still enjoyed my stay. Anyways after a couple of eventful and tiring days in Paris which involved a lot of walking, it was time to head back to Poland.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled departure time from CDG was 11:55 AM so we left the hotel at 9:15 and after once again taking three trains we got to the airport about hour and a half before departure. After a ten minute walk from the train station we got up to the ticket counters.
It was the usual wait of ten minutes in line and once again we were in boarding group B. Security for our gate was right behind the ticket counters and in no time I found myself in the rather tiny departures lounge. I took a glance up at the monitor and here's what it said.
That wasn't particularly good news because once we got back to Krakow we only had about an hour and a half to get over to train station and catch our ride to Poznan. Anyways, I decided not to worry about that for now and instead do some spotting. It was kind of limited from where I was so I tried to make the most of it.
Even before our plane pulled in to the gate, it was announced that boarding would be starting and everybody got up to form a line. Eventually our plane arrived, everybody came off, and then they started sending people from group A down the jetway. Once group A was done we were some of the first people to go through from group B and then we ended sitting in the jetway for another twenty minutes before finally getting let onto the plane.
I went back and managed to get 17A this time. Once we pushed back and started taxing I was able to get my second view of the SQ A380.
We taxied to the end of runway 9/27 (I don't know which) and then after an AA 767 we took off to the east before turning around to head back to Poland. Even though they called for a delay, the flight at this point was actually on time so our connection in Krakow looked a bit more promising.
This time we went up to 37,000 feet for our cruise.
The service was the same as on the last flight, first came the food/drink and then the shop. This time I was sitting by my parents and wanted to buy some stuff, but my dad was back to his stubborn self and wouldn't give me any money. {bored} Anyways, during the second half of the flight there was a consistent light chop and we flew through clouds so there wasn't anything to see. Here's a cabin shot that my mom took so sorry if it kinda sucks.
Without much of an announcing from the crew, we started descending into KRK. The whole approach just didn't feel very good. It wasn't that it was turbulent; it’s just that the whole way down you'd feel that we were going up, down, side to side, and it just wasn't really that smooth. Due to the poor weather outside we couldn't see anything until just before landing so that didn't really help either.
After flying over the old Krakow we crossed the airport highway and landed in rainy KRK.
It was a bit of a long taxi back to the terminal and we parked in the same spot we left from a few days ago.
Once we got out through the back and headed for the bus I snapped some shots of our A319.
While driving back to the terminal I snapped a shot of the LO 767 that was there. I fully expected it to have come from ORD, but it turned out to be the EWR flight. Not to mention this was also SP-LPG, the newest addition to the LO fleet and only in service for maybe a week when this picture was taken.
We went inside to wait for our bags to come out and I gotta say the baggage claim area at KRK is pretty tiny. They only have one main baggage belt and then another one that's really small. It must get pretty hectic/crowded when they get four 3-4 flights come in at once.
It was a short wait for our bags though and once again with passport/customs check we were outta there in no time. We walked over to the tram/trolley stop which took us to the main train station, and yes, we did end up making it in time for the train to Poznan. {relieved}
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Well this is my 12th trip report and I hope you enjoyed reading it! As for my overall impression of Easyjet, well, it got from point A to B for a cheap price so I guess that's really I can ask for in this case. As stated above I didn't buy any food/drink, but some of the stuff they had listed in the magazine looked like it might be pretty decent. Also, I’ll post the link to the LOT Polish ORD-WAW-ORD report below so make sure to check that one out if you haven’t yet. Finally, it takes some work/determination to write these reports so comments are always appreciated! Thanks! {wave}
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