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Aloha and Bonjour! Last year I traveled so much (23 countries) that I fell behind on my trip reports. To catch up while also keeping you informed on my current travels I've decided to publish two stories a week: One will be about where I just returned from and the other will be on my trip to Europe last summer. It should only be like this for a month; I hope you like it!

This week's stories are a play-by-play of my trip from Los Angeles to Lyon via Paris on Air France and a slide show of my trip to Hawaii-this time I traveled to the beautiful islands of Kauai and Oahu. We also have Melissa Leaman's picks for fun and interesting events in New York City.

HELP HAITI
It was difficult for me to have a good time this week in Hawaii after seeing all the horrific images from Haiti. I just don't understand how a country so close to America and other first-world countries couldn't get more timely help. An hour or two after the quake hit, rescue workers from around the world should've been on planes, helicopters, and boats filled with tools and aid. It was so disturbing that we didn't do anything to try and get our U.S. citizens out who were volunteering there-I couldn't believe my ears watching the Today show on Monday and learning that many of those students from Lynn University are still unaccounted for. According to the news agencies Haiti still needs money. The easiest way to donate is to send a text: Enter the word "Haiti" and send it to 90999, which will automatically make a $10 donation to the Red Cross. You can also text "Yele" to 501501 for a $5 donation. Here are some other ways to donate within the travel industry:

Delta customers can donate SkyMiles to the Red Cross thru SkyWish.
Continental customers can donate OnePass miles to Red Cross
United Mileage Plus members can donate by logging on to United.com
American Airlines AAdvantage members can donate to the American Red Cross
Virgin United's link is VirginUnite.com.
Hilton HHonors points for relief efforts.

COUSIN MARIE
I lost my cousin Marie this past week. She was one of my biggest fans and was the reason I continued to send handwritten postcards from everywhere I went. Marie was always the life of the party and lived a long life (91). She will be terribly missed.





I flew from Los Angeles (LAX) to Lyon (LYS) via Paris (CDG) on Air France. I was a guest of the French Tourism Board so I knew they had put a note in the computer to authorize the agents to upgrade me to business class if space was available-but even with that kind of pull it still requires some schmoozing, which is why I always carry a box of chocolates for the agents and flight attendants. Hooray! At the very last minute the upgrade cleared, which made the 5,650-mile flight seem short. Here's how it went.

SECURITY
The secret to get through security in LAX's terminal 2 is to use the elevator if the line downstairs is long-there are never any passengers upstairs but there is a bored TSA agent stamping boarding cards.

AIR FRANCE LOUNGE
A business class ticket grants you access to Air France's Club Lounge-they use Northwest Airlines, which desperately needed help; I think since my trip they've renovated it but I'm not sure. One thing is for sure: The concierge in there was very friendly, and they have free drinks and light snacks (including guava juice!). The also have individual Ghirardelli chocolates, which everyone loves.

BOARDING
Boarding the Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft was quick. My oversized seat with plenty of legroom came with a mini bottle of water and an amenity kit.

DON'T FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELT
What's interesting is that the flight attendants told passengers NOT to have their seat belts fastened because the plane was being refueled. That was a first for me but it made sense.

WIPE DOWN THAT SEAT
As always I wiped down my seat with an antibacterial wipe to kill all the gnarly germs.

NO PRE-FLIGHT DRINK
There was no pre-flight drink offered, which was odd for business class, but I didn't care since I had a bottle of water and that's all I usually drink while flying.

PUSHBACK
The flight was scheduled for 3:30 p.m. but we pushed back seven minutes early. There was no announcement and people were still in the bathroom or on the phone-you have to love the French!

SEATMATE
I sat next to a cool young, pretty cooking student headed to Torino, Italy. She was good company for the 10-hour-and-15-minute flight.

TIME CHANGE
We took off at 3:36 p.m. (you have to love LAX). I set my watch nine hours ahead to mentally adjust to the time change.

SERVICE
3:47 p.m. the flight attendants (FA) passed out menus. Choices were:

STARTER
Foie gras with apricot chutney
Marinated scallops with olive oil and lemon

ENTRÉE
-Pan-seared tournedos of beef served with peppercorn sauce, carrots, bok (they spelled it “pak”) choy and Jerusalem artichoke
-Cajun shrimp accompanied by saffron rice
-Special of the day (lamb tagine with apricots)

Special selection of cheese

Assortment of desserts
Choice of mango, lemon, raspberry sorbet or a fruit tart and/or cheese/fresh fruit


An hour prior to landing was breakfast:
-Fresh fruit, yogurt, pastries
-Cheese omelet served with bacon and potatoes
-French toast and caramelized apples

3:56 FAs pass out declaration cards
4:10 A not-so-friendly-looking FA comes around with hot towels
4:12 Friendly FA picks up dirty cold towels
4:21 Drink cart makes an appearance for the first time. Not-friendly FA turned out to be friendly-don't judge a book by its cover! (FYI: They serve from back to front)
4:30 Drinks served with addicting cheddar cheese crackers
4:36 Well-dressed FA comes by and asks if everything is okay-it's all good
4:42 Not-so-friendly turned friendly FA picks up the trash and gives me the eye-I now think she is flirting. Hey baby.
4:55 Food cart rolls down the aisle
5:01 Seat belt sign goes on for the first time-we're over the Rockies.
5:10 Most FAs retreat and there's an announcement that they're going to temporarily suspend meal service because of the turbulence. The FAs in business class continue service, passing out trays individually (no cart).
5:20 Dinner is served (I had the beef).
6:45 They collect trays (dinner is just like in France-a long, delicate process).
6:46 FA asked if I worked for another airline since I was taking so many pics-thought I was a spy.

Seat belt sign went on two more times-over Mt. Rushmore and Thunder Bay, Canada.

MORE RANDOM NOTES/TIPS
-The seats don't lie flat, making it more difficult to sleep, but who's complaining?
-It gets cold so bring a sweater.
-I sat in the bulkhead and I could hear the toilet flush and people walk by me so next time I will choose row 3, 4, 9, or 10.
-The self-service snack bar has just drinks-I didn't see any food or snacks like on British Airways.
-There are lots of entertainment channels to choose from including new releases and movies for kids.
-They also have live views from cameras below and at the front of the aircraft so you can see what it looks like outside. I love it!

IN PARIS
-We landed a bit late, but we landed.
-The immigration line was pretty long, but if you have a biz or first class ticket show the stub and you can go to the line with no one in it. It took me just three minutes to clear and the agent spent 10 seconds to scan my passport and stamp it.
-I had to transfer to gate F30, which required just one elevator ride and a bit of a walk. The gates in this new terminal are beautiful and they have a few choice chairs all the way down at the end.
-Before I met up with my group I grabbed a ham and cheese sandwich (comes with butter) and a water for 7 euros-I paid by credit since the ATM was down.

PARIS TO LYON
From Charles de Gaulle Int'l Airport to Lyon is 257 miles (58-minute flight). Most of the passengers on board the A320 were tired Americans-I suspect most French are wise and instead take the train since it's just two hours and means you don't have to deal with the airport hassles. The flight was a bit bumpy and most people slept (or passed out). I, however, stared out the window and nibbled on the free snack-half a sandwich and a coconut tart.

My bag made it!

NEXT WEEK
Next week we tour around Lyon.


VIDEO
Here's my two-minute video of the Air France flight(s) from Los Angeles to Lyon (via Paris).

*PLEASE tell us what you think of this week's newsletter!







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