We only had a two hour layover in Paris before catching the A380 to Washington DC. So we headed straight for the Air France lounge after we got off the TGV train.

Thanks to being able to print all of our boarding passes at the Air France ticket counter in the train station, we didn’t need to check-in at the airport. So we passed the Sheraton, took a quick train over to the departing terminal, went through security and headed up to the Air France lounge. In the lounge, we grabbed a quick bite to each, checked out the shower facilities, and then headed over to the departure gate for the famous Air France boarding process.

Journey To Brussels And Back

• Delta Terminal E SkyClub
• Delta New Lie Flat Business Class To Brussels
• Marriott Brussels
• TGV Train To Paris
• Air France Paris Lounge
• Air France A380 Upper Deck Business Class To Washington DC

Air France Lounge

The Air France lounge is directly to the left after you leave security. There are two elevators that take you to the second level. Once on the second level, you’ll walk down the hall to the right. You’ll pass the lounge sign and arrive at the front desk.

We were impressed with the seating area in this lounge. There were essentially two sides to the lounge. Each side was almost identical with two food stations on each side. There were window seats, bar seats, and relaxing quiet zone seats. They had some of the seats reserved, which I assume were for the First Class passengers.

Air France is lucky this was an early morning flight. They had champagne and Glenlivtt on the self service bar. The croissants were tasty and paired well with the eau gazeuse, French for sparkling water.

Shower

The shower facilities were to the far right side of the lounge. There were maybe 4-5 showers available to use at the time I was in the lounge. No check in to the shower was required.

There was a small seating area that reminded me of a sauna. It actually felt like one in the room as well since there was no air conditioning in the shower rooms.

Even the showers come with amenity kits. The L’Occitane kits were a nice touch.

Boarding The A380

The Air France boarding process usually goes something like this. A call for boarding over the loud speaker, a stampede to the gate, then a few nudges later your on the plane. The boarding for the Air France A380 was different than normal, and I liked it.

The boarding area had a queue that rapped around several times. The gate agent first called people needing assistance, then followed with Business Class passengers. I noticed there was a separate gate that headed to the First Class cabin, so I assume First Class passengers boarded from a different gate.

I’ve boarded planes from the front door, second door and even from under the tail. This was the first time I’ve ever boarded a plane to the top level.

Bottom Line

The Air France lounge was well kept and the boarding process was smooth. It was a seamless transition from the TGV train to the A380. Then we were off across the Atlantic on the upper deck of the A380 to the SMD4 launch event.

In our next post, we’ll share a review of the forward cabin of the upper deck Business cabin.

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