Review: Air Canada Economy A319-100 Los Angeles to Montreal
Review: Air Canada Rouge Economy 767-300ER Montreal to Rome
Review: Air France Economy A321-200 Nice to Paris Orly
Trip to Italy, Vatican City, Monaco, and France
Review: Air Canada Economy 767-300 Paris CDG to Montreal
Review: Air Canada Economy A319-100 Montreal to Los Angeles

YOUTUBE: Air Canada: Los Angeles to Montreal
YOUTUBE: Air Canada Rouge: Montreal to Rome
YOUTUBE: Air France: Nice to Paris Orly
YOUTUBE: Air Canada: Paris CDG to Montreal
YOUTUBE: Air Canada: Montreal to Los Angeles

Well, that was a long, but enjoyable trip. So this is the return flight to Los Angeles on Air Canada via Montreal. I was actually quite excited for this flight considering we would be flying out of Paris Charles De Gaulle and I always love flying out of that airport.

So the morning of the flight we tracked the flight and turns out it got canceled, how lovely. So we immediately went to the airport and sure enough, the line for Air Canada was very very long. See, Air Canada has a 777-300ER that flies to Montreal at 1:15ish and a 767 that flies a little before 3. So the line had both passengers on it. So eventually we were given a voucher for a hotel right next to the airport and some free food vouchers. I really appreciated that from Air Canada. By the time all that settling was done, it was only around 12 PM, so we headed right back to Paris to see other places we wanted to see like the Saint Chapelle church and some other food places.

The terrible part of all this was that the flight was scheduled to depart at 9 AM. This means I have to wake up early, get ready, use my breakfast voucher at the hotel, and head to the airport. But anyways, onto a decent sized hop across the pond. I actually took a lot of photos on this report, A LOT.

So we start our early morning at the Hotel IBIS Paris Airport with some light breakfast since I wanted to maximize sleep.Once again, kudos to Air Canada for the accommodations. The food options were there, but it was too early for the hot food to be ready and we did not have time to wait, so we went with a sugar rush. Oh, I’m sorry, I meant chocolate croissant, Madeline, cheese, and Apple Juice.

This hotel is closest to terminal 4, so we took a train from there to terminal 2B where Air Canda departs from. Here are some pictures upon entering the terminal. Note the flight number being AC2185. Originally it was AC885, so this was a “special” flight.

After collecting boarding passes, we proceeded through security which involved a departure passport stamp, some metal detectors, and an extremely obnoxious cat that would be on our flight. And let the spotting begin:

Our plane was to depart from terminal 2B, but I walked over to Terminal 2D which is where all the Middle Eastern airlines were parked. The terminal was practically empty. But the planes were still there:

Now back to terminal 2B, here is an AA 767-300. The terminal I was in had a lot of chocolate and duty-free shops which you can see all on my Youtube video for this flight. While we were waiting to board, a beautiful Cathay 777-300ER had pulled in from Hong Kong, but there was too much of a barrier to be able to take a good photo. The same was for my plane, which is why I could not photo it prior to the flight.

Now onto boarding flight 2185 to Montreal:

Air Canada

CDG-YUL Boeing 767-300

Upon boarding, we passed by business class, which looked like a standard herringbone seat like the same ones found on Delta’s 777s, Jet Airways, and Air Serbia. I would try to avoid their 767s for business class because herringbone seats tend to be claustrophobic in my experience. Ironically, the rest of AC’s heavy body fleet has reverse herringbone seats which are amazing.

Economy class was in a 2-3-2 configuration which should be the norm on a 767.  The seats weren’t that plush, and the headrest was too hard. Of course, I didn’t sleep on this flight, but my back started to hurt withing an hour of arrival, and this flight was around 7-8 hours, so it’s not even that long.

But here are some pictures after taking my seat:

Eventually, it was departure time around 9 AM sharp and we pushed back facing west.

As much as I love the 767s, they are practically ancient now. I mean just looking at this wing, its so inefficient compared to the kinds of aircraft out on the market today. But anyways, after our engine start, we had a very very long, but lovely, taxi to our departure runway 9R. I say lovely because we passed by so many aircraft while here, enjoy:

Finally, we reached runway 9R and had a fairly quick takeoff roll by 767 standards. The views of CDG were lovely after takeoff, and you get to see all the terminals from above. You can see the full clip of that part in my youtube video for this flight. A little after departure, we made almost an 180 turn to head westwards from there. For some time there really was not too much to see.

What a pleasant surprise too, we flew a little south of LHR and it was definitely a sight to see!

Finally after some time, snack service had begun with pretzels and a choice of drink

So like I said earlier, the flight was originally canceled and rescheduled to early morning the next day. Well it looks like they are serving the same food they were supposed to serve on that flight, or else we would have been served some breakfast items for sure

So to begin, the quinoa salad was ok but didn’t taste like anything much. However, that’s fine considering that Quinoa doesn’t naturally have too much taste anyways and we were 36,000 feet in the air which has effects on our taste buds. Then we have bread and a brownie. The brownie was normal, just sweet and chewy so nothing too special. Once again, kudos to Air Canada for providing bottled water. Many other airlines to that too, but Air Canada is the only airline (other than Cathay) that I have ever been on where a tray full of water is brought throughout the cabin frequently. They sure like to keep their passengers hydrated. The chicken meal was decent. The gravy on top of the chicken that kind of had this tangy taste, but not too much. It definitely added flavor to the chicken, but nothing too much. The mashed potato was pretty good for airplane potatoes. Overall, I’d say this meal was filling and satisfying. While not the tastiest or the most thorough meal, it definitely was edible and enjoyable.

Other than this picture, I did not take any other pictures of the outside until the second service because there was simply nothing to see.

So here is the second “meal”: We were only given one per person, but my sister did not want any, so I took her’s. The inside was chicken, and it actually had a flavor to it. The wrap is comparable to some hot chicken wrap you would find on the ground. I enjoyed this, even though it was not the most thorough of meals.

By the time clean up had finished, we had begun to descend into Montreal. Having a lot of clouds certainly added to the view

Like the inbound flight from LAX to YUL, we had a very, very choppy final approach. I thought the first time it was just some wind shear, but this time it was there again. Is this always there at YUL? Did I get unlucky twice in a row with wind shears? By all means, please do leave a comment if you do know.

The touchdown was smooth(er), and as we taxied to the gate, my eyes were just glued to the beautiful sky.

Well, this is where the fun ends because the next flight was a very, very boring experience. Oh don’t get me wrong, I love airplanes, and I could sit in an Air Canada A319 for a whole day if asked, but the experience of the flight was just not enjoyable.

But this flight was good. Even though it was unfortunate that our flight was pushed a day out, I still enjoyed it. I think one aspect where Air Canada could seriously improve is the food portions. I seriously hope they aren’t rationing. The taste could use some help, but ultimately that is often times hard to control especially when it is served at high altitudes where the functionality of your taste buds is altered.  To the crew, they were very pleasant, but I guess as is the norm with Canadian people. I should note that all were at least 50+ in age. I think one pattern that I’ve noticed is that Air Canada’s “older” flight attendants work on mainline Air Canada whereas I see younger people working on Air Canada’s knock off brand: Air Canada Rouge. So the crew was good, enthusiastic, and very amiable.

To the crew, they were very pleasant, but I guess as is the norm with Canadian people. I should note that all were at least 50+ in age. I think one pattern that I’ve noticed is that Air Canada’s “older” flight attendants work on mainline Air Canada whereas I see younger people working on Air Canada’s knock off brand: Air Canada Rouge. So the crew was good, enthusiastic, and very amiable. If I had to fly Air Canada again intercontinentally, I don’t think I would have an issue, though depending on the destination they certainly wouldn’t be my first choice.