On Tuesday Air France officials were in Everett, Washington to take delivery of the company’s 50th Boeing 777-300ER airplane. The flight home to Paris had room for a few guests.
Highlights of the trip:
- A chance to see – and smell – a brand new airplane. Turns out, like new cars, new airplanes definitely have a very recognizable fresh smell.
- The chance to explore the upgraded entertainment system, with personalized instruction from one of the designers. Passengers can choose from 85 on-demand movies (I squeezed in three fresh French comedies on the flight between Washington state and Paris) and create personalized music play lists from a very extensive and somewhat eclectic list of CDs. The first screen of jazz and blues options, for example, included complete albums from John Coltrane and Ray Charles.
- By far, though, my favorite part of the entertainment system: Seatback Berlitz language classes, which provide lessons in key words and valuable phrases, such as “Somebody call the police!,” in 23 different languages.
