CDG: Paris Novotel Hotel

I don't get a lot of Paris layovers anymore, so I was pleased to head there last week. UAL now stays at the Hotel Novotel Tour Eiffel, and it was my first time there.

The hotel is located right on the Seine river on the southeast end of the Pont de Grenelle bridge. This is the one with the small version of the Statue of Liberty on the island outcropping.


View Larger Map

Surrounding Area
The area around the hotel is not in great shape. Across Rue Linois to the south, there are a few buildings that have been abandoned and are in disrepair. The blight is certainly not the best that Paris has to offer. The nearest Metro station (pdf map) is the Charles Michels stop on the yellow #10 line. Enter on the south corner of Rue Linois and Rue Saint-Charles. The #10 has convenient no transfer service to Latin quarter - get off at Cluny/La Sorbonne on the train heading towards Gare d'Austerlitz. The Eiffel Tower is about a 15 minute walk from the Hotel. The Monoprix grocery store is just one block from the hotel down Rue Linois. If bowling suits you, there's an alley in the hotel tunnel entrance street (Rue Gaston de Caillavet).

Rooms
The rooms are sparse but adequate. Typical euro-style. The bed was two very narrow single beds put side to side. It seemed narrower than a regular full size, as I could barely turn over without falling out. That aside, it was well appointed with clean linens and was otherwise quite comfy. There is a pay fridge and safe. Here's something funny, the toilet has two flushing modes appropriately activated by a small button or a large button. Nice clean 'rainwater' type of shower.

The Crew Room
The crew lounge is where you go to first get your room keys. It's well appointed and dedicated to crew use. There is a fridge/microwave/kitchenette on one side with a bank of 5 computers on the other. Be sure to label your items in the fridge. It was quite a hoppin' place at around 7pm. Lot's of folks brought a bottle of wine, and a bagette or two with cheeses stuff. It does not have music, so if you have speakers for your iPod, this is a great place to crank 'em up.

Fitness Center
The fitness center is worth the trek. The machines are well maintained and there is enough variety to get all your muscle groups worked. The 15m pool is just barely long enough to get in a swim workout, as long as you don't push off too hard on the sides and coast halfway across on each lap. It a little confusing the first time to get there. On the lobby level, you'll go towards the river. There is a connecting corridor to the left of the escalators. You'll go up about 3 flights of stairs, but hey, you're working out anyway! The signs sometimes just say Pool (Piscine in French), but the gym is of course co-located.



Well, that's it. Please let me know if you've visited any restaurants in the area, and if they have any good deals for crew members. Thanks! Tim

DCA to IAD Commute.

Alas! I finally was forced to try my plan B backup commute option of CLT-DCA then DCA-IAD via ground transportation.

You can obviously get a cab DCA-IAD if time is tight. Expect to pay about $60 and for it to take about 35-45 minutes. Supershuttle may also be an option for a cheaper rate, but there's a chance of having a non-direct route, depending on who you're travelling with and where they need to go.

So, here is an account of how to get from DCA to IAD via public transport. You'll pay $7.35 and allow for about 1:15 to 1:45.

• Washington Metro Rail Website
• Washington Metro Rail Map (pdf)

After arriving, follow signs to Metro/Parking deck. They are only posted outside of the secure gate area. Go to the ticket machine and look on the chart for the one-way fare to West Falls Church. It was $3.35 as of 7/27/08. With the Metro ticket machines, you don't tell it "where", you just tell it "how much." Use the up/down rocker switches to get $3.35 to display, then pay for your ticket. Some machines take credit card, some take cash. Some will give you change (in all coins, beware...)


View Larger Map

With your ticket, enter the station through the turnstyles. Go up the left hand bank of escalators (nearest the terminal). The signs will read Blue Line, Largo Town Center (as well as Yellow line to Fort Totten). When the trains arrive, be sure you're on the correct one. There is no 'next arriving' electronic sign on this platform (that I can remember), but there are electric LED signs on the sides of the trains telling you which one it is. Be sure to board the Blue Line towards Largo Town Center.

You stay on the blue line and get off at Rosslyn Station. Follow the signs to make the transfer to the Orange line towards Vienna, which is downstairs. On this platform I did notice an ETA sign telling you when the next train is arriving and what line it is (the Blue line in the opposite direction shares this platform).

Take the Orange Line and get off at West Falls Church Station. The exit is upstairs and throught the turnstyles. Follow the signs for Dulles Transportation, which is down the escalators to the left. Go to the bus stop with the 'Washington Flyer' sign.

• Wash Flyer Website
• Wash Flyer W.F. Church-IAD Schedule

The coach departs every half hour on the :15 and the :45. You'll stow your big bags underneath the bus. As a crewmember with valid ID the fare is $4, which you pay upon exiting the bus. Non-crew one way fare is $10. There was very little traffic, so the bus trip took about 20 minutes.

There you have it! The cost of $7.35 is way better than a taxi if you can spare the extra time. The trip time will vary depending on how lucky you are at the transfers. I just missed an Orange line transfer and just missed a Washington Flyer departure, so my travel time of 1:45 was probably a bit longer than the norm. I would guess that the average trip time would be around 1:30.

---

It was a beautiful day, and I got some great shots on the approach into DCA. Not bad for a passenger seat and a cheap digital.

Georgetown University Campus

Watergate Apartments

Kennedy Center

Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument & Reflecting Pool

Washington Monument

LHR: The Monkey Puzzle Pub

The Monkey Puzzle Pub
30 Southwick Street, London, W2 1JQ
Tel: 020 7723 0143

I got a tip from a flight attendant on my last London trip to try the Monkey Puzzle Pub. So I gathered a few folks together to try the place out. Rumor had it that it was owned by an airline guy and hopefully, crew friendly.

The pub is located on the southeast corner of Sussex Gardens and Southwick Street, and is a short pleasant walk from the Metropole Hotel. The bar is clean and well appointed and there is a nice outdoor garden area if the weather permits. It was just a bit chilly on the day of our visit, so we chose to eat inside.

View Larger Map

Mike and Emily tended bar and did a great job wecoming us and getting us started on our first drinks. I never shy away from trying a local brew, and they had one there called Badger, brewed in Sussex. It was not a bad quaff, but not quite as cold as I would prefer. The bar has many other beers on tap, notably three Hofbrau's, regular, premium and extra cold. The extra cold ought to appeal to us Americans.

The menu is short and sweet, as it fits on one page. We started with the hummis and pita appetizer, which was very tasty and not too filling. We ordered a variety of plates from the menu and they were all very good. I'd never heard of Gammon before and one of my crewmates gave that a shot. Gammon is a salty ham, and the chef served it with a fried egg on top. It was salty indeed, almost on par with bacon, but still quite good as reported to me. Everyone's fries were perfect and Mike the bartender kindly snagged me a small bowl of mayo which appeased my euro-style fry kick. I had a sausage sandwich which was very tasty.

Gary, the owner of the Monkey Puzzle, straightened me out on the airline connection rumor. Apparently, he had a worker at one point that was previously an airline employee that would occasionally claim to be the owner. The false rumor was spread around by other crews which is perhaps how legends get started.

So give the Monkey Puzzle Pub a try on your next London layover. If the weather is good, dine out on the patio for some special ambiance. Gary gives his personal welcome to any airline crewmembers that decide to stop by. If you have a group of 6 or more ordering dinner, he'll give you the sixth meal for free! If you visit, drop a line and tell of your experience.

The food we ordered:
Fish and Chips

Gammon

House Salad

Hummis and Pita Appetizer

Chef's Salad w/ Bacon

Sausage and Mash

LHR: Hilton Metropole Notes

The Hilton Metropole Hotel

Hilton.com
225 Edgware Road
Paddington, London, W2 2QL, United Kingdom
Phone: 020 7402 4141

There are three wings of rooms at the Metropole, The West Wing, Tower Wing and East Wing. The West wing was built the most recent and has the better rooms. They are quite a bit larger giving you a more space to sprawl out. The East wing is the next nicest, but the room size depends on the floor and the layout. The Tower wing seem to be the oldest rooms. They are pretty small - typical Euro size. I think they've just upgraded some of the beds in the rooms. The beds used to be pretty bad as I recall, but that hasn't been a problem lately. So, if you can get West Wing rooms, that's your best bet. The West Wing also has ice machines on every floor in the elevator lobbies, if you need something cooled down.

The concierge desk is extremely helpful and can set up any tour that you'd like in London.

Amenities

The pool and the fitness center share the same facility on the second floor. If you like to swim laps, there is a small 15meter pool that is barely long enough for a workout. It would probably be frustratingly short for an accomplished swimmer. They put out a dedicated lane for lap swimming. I haven't broken the code on when kids go to the pool, but if there are a lot of people swimming, I usually don't bother.

The fitness center is very cramped but has everything that you need for a good workout. There are 3 treadmills and a couple of stairmasters. On upright bike that doesn't seem to be used that often. If there are more than 4 people working out with the non-cardio stuff, it can start to get pretty tight.

The Bar has a very good happy hour from 5-7pm. Charge it to your room and you'll get an additional 30% taken off. Say hi to the fine bartenders passing out the beer. They are a great crew and have a good time at work.

The UAL computer room is located on the ground floor on the left side of the hallway that takes you to the West Wing. Get the code from the hotel when you check in. The computers are pathetically slow and seem to have a lot of trouble with the high tech sites that are common today. Unimatic usually works OK though. If you really need faster computer access, you can try to use the executive center located on the 2nd floor of the East Wing. I don't know if they have any restrictions on who can use it, but last time no one asked me any questions.

There are minibar fridges in every room that have sensors to flag you if you've taken something. There usually is no room for your own stuff unless you remove some minibar items. Just put the items back where you got 'em before you leave and you'll be OK. The clerk will ask you when you check out if you had anything from the mini-bar, but just say 'no', of course.

0800 Phone calls are free (but not the 1800 numbers). They will remove the charges upon check out. I learned this recently when I got a calling card. The card 0800 access numbers and that makes the calls back to the states very cheap.

The internet is a digustingly high price of £15 ($30). If anyone has good tips on the free or inexpensive hot spots around the Hotel, please post them.

If you'd like to book a room there for pleasure, you can get a great discount by going to www.hilton.com/travelagentoffer. I was able to get a room for my mom for £97 which was quite a discount from the best rate that they could give me at £147. The hotel clerks cannot give you this price. You gotta go to the website, get the confirmation number, and then show your airline ID when you check in. It's still not the cheapest, but we're talking about a Hilton in a good location in London, so you're gonna spend a bit of cash regardless...

Don't buy an 'Underground' T-shirt from the Hotel Shoppette. They are £8, when you can go right across Praed Street to a store called "Under a Tenner." where they sell the exact same T-shirts in a more variety of sizes for £6.

DEN: Passport Renewal

OK, I know this topic is not exciting, but it might be of interest to those of you needing to renew your passport. Passport renewal can be a tricky subject for international aircrews, because you need to be able to have it done quickly. Although I still had about 1 year of validity remaining on my passport, I needed to have it renewed because some of the visas I must have (French and Chinese) require more than 18 months remaining on any passport before they will issue a visa.

I started looking into getting my passport done at the Denver Passport services office since I've had a few trips to DEN lately. Here is their vitals from the US State Department website:

COLORADO Passport Agency
Cherry Creek III
3151 South Vaughn Way, Suite 600
Aurora, CO 80014
Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., local time, M-F, excluding Federal holidays
Automated Appointment Number: 1-877-487-2778

Get an Appointment

Get an appointment using the number above. I'd recommend the earliest time. You can only make the appointment a maximum of 14 days in advance.

Bring Your Stuff

• 2 passport photos (print 'em at home using http://www.epassportphoto.com/ it's cool!)
• Passport application (online wizard, DS-82 Online Fill-in, or DS-82 Fill-in by hand)
• Letter from your airline authorizing you to have expedited service
• Your airline ID
• You current passport
• Credit card or Check. (It cost me $135. $55 for the book, $60 to expedite, $20 Security surcharge)
• Stuff to read/do, MP3 player etc.

Plan Your Transportation
I chose to travel via RTD bus. It was cheap and very efficient. The 83L is the line that you want from Downtown. Type in 83L in the Schedule Finder on the RTD website to get all the information you need about the route, including maps and schedules.

Any hotel in the Downtown Denver area will have easy access to the Denver Civic Center Station either by walking, or via the free Mall Ride on the 16th St Pedestrian Mall. From the Civic Center Station, you'll take the 83L to the Nine Mile Station Bus Terminal. You'll be riding the bus for the entire route, start to finish. It takes about 35-40 minutes, and costs $1.25 one way (RTD is considering a fare increase, so check their fares before you go or just bring a few extra quarters). You can just pay on the bus with your quarters or dollar bills, but exact change only.

Below is a map of the Nine Mile Station and the Passport office building. The Station is bounded by S. Peoria Street, S. Parker Rd, and I-225. Go under the I-225 and cross at the crosswalks to the Red Lion Hotel. The Passport office building is on the sixth floor of the office building right behind the Red Lion Hotel. I looked for an official US State Dept sign, but didn't see any. The building houses the University of Phoenix campus, and that name is prominently located on the top of the office building.

View Larger Map
Submit & Wait
It's cool if you're the first one in line. You know how that works. I'd try to be there about 10 minutes before they open the doors. There is a security scanner. A guard will preview your materials before he'll let you into the secure area. Once you're in the secure area, you'll procede to the information window where another person looks over your materials. You then get get your queue number just like at a typical DMV office. After you finally submit all your paperwork, it will probably take about 2-3 hours for you to get your passport. If you're hungry, the only place to eat nearby is the Red Lion Hotel. They have a pretty good breakfast buffet for about $8.

Return
Now you're an expert on the RTD bus service, so the return trip out to be a piece of cake. However, you now have a new Passport number, so if you have an international trip coming up, you need to notify your company of the new number, so that the Crew Manifest is correct on the General Declarations.

The Colorado Passport office was very good. They appear to be very understanding of Airline Crews and their need to get Passports done quickly.

It was a good deal to be able to get my passport renewed on a company layover, not on my free time at home. If you passport need renewing, give it a try!

Email me if you have any questions. If you use this info, please post your experiences so we can all benefit... Thanks!

Tim

DEN: Lucky Strike Lanes

If you're looking for something unusual to do on your next Denver layover, try bowling!

I bowled at Lucky Strike Lanes a few weeks ago and it's a really cool joint. It's located right on the 16th Street Mall on the third level of the Denver Pavilions shopping center.

It's not like any bowling alley you might remember from your youth. I'd describe it as a really hip sports bar that just happens to have 12 bowling lanes tucked off to the side. The bar/restaurant area has lots of sofa's and socializing nooks, a long bar and quite a few big screen TVs with various sports playing.

If you want to bowl, go over to the bowling counter and get your name on the list. If you need to wait for a lane, you'll be handed a beeper/vibrator to notify you when your lane is ready. If you don't have bowling shoes (who brings 'em on a layover?), you'll need to rent them for about $3, and after that it's about $6/game, if my memory serves. Now, these would not be the cheapest prices to bowl, but what you do get is a great fun-filled party atmosphere. It's also thankfully lacking that awful smoky smell typical of the lanes of yore.

The lanes are all decked out with neon lights and other neat hip extras. There is a flat screen TV above the ball return that shows the current scores. There are also big screen TVs just above the pin area at the end of the lane. The night I bowled, it was showing a slide show of artwork from a recent art show in the area.

Give it a try! You'll have the most fun if you go with a large group and bowl using 2 lanes. Maybe break into teams and have side wagers of duties for the next days work in the air. After a hard fought game or two, vent off some steam by dancing on the bar at Coyote Ugly, same level, next door.

Have fun!

Tim

The Backsack

I know I'm late to the party on this one, but I just discovered the 'backsack.' This is turning out to be a really cool addition to the suitcase.

What's the weary traveller to do if you want to go out for a few hours of sightseeing and you want to bring along some extra stuff, like a bottle of water, jacket, maps and perhaps a camera and iPod. Enter the backsack. An ingeniously simple design that can be carried like a bag, thrown over one shoulder, or worn on your back like a regular backpack is. The ropes close the opening of the sack when pulled keeping the contents relatively secure. It's made of nylon so it's very lightweight and strong. It folds up easily and takes up very little extra room.

The backsack is also great for bringing stuff to the pool or gym for your workouts.

I had been on the lookout for a collapsable tote bag, but when I saw this with its ability to be worn on the back, it sold me.

Now here's the cool part. I got mine at Marshalls on special for $5. There were a lot of different colors available there at the time, but black is always a winner. I just have to accept the Nike swoosh ad.

It's came in handy on the very first trip I took it on...

Tim