So, I had never been in the pointy end of an Air France 747 and had heard "good luck with service" from a couple of people. I found everything to be very well done, the staff was pleasant and professional and the trip went by quickly. And, most importantly, the champagne was cold when we stepped on board and continued to flow throughout the trip. So, here's the menu:
Hors d'Oeuvre: Tomato and cured ham, a very nice lemon scented sauce and some asparagus. Light but well flavored, and good bread to go along with it.
Main Course: Pan-seared tournedos of beef with a wild mushroom sauce, risotto and sugar snap peas. Everything was tasty, if the beef somewhat over cooked [but I can understand that due to the logistics]. The risotto was formed as a cake and had a very light texture that was pleasant with the mushroom sauce. The peas even snapped, which was nice as they had been sitting around for a long time I'm sure.
Cheese course: three very good cheeses, all of which the flight attendant could name [in contrast to the waiter at a certain Chicago restaurant]. I think that they did a modification of the service, in that the served the cheese along with the main, it made the table crowded and was probably not standard. But the cheese was good!
Dessert: a selection, including a very nice peach tart and mango sorbet.
For breakfast there was scrambled eggs with herbs in a crepe, along with grilled sausage and potatoes. The eggs were tasty but overcooked, again a function of the logistics of holding them for so long while in the air. The fresh fruit salad and pastries were both good additions.
We transferred onto a smaller plane for the trip from Paris to Milan, and in about an hour the flight attendants served a boxed cold lunch and beverages to the entire plane. Smoked salmon, salad, bread . . . nice touch and when was the last time you had anything on a flight of that length on a US carrier?
I was very pleased with the Air France product and will use it again. Solid all around, not really great, but more than what I was expecting.
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