Introduction
Bonjour, fellow adventurers! Blaziker is here to continue on with my 4-part Annecy Festival blog series of which I am calling:
Regarde! Blaziker in Annecy (And Paris)!
In Part 1, I wrote about my preparation for the Annecy and Paris Adventure, and now, in Part 2, I am documenting about the big day as I begin Day 1 of the Adventure, starting with the afternoon of 19 June 2026, two days before the start of the festival! Without further ado, let’s begin with the big day!
The Big Day (19 June 2026)
So, the big day arrives and as I have the afternoon off from work, I made the final checks for some last-minute adjustments before I take a Grab ride (basically the Uber of Southeast Asia) from my home to one of the world’ best airports: Changi Airport!
As I am on premium economy on Air France, I used the priority check-in queue to check in my luggage and obtain my boarding pass. Before long, I cleared immigration, and I was at the airside of Changi Airport, Terminal 1. I still have some time to kill before my flight, so I used my travel credit card to get access to the Plaza Premium lounge in Terminal 1. Despite being nighttime, and I was not planning on eating substantially knowing I would have a good meal on board, there was time for some runway views and a few snacks before boarding my flight, which I show here:
After a lounge rest, it was time to head to the boarding gate, which require a separate security check before I was allowed into the waiting area prior to the flight. Once again, since I was on premium economy, I got into a boarding group between first class and business class, and economy class passengers, in Group 2, so it took no time before I board my flight to Paris to begin my Annecy adventure.
… If that was under normal circumstances, because I snagged an upgrade to business class that was cheaper than my premium economy upgrade, so yes, I took the chance, and here I was in business class. Let’s back it up, shall we?
Starting with check-in. Just like premium economy, I got priority check-in, baggage check and security screening, but in additon to those, I have lounge access to the Qantas Lounge, and compared to the Plaza Premium Lounge, the Qantas Lounge is honestly an insane upgrade.
While at the lounge, I worked on my Annecy articles to prepare for the reviews of the movies I am covering at the Annecy Festival, enjoyed a bowl of Singapore laksa, and had my first taste of lamington cake. If you had seen Mary and Max, when Mary mailed her first letter to Max, she also shipped in a lamington cake, but when Max opened the package, it was already infested with insects. Disgusting imagery, I know, but thankfully, not only was the cake fresh and protected by a glass cloche, but it was delicious!
As much as I wanted to stay at the best airport in the world, we still have a festival to get to, so without further ado, let’s get on board our flight to Paris, for real!
First Leg: Air France in Business Class
Considering this is my first ever time in business class, I was getting way too excited about it, but it was when I found my seat that the shoe dropped. I have a whole seat in a private cocoon for myself.
The bedding and pillow were already waiting for me, as well as this large 4K touchscreen TV waiting for me. I had already checked out the inflight entertainment content beforehand, and let’s just say I was too excited to see some of the content I wanted to see. Noise-cancelling headphones were also provided, but given the system has Bluetooth connectivity, I used my own set of noise-cancelling headphones throughout the flight.
Soon, as the boarding finishes, the cabin crew began the pre-departure service, beginning with welcome drinks and amenity kits. Champagne is just too appropriate to begin my first ever European journey, especially to France. Air France’s safety video begins to play, and we take off into the skies for 13.5 hours.
Once the seatbelt sign is turned off, the crew gave out hot towels in preparation for dinner service, starting with what the French say an apero, basically a pre-dinner drink, normally served with some snacks. Champagne, cheese crepe snacks and an amuse-bouche of watermelon with ewe’s cheese, and that serves as the start of the service.
Next came a couple of appetisers before the main course of braised Wagyu short ribs, which was very tender indeed, followed by a cheese selection and dessert of our choice, which I went for a chocolate mousse. Considering French meals normally end with coffee, which is the last thing I want to drink given it is going to be sleep time soon, I opted for a non-caffeinated tea instead. It was worth noting that the crew were very attentive throughout the entire meal service, not surprising given this is business class after all.
After that, it was back to relaxing with another movie (this time Zootopia 2, which, if you had read my review of it, is an easy recommendation for me), before I head off to sleep. I turned my seat into a lie-flat bed using the electronic controls, and before long, I was sound asleep for the flight to Paris. I eventually woke up in the morning in Singapore time (which is still around early morning in Paris), so I freshen up, head to the galley to get some fruit and a cup of hot tea, and work on some of my upcoming articles on The Animated Movie Adventurer, including the Regarde posts and my Toy Story 5 review. As morning came to light and the rest of the passengers began waking up, it was soon time for breakfast before landing in Paris. I opted for French-style scrambled eggs with mushrooms, a potato patty, and asparagus. To say that these are the silkiest scrambled eggs I ever had would be an understatement.
Soon, the plane descended into Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport as the sun began to rise in Paris, and after a rather quick border check because of priority border control checks (also helped by the fact that the EU Entry/Exit System machines were not operating at that time), I was at the baggage belt where I got my check-in luggage and the realisation came: I had finally arrived in Europe.
Brief Paris Stopover
Since there was time before my train departs for Annecy, I took the RER train from the Airport into Paris, and then to Gare De Lyon station, where I head to a third-party luggage storage store just outside of the station before heading to Sacre Coeur for some sightseeing.
Climbing up to the Sacre Coeur church and witnessing the Paris skyline from the top of Montmartre, I was in awe over how large Paris is. This was just like Remy looking out at the Paris skyline in Ratatouille, and I had just the same reaction as him. Sure, it was quite hot at that time, but I was still amazed by how amazing Paris was for me.
Climbing down to the bottom of Montmartre, considering I still had some time before my train, I took the Paris Metro to Arc De Triompe, paid the admission for the rooftop ticket and climbed up to the very top of the Arc (with a brief stop at the museum to understand the rich history of the Arc), and here I was, having a 360 view of the Paris surroundings, including the iconic Eiffel Tower. I will visit the Tower itself when I returned from the Festival, but more on that later.
After that, it was almost an hour before my train ride, so I returned to the train station, ordered some lunch from a nearby boulangerie (a French bakery in layman’s terms), before using the Grand Voyager lounge in the station to take a breather and some drinks before the train ride itself. And without further ado…
Second Leg: TGV First Class to Annecy
It was time to head to the platform for my train ride to Annecy. The plan was for me to have my lunch on the train with the lunch I purchased beforehand, which is a lunch set consisting of a sandwich, a flan, and a drink. This was my first boulangerie experience, and to say I was impressed was an understatement. In fact, this sandwich and flan combo is one of my most favourite meals I had on the trip, and almost immediately, I was won over by the boulangerie experience in France.
It was time for more work and sightseeing as the train rolled into the French countryside. It was quite hot outside, but the air-conditioning inside the train helped ease the sweat. Working on the reviews and creating the Instagram and full graphics of the scores I gave for some of the animated movies I had covered with the train providing spectacular views of France, in hindsight I should have booked that in the first place instead of my previous itinerary of flying to Geneva and taking the bus into Annecy.
After some time, by mean about 4 hours later, the train soon approaches Annecy, and this also reminded me of Judy Hopps travelling on train to Zootopia in the first Zootopia movie, and her excitement as she exited the train and into the Zootopia city centre was exactly how I felt when I stepped off the train and before long…
I am finally in Annecy!
Arrival!
As I exited the train station, the Annecy Festival sign above greeted me and all the other festival goers, but there was still one more thing to do, and that is to head to the Airbnb that I had booked for the festival. This Airbnb is a small but beautiful home within an ancient but comfortable cottage on the hills of Cote Perriere within the city centre.
After that, I dropped my bags and took some time to walk around the nearby surroundings of the city centre, and here I was, seeing the large festival sign and that was when I knew, I had finally arrived in Annecy for the Annecy Film Festival.
To Be Continued
That was all the time we have in this section of my Adventure, but before we venture into Part 3 where I talk about the festival itself and my overall experience there, I feel it is time I deserve one last summer vacation to a mysterious island that holds a dark secret, and no, it is not Forgotten Island, but I can assure you, this detour is worth heading out for.
Until next time, see you on the next adventure!
Leave a Reply