Day 1 (March 16, 2019): Let the 30-Hour Trek Begin!

It was a year ago that we decided to visit French Polynesia during March Break 2019, and the detailed planning actually started last April. With 118 islands and atolls, limited flight choices, and some of the world’s most expensive accommodations, it isn’t the simplest travel plan we have ever taken on. Yet, there is something about the green mountain peaks, the azure water, and the sheer exotic sound of”Bora Bora” that pulled us in and made us decide to strike French Polynesia off our bucket list in 2019.

The last week has been a tough one in the world aviation industry with the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 near Addis Ababa last Sunday and the subsequent grounding of all Max aircraft around the world. For those with Max aircraft in their March Break travel itineraries, it has caused stressful last-minute changes. Fortunately for us, none of the eight flights in our itinerary for this trip involve the Max.

With a noon departure from Halifax, we got up at a reasonable time, had a relaxing breakfast, and left home around 10. Although the airport had apparently been a total zoo of March Breakers earlier in the morning, by the tome we arrived, all was quiet and there was hardly a person at security. We got a snack at the Maple Leaf Lounge, were on our Airbus A321 by 11:30, and actually pushed back early. At a balmy 8 degrees, de-icing certainly wasn’t necessary.

An early arrival into Toronto just added to the three hour connection. So we passed the time at both the Maple Leaf Lounge and the Premium Plaza Lounge (which serves the best sesame pork I’ve ever eaten!). It was another packed flight, but our Airbus A320 pushed back exactly at its planned departure time of 4:20. We arrived at LAX 15 minutes early, switched terminals (LAX has nine of them!), and started the six-hour wait for our Air France connection to Pape’ete, the capital of French Polynesia. (And what an exhausting six hours it was!)

Fortunately our Air France Boeing 777 made it in from Paris and we just pushed back just 20 minutes late, at 1AM. Bear in mind, it is 5AM back home, so it has been a long travel day already. As with the previous two flights, a packed flight.

So pleased to have made it this far with no delays or cancellations. Uber excited at the thought of setting foot on the island of Tahiti tomorrow morning. Bonsoir from Air France!

The Airbus A321 that took us to Toronto, as it arrived inbound in foggy Halifax.