KLM City Hopper, Economy Class – Embraer ERJ-190: Mont de Marsan to Basel via Amsterdam

Introduction

It’s Friday and I’ve just completed another course with my two colleagues in Mont de Marsan. Just in case you’re wondering, Mont de Marsan is a nice, sleepy little town roughly 80 minutes by car due south of Bordeaux. There is an airbase of the French Air Force in Mont de Marsan, but the facility is not open to civilian traffic, so Bordeaux is the closest airport for me to use.

Let’s start with a few pictures of Mont de Marsan, shall we?

Getting to the Airport

Transport: rented car
Departure: Contis-Plage
Journey time: 90 minutes

The flight will not be departing for Amsterdam until 14:00, so we figure we might as well do a slight detour on our way to the airport and try to visit one of the many beautiful beaches along the French Atlantic coast. It’s a magnificent day and there isn’t a single cloud in the sky. We head for a place called Contis – Plage.

The holiday season has yet to begin in Contis, so the place is more or less deserted. The beach is simply amazing and stretches on endlessly. There are a few surfers around, but that’s just about it really.

We spend about an hour in Contis before eventually heading back to Bordeaux. We arrive at the airport just after 12:00.

Check-in

Location: On the second floor, above Arrivals. Check-in for the KLM flight to Amsterdam takes place in Hall B, presumably because this is the dedicated Air France area of the terminal. The boarding gate however, is located in Hall A.
Facilities: I’ve checked in using the KLM app. My boarding passes are uploaded to passbook directly as soon as I check in using the KLM app.
Counters: Obviously, with this being Air France country, there are plenty of self-service kiosks, baggage drop counters and a SkyPriority counter available in Hall B.

The security check is quickly done, there aren’t many people queuing. Immediately behind security there is a café with some good views of the apron and the active runway. Not that there’s really that much traffic to see here.

I decide to have a cheese sandwich and a canelé – after all I haven’t had lunch yet! A canelé is a sweet from this region. It’s a small cake type thing with cinnamon and some sort of alcohol. And it’s really quite tasty.

The Lounge

Location: The appropriately named ‘Airport Lounge’ is located right behind security, next to the gate area for the A gates. Access to the lounge is via an access code for the door, which can only be obtained at check-in.
Type facility: This is a contract lounge, which is operated by the same company which runs the café outside. There is one toilet in the lounge. And it is likely to be one of the busiest bogs in all of France.
Internet: Apparently there is wifi. However, the corresponding sign looks as though it was printed many moons ago and indeed, when I try to access the internet, none of my devices are actually capable of locating or identifying a network.

The lounge is not very well stocked either. As you enter the lounge, there is a table on the left with the food options, if you want to call them that. Essentially it’s just a basket with some prepacked, processed and very unhealthy food and a lone croissant, which looks as though it’s been waiting there to be devoured since the morning of the day before. On the right hand side there is a coffee machine and a fridge with soft drinks.

Boarding

The Cabin

Configuration: 2 + 2
Pitch: 31 inches
Width: 17 inches

I rather like the cabin of the Embraer ERJ-190. Compared to the Fokker F 70 it has much cleaner and simpler lines. The aircraft just looks newer. Even so, there’s one area in which the Embraer simply can’t touch the Fokker 70: the seat on the Embraer is very uncomfortable. The main problem is that the seats seem to be lower above the ground. As a result, your legs are never really comfortable, and neither is your back. By the time we arrive in Amsterdam my coccyx feels all sore.

I’m sitting in the last row of the bus today, on 26F. As far as I’m concerned this seat is as good as any other. The pitch is sufficient and they have even left room behind the seat to allow you to recline the seatback.

The Crew

There are two female flight attendants on this flight. I’ve already had the pleasure before with the one standing by the entrance to the aircraft. The young lady in the back is friendly as well. What strikes me about her is that she has immaculate make up, with a lipstick that not only complements her features very well but also goes rather nicely with the colours of the uniform and the smidges of orange on the scarf.

The Meal

I’m still struggling to figure out KLM’s catering concept here. Whatever it may be though, I just want to make it clear that I’m certainly not complaining. What I’m trying to figure out, is when they serve you something proper to eat and when they just give you a choice of a sweet or savoury snack in a packet. Also, on the outbound leg we were offered a sandwich and a packet of Punselies biscuits for dessert. On the inbound however, there was just the sandwich but no Punselies.

1. Sandwich of Gouda cheese with a mustard mayonnaise
2. Coffee
3. Still water
   

The meal is very simple, but it serves its purpose well. I don’t really think there is anything much else to say about it.

Arrival

For the rest of the flight I spend my time gazing out the window. It really has turned into a beautiful day for flying. Our routing even takes us due west of Paris, and I can even make out Orly and Roissy airports.

We land in a north-easterly direction on the runway adjacent to the Fokker farm. As a result, the taxi from touch down to our stand at gate B36 is very short.

And with that another good flight with KLM comes to an end. I now have a layover of four hours before my onward connection to Basel, which I shall spend working in the lounge.

Epilogue

In Mont de Marsan I stayed at the Renaissance Hotel. It’s a three star facility but it’s probably the best location in the entire town. I enjoyed staying here. The rooms are comfortable and clean and the bed is tremendously comfortable. What’s more, the hotel has a huge garden right next to a large pond.