Australia - France

Finally the time for departure had come. We booked in with Qatar airlines and enjoyed the Mahaba Business Lounge waiting for the flight. As first time Qatar travellers we were delighted with the personal excellent service. We enjoyed a meal of poached prawns, beef and gourmet ice-cream and a dessert of fresh berries with rose hip syrup. Phil said it was outstanding - praise indeed from him. We enjoyef having a drink at the bar and talking with the attendants. Great way to stretch the legs on these long hauls. The 14 hour flight went quickly with a solid sleep by both of us. Dohar is the home port of Qatar. Like all these countries the airports are just in a land of pure white sand. No other vegetation to be seen nor any other airlines other than Qatar. The airport itself is very smart with lots of upmarkets shops. The Mourjan lounge was on 2 floors with a restaurant upstairs with an all inclusive buffet. Downstairs was the quiet zone with a large water feature popping bubbles to add to the atmosphere. Several coffee/tea stations were all around. Showering and praying rooms were also available. After a 3 hour stay over (next time we will make it longer because Qatar offer you two types of tours to see more of Dohar - great value I think) we took off for our flight to Paris. Another excellent flight where I got to watch 2 movies - The Eighth Grader and Dumplin'. We both thought that the entertainment program on Qatar was somewhat dated.

It is always exciting to catch the first glimpse of Europe but that will be the subject of the next entry. A bientot....til later!@