The clock went forward an hour between Birmingham and Paris. It went forward two more hours between Paris and Yerevan so, by the time we arrived, it was dark. We were late away from Paris (more delays loading cargo containers and surface water on the normal runway meant a long taxi to an alternative runway, giving us a view of a preserved Concorde elevated on three slim columns as if in flight).
Preserved Concorde on static display, Paris CDG.
Again, a very basic A320 was in use with 3+3 seating. Moveable curtains define a variable Business Class cabin at the front. As a concession to business class passengers, the middle seat in each group of three was left empty. I was quite surprised to find not even audio channels were provided so I read the latest 'Private Eye' thoroughly. We did get a tray meal with a choice of two main courses during the four hour plus flight. Once again, the cabin staff were friendly enough. Although the Captain said he'd try to make up some time en-route, we were still late into Yerevan.
In contrast to Paris, the elderly terminal building at Yerevan was fairly basic and looked Russian-built. But we did enter the terminal through one of two air bridges I'd seen as we arrived, as departing passengers were shuffling down the other air bridge to an Aeroflot aircraft. My one checked bag arrived fairly promptly and with a British/EU passport no visa is required. Our arrival seemed to be the only flight troubling Immigration so I was quickly admitted to the country and passed through the green Customs channel. The arrivals hall was quite busy but after a short search I located the 'Golden Eagle' lady guide. She'd already collected the rest of her 'charges' so we immediately walked out of the building to a large people carrier which drove us into the city.
The impression of the buildings and infrastructure I gained as we sped through the fairly well-illuminated streets suggested Armenia's recent history as a Soviet Republic. The shops and commercial buildings were liberally decorated with illuminated signs - about half in English, the other half in characters I didn't recognise which I assumed, and later confirmed, to be Armenian. We arrived at a large square with a number of imposing, fairly grand flood-lit buildings - Republic Square with Government House, Museums and the Marriott Hotel which was to be my temporary home for two days.
Marriott Armenia Hotel, Yerevan
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my 'Golden Eagle' Caspian Odyssey trip, starting with Travelling East. Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Caspian Odyssey reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Caspian Odyssey reports.
My albums of pictures
Paris: Charles de Gaulle Airport (this and earlier trips).
Yerevan, Armenia.
Marriott Armenia, Yerevan
All my pictures in Armenia can be found in the collection of albums Armenia.
[Minor changes, pictures added: 3-Oct-2018]
