Air France Expo NYC and Rooftop Party

Air France came to New York City last week, with a fabulous exposition!  The event, held at Center 548, at 548 West 22nd Street, was invite only the first day, Wednesday June 25th, and open to the public from Thursday June 26th through Saturday June 28th.  In addition to the exposition, a number of private sponsored events took place.

I was having a busy week, and was not able to make it to the exhibition on Thursday or Friday.  On Friday, however, I was notified of a rooftop champagne event with Air France and French Tuesdays on Saturday afternoon that sounded wonderful!  I immediately sent off an RSVP and was confirmed for the noon event.

I arrived early so I could look around the exhibit for a while.  I loved it!  I felt like a child filled with wide-eyed wonder!  You could tell that a ton of thought, creativity, planning and money went into this.  Here’s the entrance to the expo:

As you followed a maze, you visited each class of Air France service, from Economy to Economy Plus to Business to First.

Economy:

Premium Economy:

Business:

Premiere:

There were also many “retro” displays.  There was a display of flight attendant uniforms – I was partial to the pink Balenciaga.

A display of Air France amenity bags.

And some amazing photos of celebrities who flew Air France – Audrey Hepburn, Anthony Quinn, Jane Mansfield, Elizabeth Taylor and Louis Armstrong to name a few.

And, who could forget the Concorde:

Some of the displays were fanciful and rather amazing.  One was a simple swing.  But as you moved on the swing, pictures of all the wonderful cities Air France Travels to appeared on the wall.

There was also a modern version of a hall of mirrors.

I proceeded to the rooftop event.  It was a gorgeous day, perfect for a picnic!

There was champagne being generously poured and box sandwiches provided by Benoit (French Bistro by Alain Ducasse).  The lobster sandwiches went fast.  There was also a chicken and a vegetarian choice.

What I loved most was that the New York Team for Air France, as well as many from France, were present and engaged in conversation.  I really enjoyed meeting many of Air France’s team and speaking frankly to them about the expo and Air France’s plans and visions.

There was a short introduction and greeting by the team where they thanked the guests for attending, gave some short speeches and then did a drawing for 2 trips to Paris.   Unfortunately, I didn’t win.

Both the expo and the rooftop event were spectacular.    The feeling I got was that Air France wants to be thought of in it’s own right.  It wants a presence, separate and apart from being a Sky Team member and a partner of Delta.