Around the World in 8 Days – Day -1 including JFK Air France and Alitalia Lounges

Day 1 (or is this Day -1?)  – Around the World in 8 Days – Thursday, January 8th: JFK

I packed my suitcase as light as I could and lugged my bags on the subway to work.  After working all day, I took the subway to the Howard Beach Station Airtrain, and went to JFK.

I lounge-hopped between the Air France and Alitalia Lounges, which are practically next door to each other.  It was a tale of two cities, or more appropriately two lounges.

Air France Lounge: 

The Air France Lounge was bustling and the food was good and fresh.  I had some salad items, including smoked salmon and sampled the two soups: a creamy cauliflower and a carrot ginger.  Both were excellent.  The newspapers and the Television all covered the devastaing news surrounding the Charlie Hebdoe massacre of the day before.

Photos from Air France lounge:

Alitalia Lounge:

The Alitalia Lounge, by comparison, seemed like a ghost town.  The lounge was good and the selection of foods (many refrigerated or pre-prepared) were just fine.  It just wasn’t as good as the Air France lounge.  The atmosphere was somehow lacking — it didn’t have the joie de vivre that the Air France lounge had.

Photos from Alitalia Lounge:

The flight: Alitalia, JFK – MXP.

Of the 5 flights I took over the week, this was my least favorite.  It  was packed and rather turbulent, and I was unable to sleep during the entire flight.