via All Posters

‘Twas a thing of beauty, that morning flight on Air France from JFK to Charles de Gaulle.

Took them years to sort out that this was the way I wanted to get to France. Trouble is, the rest of you all didn’t feel the same way, and the airline is pulling the plug on AF005.

That’s sad, but not surprising. After all, like many, did I actually fly the route? No. Just planned to at some point. (Mother always said the road to cancellation was paved with good intentions.)

Apparently, it is harder to get people to fly to the continent during the day, with the extra hour. That’s understandable. At least when you get to London, there’s often still a shred of sunlight left. To the continent, most times of the year, you would have had to hustle to JFK in the morning, then land far too quickly in France for it to be dark out.

Also, the airline has announced its winter reduction schedule earlier this year, and is also discontinuing a second flight from JFK as of late September. And since neither rain nor sleet nor hail nor high exchange rates can keep Americans from their beloved Paris (seriously – nothing messes with those numbers), one has to assume things are weak from the other side.

Could it be that the French – President Sarkozy aside – are still avoiding? Dunno, but Le Monde’s travel section continues to ice out the United States, if that’s any indication. For the past few years, there has generally been only one article on the US available at a time in the entire Americas travel portal, and this week is no exception. Hmm.

I’d call Air France for comment, but that’d be an exercise in frustration. It is August, after all, and the nation is on vacation. Lucky buggers.

For more chatter, check out the boards here.