Thankfully it’s only nine minutes to the airport at this time of day and the Air France (AF) handling agents were ready for us. Onboard, mom napped, I stayed on top of emails from Asia and the Gulf and after 90 minutes in the air the captain announced our approach to Paris-Charles de Gaulle – neatly ahead of schedule. At the aircraft door, an AF agent was on hand to meet us with a sunny “bonjour”.

She took my mom’s too heavy purse (I thought I did a final edit before we set off but mom has a habit of sneaking at least another five kilos of print, tech and toiletries in her bag before she leaves the apartment), led us along the airbridge, down the stairs and to a waiting car below. “Well, this is quite special,” mom remarked while buckling up. I confirmed that this was indeed special treatment and that mom should savour the moment.

“Very spoily-pants,” she agreed. “Thank you.”After a few roundabouts, lots of passing luggage and cargo containers, and many AF Airbuses (brand new and nearly vintage) we pulled up at the terminal, showed our passports and were taken through to the La Première arrivals lounge. The connection to Ottawa wasn’t the shortest (three-and-a-half hours), so we settled in with the weekend newspapers, coffees, and plenty of retailers and dealers heading home from Watches and Wonders in Geneva.

A table of Texans (they seemed to own a group of jewellery stores) gave a full forecast of how they saw the market performing till year-end and I’m happy to report that, at least when it comes to Dallas and Houston, they were feeling very good about things and would be ordering “big” for 2027.Thirty minutes before departure, our agent returned and said that she was ready to take us to the plane. A trip outside the lounge to stock up on mags meant that mom’s purse now needed wheels and I took charge of her movable library as we made our way to the car. The crowd in the front of one of Air France’s more elderly 777-300s seemed to be a mix of African diplomats and Canadian military types heading back to the nation’s capital.

I consulted the menu while firing up the screen and started to scroll through the various films and boxsets on offer. The plan was to catch up on lingering emails and get some marching orders sent while crossing the Atlantic but while in the new releases section I noticed French actress Léa Drucker pop up in a promo for a film that I hadn’t heard of. I was about to click on the description for Dossier 137 but decided it was best to order lunch and get on with my work.

Or maybe not? While drinks were being poured I got on with my correspondence but also decided to watch the trailer of Drucker’s film as we crossed what must have been the western coast of Ireland.Without giving too much away, it’s a gritty cop film about the internal affairs investigation division and the complexity (bureaucratic and otherwise) of a case from a gilets jaunes protest. I hit play and can highly recommend it if you’re looking for something to watch at your local review cinema or on the sofa this eve.

As the credits rolled, I was reminded that it has been Air France and not Apple TV, Amazon or Netflix that has offered up some of the best films that I’ve watched over the past three years. Hokkyoku Hyakkaten no Concierge-san (The Concierge at Hokkyoku Department Store), Novembre and Pas des Vagues (The Good Teacher) should all be on your viewing list if you’ve not managed to catch them yet.People crisscross the world to attend film festivals, design biennales and art fairs but, if you choose the correct carrier, some of the best in contemporary culture can be found in the seatback in front of you.

Happy viewing dear reader. Enjoying life in ‘The Faster Lane’? Click here to browse all of Tyler’s past columns.