Sit on the Left side of the plane for the best views on flights from Mexico City to Paris. Left side wins both the departure over the Mexican volcanoes and the arrival into Paris. During the transatlantic cruise at 35,000 feet the views are largely ocean and cloud, but the left side also has a marginally better angle on the Gulf of Mexico coastline during initial climb-out and on the Iberian Peninsula if the routing tracks over Spain.

During takeoff from Licenciado Benito Juarez International (MEX), sit on the Left side for the best views. MEX typically departs on runway 05R heading northeast, which puts the left (north/northwest) side facing the Sierra Nevada volcanic chain including Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. These two massive stratovolcanoes rise to over 17,000 feet and are unmistakable from the air, especially with snow-capped summits visible above the Mexico City basin smog layer. Notable sights include: Popocatépetl volcano (active, often with plume), Iztaccíhuatl volcano, the dense urban grid of Mexico City spreading across the Valley of Mexico, Lake Texcoco remnant wetlands to the northeast.

When landing at Charles De Gaulle (CDG), sit on the Left side for the best views. CDG's most common landing approaches are on runways 27L/27R heading west, or 09L/09R heading east. On a transatlantic arrival from the west, aircraft typically approach from the northwest and land heading east on 09s, putting the left (north) side facing Paris city center and the Seine river. On westward runway 27 approaches, the left side still offers the better urban view as the aircraft tracks south of the city. Notable sights include: Paris city center with the Seine river bends, the Île-de-France agricultural patchwork (large rectangular fields), the Oise river valley north of Paris, the dense suburban sprawl of the northern Paris banlieues.

The flight from Licenciado Benito Juarez International (MEX) to Charles De Gaulle (CDG) takes Approximately 11 to 12 hours.

After departing Mexico City the route tracks northeast over the Gulf of Mexico, then crosses the Atlantic roughly between Newfoundland and the Azores at cruise altitude. Mid-flight features include the Gulf of Mexico coastline of the Yucatan Peninsula, the open North Atlantic with occasional icebergs visible at lower latitudes in winter, the coast of Portugal or northern Spain depending on routing, and the Bay of Biscay before entering French airspace over the Pyrenees or Brittany.