La Rochelle

[cblinton@blueyonder.]

No doubt its been done but the search function is not working at the moment.

We are heading south for a week on the 28th via Jersey for cheap fuel and then on down to La Rochelle. The furthest south I have flown is Dinard so any good TIPS on L Rochelle and surrounding area, any places not to be missed? Any points to consider on route?

Many thanks
Chris

And before you start no I do not intend to land on any french beaches!!!:O

[Charlie Fox]

No problems as far as ATC is concerned south of Dinard. As Dinard Approach is no longer there you can call Rennes & then Nantes.

If you haven't already done so I suggest you book accommodation before you get to La Rochelle. French go on holiday in August!!!!!!!!

[Oscar Duece]

ah La Rochelle, what fun we had last time.

Very good sea food in town, and not that expensive.

The airport itself is on a flat area easy to find, with plenty of Ga parking and tie downs, on the eastern side past the tower.

Only problem I had was the BP refuelling guy and my limited French. Have a BP charge card for use with any aircraft and such is marked in the registration section. Poor old French refueller wasn't happy becasue my aircraft registration wasn't G-ANY. He had to phone Paris office to get an explanation, oh what a fub 30 minutes. Anyway he was all smiles on the way back from Biaritz.

;)

[RodgerF]

Saumur is a little airfield to call in at. A visit to the town for a lunch stop is worth doing.

Going across to the airfield on St Pierre d'Oleron just across the bay makes a good day out. 20 minutes away. You can rent bikes to explore. Don't expect to pay to land. Its a grass field, but that far south its brown!

[Flying Boat]

cb

These are from the other main La Rochelle thread I wrote to.

Hope it helps


gasax
To avoid having to fly into the overhead, use the big bridge as a landmark, the airfield is tucked to the north east of the shore end. The land is pretty flat and with the airfield on the edge of the town it does not standout that well.

Other than that typical French provincial airport. Make a point of trying the restrurants in the old town - excellent and very scenic.


Flying Boat
La Rochelle is straight forward, but don't overfly the no fly areas, little hamlets to the North & East. Jeppessen VFR Charts show it.

Once landed, refuel if necessary first, the firemen refuel, take landing charges, baggage for commercials & occasionally do Firemen duties, as in most provincial airports.

Parking on the grass is cheaper than parking on the hardcore, however, I flew an Aztec there & parked it on the hard for 2 nights & paid only £4.50 - think they got it wrong.

Customs: 4 HRS PN is required, weekdays inbound & out, but I usually telephone them the day before, sometimes backing it up with a fax.

Return flight plans are telephoned to Bordeaux from a freephone at the base of the tower (airside) and weather is obtained from a computer terminal, a bit like MARS, also at the base of the tower.

Due to the glass frontage looking over the small apron, you can leave the passengers in the terminal until you are ready.

Exit & entry is through the baggage area, long plastic strips.

The firemen will not be around at lunchtime (2 hours+) to collect your landing fees, so you must leave a business card with all your contact details & REG if you want to go outside the manned times.

AA is right, pre book your accom. I have stayed in the 'Le Yachtman' hotel on the old harbour front, and the 'Oceanide' next to the new aquarium, near Jaques Cousteau's ship 'Calypso'. (Both are Mercure)

There are also at least 2 Ibis hotels & a Novotel. Go to the accor site: www.accorhotels.com do the search for La Rochelle & you will see the availability.

Once arriving in La Rochelle airport & entered the terminal go & have a drink at the little bar in the departure area whilst one of you gets a taxi. The taxis are easily contacted through a free phone on the left wall (yellow if I remember correctly) between the two sets of doors going to the airport carpark area.

The restaurants are wonderful, a very high quality one (sorry can't remember the name) by the right tower (as you look at the harbour, out towards the sea). An extra fix is the Rhummerie to the right of this restaurant (good quality 60 year old Rhum). Last visual clue, this restaurant has high quality linen on the tables & clear crystal glasses for excellent wine.

A local apperitif is Pinneau des Charentes, wine/grape juice fortified by cognac, served chilled & in two colours, lovely jubbly.

The XO Cognac is also very cheap.

If you fancy a good boat ride, go to Fort Boyard, a Napoleonic fort now used for game shows.

Have a good trip, i'm bloody envious, lucky sod.

FB


Southern Cross
Flying Boat's advice is spot on. Don't forget the 4 hours notice before you leave becuase they WILL fine you. Grass parking is free. It is a superb place to fly into. To the north of the airport on the other side of the bay is a swampy area where I have often experienced localised fog or mist. Usually much clearer in the circuit.

Do not miss theopportunity to go to Ille de Re. the bridge over there is pricey, but it is worth it. St Martin en Re is a wonderful place and the beaches at the far end, I think called Plage de Balein or something similar, are the best in the region.



Have a good trip
FB
:ok:

[cblinton@blueyonder.]

Thanks Flying Boat, We are off on Monday so will let you know how we got on.

Cheers CB:ok:

[Rattus]

Further to Rodger Fs reply re Saumur, this little aerodrome is one of my favourite French stops. If time is limited, you don't even have to go into town.

Le Clos Des Benedictins, 5 minutes walk across the grass, if the aeromodellers are not about (if they are, it's only a couple of minutes longer by road), does a very good lunch, either dans la salle or sur la terrasse with a magnificent view across the town to the chateau.

Bon vol at bon appetit!

Rattus

[Fujiflyer]

Sorry to be off topic. I am hoping to fly to Rennes very soon - can anyone throw me some (any) helpful advice?

Route is (overall): EGKA-EGNH (drop the kids off) EGNH-EGJA EGJA-LFRN LFRN-LFMK LFMK-LEMH.

9 days later:

LEMH-LFLC LFLC-EGKA


Rich

[skydriller]

Hi CB, , Sorry if this is a bit late, I didnt see the thread initially.

All good info above regarding La Rochelle, but be aware there is now an ATIS on 136.72, as I found out the other day when they asked if I had information kilo etc, which is not mentioned in the latest update for VAC Sud Ouest.

If you dont mind grass runways, you could come to Lesparre/Saint Laurent Medoc, in the middle of the Medoc wine region, its due south of La Rochelle, and I can probably arrange some very good nearby accomodation for you if you want to stay overnight/a few days. The Strip is 900mx60m and has Avgas on site, free landing etc as this is France, might be able to squeeze you in a hangar, but dont quote me on it, as it depends on the day. I should be around when you are planning to fly down and dont mind giving lifts etc, if you Email me we can get in touch and arrange something if you want.

Regards, SD..

Edited as I just realised it really is abit late in the day, but if you do want to come down this way alternatively give the Aeroclub a call on +33 (0) 556 594 225, someone is usually there that speaks English and ask to get in touch with the clubs English pilot!!

[cblinton@blueyonder.]

Thaks SD

Check your private msg

Cheers:ok:

[cblinton@blueyonder.]

Thanks to all for your help:ok:

We had a great holiday:O

Sunday flew to Jersey and picked up some cheap fuel then monday to La Rochelle. Unfortunatley our son was sick about halfway and in a hot plane it started to make Mrs CB feel a bit oik and I have to admitt I was not to good either. So we landed and the first french we spoke was have you got a bin please to put this carrier bag full of sick in?
We then had the job of removing the rest of it that missed the bag.
Taxi to the hotel and then into town, what a lovely place!!
Wednesday we flew down the coast to Biarritz, WOW what a flight over the tremblades etc and past the biggest sand dune in the world (apparentley).
After landing we taxied to the fuel pumps and I walked over to the fuel kiosk where you pick up this phone and ask to be refuelled. There was no reply and I looked back to Mrs CB who was in fits of laughter!!!:D

The fuel chap was hiding behind the kiosk making gestures to Mrs CB that it was him I was trying to phone and he was right there!!!!

The handling company phoned for a hotel and very kindly haggled with them getting us a healthy discount for being a pilot.

Friday we flew over the pyrenees to San sabastian for the day:ok:


Sunday back up the coast to Dinard via La Rochelle for lunch and got a taxi to St Malo.
Monday Dinard dct Kemble.

The whole week was superb, flying was great, food was fab and apart from the up chucking no hicups.

Cant wait for the next trip!!!!

Cheers Chris:cool:

[AC-DC]

Have a look at http://www.hotel-la-rochelle.com/ang/index.html The hotel is in the best spot in town, however, no aircon. and as being on the square is a bit noisy.

http://larochelle-tourisme.com/en/index.htm will help you with what to see and where to go.

Recommended restaurants are:
1. Les Flots positioned on the square tel: 05-46-41-32-51
2. Andre - On the square, sorry, no tel. on hand
3. Aunis - positioned in 14 Rue St Jean Due Perot (just behind the square), no tel. on hand.

All three places provide very good meal with Les Flots and Aunis being the better of the three and Les Flots the most expansive but elegant.

Don't forget to have your PNR and a/c documents.