BRL, I have pics, but don't know how to post them on here. If you tell me how, I'd do it.
TUESDAY 7TH JUNE
The forecast is great, but reality not quite so good. I arrive at Rochester to find good vis but overcast skies. I've filled in most of the flight plan form, and the people in the tower help me with the bits I can't remember. They also direct me back to the runway; I never was much good with finding grass runways in the middle of a big grass airfield.
Everyone is wonderfully helpful. I put on my life jacket and set off.
As I approach the coast it becomes gradually more hazy, and I become gradually more worried. I can't get much higher than about 2500 ft, and there's no horizon at all, with the overcast sky merging into the sea. I begin to wonder if I should be doing this. I decide to give it a try, but be ready to turn back at the slightest hint that I'm getting disorientated. But actually, it's OK. There are about three ships ahead as I leave Dover, and one seems to be heading for Cap Gris Nez...though I suspect it's really heading for Bologne. Anyway, it helps to follow it, and about five miles out I can already see the French coast; the vis isn't as bad as it first appeared. I leave the carb heat out for the whole 18 miles across water; I have enough to think about without worrying about that, and the C150 is very prone to carb icing anyway.
Soon I'm at Cap Gris Nez, and I call Le Touquet. It all seems pretty straightforward...or would be if it wasn't peak time for the aerial day trippers from the south coast airfields. The sky is positively crowded, and we're all heading for Le Touquet. And everyone can find it except me; I don't see the airfield till I'm nearly on top of it. I think the controller twigs that I'm a bit confused, as with three of us downwind, he immediately tells me I'm number one. I think he wants to get me on the ground, and that's OK with me! Anyway, it's a bit of a bumpy crosswind landing - my first of many, as it turned out - but it's a huge runway and not really difficult. I head for the restaurant; I'm not really hungry, but lunch seems like a good idea. I'm shaking all over for some reason, but at the same time quite elated... I've made it to France, alone.
I have a couple of hours rest as I'm pretty tired, probably more stressed than tired, but they're connected when it comes to flying. I've decided to fly to Deauville via the Rouen VOR; I don't fancy the coastal route as it has a couple of these nuclear power station restricted areas, and I don't want to risk getting too near them. I put the route in my GPS too...belt and braces approach, I think you'd call it. There aren't many military areas on that route, and my only worry is if Rouen won't let me through their zone. But it's easy. Rouen talk to me, I understand them, they give me a squawk and leave me alone. This, I soon discover, is typical of French controlled airspace. The weather is good, though a bit bumpy and thermic on a warm afternoon. I take photos of the Seine winding through Rouen, and begin to enjoy myself. Deauville appears when it should; with another massive long runway it's not hard to find. Another bumpy crosswind landing, and I'm there. I've decided to go to Honfleur, which Alistair Arthur recommended in his articles on French airfields in Today's Pilot; I've photocopied the articles and brought them with me. The people at Deauville get me a taxi, and the taxi driver finds me a hotel. He speaks about as much English as I do French, though my long forgotten schoolgirl French is coming back a little, out of necessity. Anyway, I spend a happy evening looking round Honfleur, which is a gorgeous fishing village, though a bit over-touristy. But I'm unbelievably tired. I've been doing about 3 hours flying a day for the last two days, which doesn't sound like that much, but I think feeling so nervous and stressed is taking it out of me. Actually I feel much better now about doing the trip, but still really exhausted. I wonder if I should take the next day off and rest. However, I really, really want to get to the Loire Valley and see all the chateaus from the air. Angers, which I've been recommended to go to, is less than two hours away. I decide to fly there the following morning, and then reconsider.
More later....