FRIDAY 10TH JUNE
Much needed day off! I send some things home, because with two of us we'll be really tight on weight. After P realised she couldn't come I decided to take another book or two, and more than one change of clothes; now, I send them home. I also do some laundry, because I can. Apart from that I lie by the pool, talk to the dogs and horses, and go for country walks. By the evening I'm recovered, and itching to be back in the air!
BTW, Sue's website is at
www.nearlyheaven.com.
SATURDAY 11TH JUNE
Sue is flying to La Rochelle for lunch with the chap who's over here from the UK doing his 12 hours flying with her, and we decide we'll go along too. We all go the airport together, and leave around the same time. They're in a Robin and much faster than us, but we arrange to meet at la Rochelle airport, then get a taxi into the old part of town for a meal.
P is flying, and I navigate and do the radio. It's just so much easier with two of us; I actually have time to look at the view! It's all slightly odd at first; P is feeling a bit strange to be suddenly flying in the middle of France, and I, instead of relying on her a lot, realise I'm the one with all the recent French flying experience. For instance, I've marked the possible La Rochelle reporting points on the half mil chart, so that I can find them if necessary. La Rochelle is Class D, and apparently sometimes very crowded. But not this time. When we make our first radio call, there is no reply, and Sue, about to shut down after landing, tells us over the radio that there's no-one there, and to just make blind calls in French. Now, can you imagine that happening at an airport in Class D airspace in the UK? Anyway, P asks if I want her to do it, and I say no, if I don't have to fly as well I can manage. I get out my crib sheet, and manage to say when we're ten minutes from the airport, and then make airfield in sight, downwind, and final calls. It's odd; I feel a bit like when I first learned to fly; I press the transmit button and then can't think what to say, and have to read it. Anyway, we turn over the sea with gorgeous scenery, and land in a deserted airport. We go for lunch in the picturesque old part of town, then wander around, then get a taxi back. La Rochelle airport has completely changed. A commercial flight is in, and we can't get back to the aircraft without showing our pilots' licences, which of course we've left in KF. They decide that passports will do, but make us go through security etc with all the passengers. It's all very crowded and different from when we arrived.
We've decided to fly up to La Baule for the night, a small airfield by a beach resort. I fly, P does the nav and radio. It's almost all coastal flying, and very easy and pretty. We're not sure if there'll be anyone at La Baule, but it turns out they're doing parachuting. They give us incomprehensible instructions, and neither of us manage to understand how we're supposed to approach. We tell them we just don't understand, and they let us land anyway. Sometimes even P's fluent French doesn't help, especially when people think they're speaking English! Anyway, it's a lovely friendly little airfield, and they phone for a hotel for us. What we don't know is that some sort of sailing regatta is on, and we get about the last hotel room in town. But it's fine, a small local hotel on the outskirts of a modern beach resort. We drink beer, wander along the front, look at the shops, and enjoy the contrast with old and pretty La Rochelle. This is definitely beginning to feel more like a holiday. It's not that I don't like flying alone, but it's definitely more fun with two. But I'm beginning to realise how much I've learned in the four days alone, and I'm very, very glad I did it. But if I did it again, and I might, I'd learn the language better, and do less flying - either only one leg per day, or take off one day in every two.