As an aside, the engineer who met or aircraft last night was wearing Air Inter waterproofs. They were obviously good quality to last this long.
Probably good quality and the fact that waterproofs aren't needed too often in Toulouse, the number of 'cycles' are bound to be low
Was my experience in the Mercure unusual or was it just a windy day?
I had a couple of flights on the Mercure, i can't remember any unusual characteristics or events, though the flights were in summer and the evening. The flights were (i think) between Paris Orly and Avignon and Nice. I flew relatively often with Air Inter and they seemed to use the A320's A300's on the longer routes and the Mercures on the thinner routes, it just felt like a smaller A320. They might have also flown to at least one international destination if memory serves. The aircraft at Speyer is really as it was in the day and well worth a view, as is ALL of the museum there for anyone who hasn't had the pleasure
SHJ