During the volcanic ash cloud drama , earlier last year , I was asked to present myself at London Gatwick to travel to Bergamo, near Milan , to rescue an A320.The airspace was closed so we went in a taxi to Newhaven Harbour on the south coast to catch a ferry to Dieppe in France. There a coach took us to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris from where we took another taxi into town to the rail station behind the Gare de Lyons where we were supposedly booked on a night sleeper over the Alps to Milan. The train station was just closing as we arrived and the Milan express was just pulling out two hours earlier than our tickets indicated.
After finding a hotel , the Company dispatched a minibus from Milan to pick us up - it arrived two days later . No-one was sober by this time and the driver was sent to bed for a midnight departure . After an 800 km. night ride we arrived in Bergamo and did a couple of sectors before we were out of duty time and time to come home!