Flying to Paris for a Romantic weekend

[Mikehotel152]

I'm planning to take my wife to Paris for a Romantic weekend in August. Neither of us have been to Paris before, let alone in a light aircraft!

Can anyone recommend a GA friendly airport which has good access to central Paris? :confused:

[IanSeager]

Le Bourget is the closest, but they tend not to encourage VFR flights. Pontoise is the closest, but requires a cab and a train as does Lognes and Toussus Le Noble. I'd probably go for Pontoise if you are flying from the UK.

Ian

[Fuji Abound]

Personally I always recommend Lognes.

Why?

Easy train journey direct to Guard du Nord (or elsewhere in the centre)

You could walk to the station, but a taxi is only 10 minutes

There is a cheap but clean hotel at the airport (in case the weather lets you down)

The airport is GA only, and so very GA freindly with cheap landing fees

There is a good resteraunt at the airfield (for waiting for the weather to clear!)

Only catch, they use to only take cash or fuel cards, not credit cards - that may have changed but check first.

[pumper_bob]

Pontoise is a LOOONG way from town! I whent on a Bank Holliday and it was, to cut a long story short, £80 in and £60 back!!! The taxi's charge extra for an out of town pick up and big loading for Sunday/Bank Holliday!
Now i prefer Tousouss, 20 mins on the train which is not far from the airport. Also if its clear you route down the west side of Paris. There is also a Campanile hotel on site incase of enforced layovers!

[Fly Stimulator]

I agree that Pontoise involves a long journey to get into the city. In fact, when I did it two or three years ago by local bus then RER it took as long to get into town as the flight from England had done.

Last month I went to St Cyr instead which is about 20 minutes walk or a short taxi ride to the nearest station which will take you straight into the city. The airfield is right at the end of the formal gardens of Versailles (as you can see on this map (http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=48.812403,2.069721&spn=0.039,0.078878&z=14&om=1)) and combined with the views of the city it makes for a very scenic approach.

I stopped in Abbeville for breakfast and Customs and then did the short flight directly to St Cyr talking to Beauvais and then Pontoise for clearance through their airspace.

St Cyr itself is a nice field - grass runway and a relaxed feel. English was spoken by the tower when we arrived, but the tower was closed on the Sunday afternoon when we left so we reverted to French for departure.

The SIA 1:250,000 chart for Paris would probably be a wise investment, especially if you haven't flown to Paris before.

[Mikehotel152]

Thanks for the helpful replies.:ok:

I have since discovered that my flying club is doing a mid-week flyout to St Cyr literally a few days before I was planning to take my wife to Paris.

As I shall be hour-building throughout July and August, and therefore need the hours and experience, I think I'll go on that trip regardless of my current plan to take my wife to Paris.

The question is therefore whether I try to rearrange our lives and take my wife on that Club Flyout OR simply repeat the trip to St Cyr a few days later with my wife.

I'm tempted to do the later because of my general inexperience and the fact that a second trip to St Cyr would run smoothly if I'd done it all a few days before.

The other thought is that we could visit Versailles too, which is a nice thought.:)

[Fly Stimulator]

Your good lady wife might take a different view, but if I suggested to Mrs FS that a trip with any flying club group could be counted as romantic then I would be well into negative brownie point territory! :uhoh:

[Mikehotel152]

Yes, that aspect of taking her for an important romantic trip does concern me a little.

She has yet to fly with me without an FI, so it does worry me that her primary emotion throughout the trip would be one of horror!:p

I am considering flying myself as an alternative to getting on Eurostar and I do think the hassle of flying might prove a mood dampener...

[rateone]

Mike,

I'd take the St Cyr trip with the club and then go the Eurostar route with the missus. Sounds very romantic but if you're low hours and she hasn't been on any long trips before it could get very stressful and her ideas of romantic and yours won't coincide. Take here on some smaller trips first and build up to a longer one. Like being low and slow, an early negative experience with a Significant Other is very difficult to recover from.

Unless BOTH of you are signed up to treating the aircraft journey as part of the "romantic experience" I'd avoid it - trust me!

[Fly Stimulator]

Yes, passengers can easily be put off by a single bad experience, and if that passenger is somebody who is going to have a big influence on your future trips it may be a good idea to introduce them to flying trips in gentle stages.

On the one hand a flight to Paris in lovely weather, sweeping in over the gardens of Versailles and then going to stay somewhere nice might convince her straight away. On the other hand getting stuck in bad weather and spending the weekend at some little airfield in the middle of nowhere might put her off. It may well be an idea to have a few good shorter trips in the bank as it were by the time that sort of thing happens.

As rateone says, flying with passengers when you first start off does add to your stress, and on this sort of trip wih hotels booked etc. you'd be putting yourself under a lot of pressure to press on and get there - never a very good thing.

[Mikehotel152]

Thanks everyone. I think Rateone's advice is worth taking. The last thing I want to experience is a diversion to a small airfield in northern France while our expensive hotel rooms remain unused!:ugh:The wasted cost is one thing, the stress and ruined experience is another.

On balance, Eurostar sounds sensible.

For the record, I expect to have accumulated at least 120 hours by the middle of August, including a number of trips with my wife, but I think commonsense rules in this instance.

Nevertheless, I shall enjoy the club flyout and perhaps my wife and I shall make the trip to Paris by light aircraft in the coming years, though I have to admit that the prospect of a private strip and night in a Chateau appeals! :D

[rateone]

Of course now you have decided the Eurostar route the weather will be perfect all weekend and you'll be kicking yourself :ugh:

On the other hand, I do remember a very expensive wasted hotel room at the Westminster at LFAT!

Have a great time in Paris anyway.

[Mikehotel152]

:= Oh no, surely not...They'll be a French Train-drivers's strike, ferry strike, truck-driver strke, taxi-strike and hotel employees strike...:p

[Mikehotel152]

AND good weather....:O