Godin in Libourne

Could this be the very same?

Lunch at Libourne

Great lunch at Libourne airfield, 3 courses with wine for 14 Euro...

Left La Rochelle and bounced to Libourne in Aquitaine

Our cheapest trip to the airport this morning, we took the bus for a paltry €1.30 each.

Getting airside was a bit challenging, the  code didn't seem to work at the pilots gate so we had to go through the main terminal.

Eventually found the appropriate little door, Ian conned his way in with his pilots licence, and then we had to queue up to go through metal detector and have our bags and luggage scanned.
What they thought of my heated jacket I don't know, with wires and heat elements everywhere I must have looked suspicious, but they let us all through.

Had wait for the Easyjet flight to go, more paperwork buying fuel, and then we were off.

Was starting to get thermic so had a bumpy 2 hour flight down to Libourne. I was counting the miles off, but we all arrived perfectly in time for lunch at the airfield restaurant.

12 in La Rochelle

We were joined by Rupert and Ollie in La Rochelle, so the 12 of us wandered round the old town and found a random restaurant to eat at.

Super choice, really good food with a bit of a North African influence.

We sadly said goodbye to Kevin and Sheila who are staying on for another night in La Rochelle then returning home whilst we press on to Libourne.

La Rochelle at last

After a lot of faffing about, finally on the way to La Rochelle.

I pulled the bar in on my flexwing and was going flat out at 75-80 mph, and Donald tried to fly as slow as me by doing big S curves behind me.

Donald did all the radio calls to enter the controlled air space and pretty quickly we were downwind for 27.

I did my best to do a decently long final approach but it was really blowing, so my 70 mph through the air was resulting in just 40 mph over the ground and Donald behind was struggling.

Got down ok but Donald had to go around, and then had to circle whilst a Ryanair flight came in.
I meanwhile was getting lost taxiing around trying to find somewhere to park. Not helped by the air traffic who got left and right muddled up.

Les Sables d'Orlonne

After a bit the weather at La Baule cleared and we decided to fly onto Les Sables, 30 miles from La Rochelle so we could call for permission to go into La Rochelle in a microlight.

Microlights need express permission of the airfield owner and since we would have to fly formation as I didn't have a transponder, we doubly needed permission.

Les Sables was blowing a gale and was very deserted. The parachute club was active but the flying club was closed. We spent ages trying in vain to call La Rochelle tower, eventually we got through, not on the published number but on a different one we got from Nantes airspace controller. When we finally got through, permission was instantaneous!

Grrr

Precautionary landing at La Baule

Overcast at Belle Ile this morning and looking at the weather forecast it was going to be the same all the way towards La Rochelle.

40 mile flight over the sea from Belle Ile at between 1100 and 1300 feet, but when we'd crossed the St Nazaire bay the cloud descended and descended. Got down to 500 feet and was still in the bottom of the cloud so decided to turn back.

Donald did the same and we're both currently enjoying a coffee at La Baule.

Tom made it through and landed at Les Sables, Kevin and Ian both also got through and went straight to La Rochelle.

We'll wait for the cloud to clear a little.

Les aiguilles de Port Coton

Claude Monet apparently lived on Belle Ile near the lighthouse for a number of years and famously painted the jagged rocks at Port Coton.

Today it was all shrouded in sea fog but still spectacular.

Le Grand Phare

Literally translates as "the big lighthouse".

Built in 1836 and standing 52m high, today it was shrouded in sea mist that was billowing across the fields.

Club picnic on the beach

Donald and I made it on bicycles to Herlin beach on the south of the island, Kevin and Sheila were a bit more zippy on a scooter, and Ian, Helen, Tom and Jane went in the hire car.

Lovely cove, picnic lunch on the beach, and Tom was brave enough to try swimming in the sea (fortunately I didn't have the camera).

Hired bikes today to tour La Belle Ile

Cycling round the (largely flat) island, typical French cottages

Sorry Rick you can't be with us

In order to ensure that our spiritual leader, Rick, wasn't missing out by not coming on the trip, it was felt necessary for both Ian and Mike to call him from the restaurant tonight.....

Excellent meal again

Mooching around Le Palais, Belle Ile

Pretty little harbour and impressive Napoleonic fortifications - the city walls are 30 feet high, and the walls of the citadel (that you can stay in, from €130 - €500 / night) were even higher, must have been 50 feet high

Whitehill Farm Aeroclub installed in the bar

Mike and Marlene and Tim and Karena both flew into Belle Ile today to join us, Rupert and Ollie had a traumatic channel crossing at 600 feet and quite rightly decided to stop enroute at Le Touquet. We'll hopefully see them tomorrow.

Meanwhile everyone else has found the terrace bar in our hotel.

Cool hire car

Clearly aimed at the tourists, but love it!

It was a grey flight to Belle Ile

Belle Ile is the French version of the Scilly Islands, about 20 miles off the South Brittany coast near Quiberon and Vannes.

Unfortunately it was low cloud most of the way, between 700 and 800 feet, I went over a high tension electric cable with only 100 foot clearance, and had to climb up to get over one set of tall windmills on a hill.

Nearer the coast it cleared and by the time we got to La Belle Ile, it was blue skies and sunny.

Bit of a problem refuelling at Dinan

Donald and I needed fuel at Dinan before we left but the unleaded pump was empty and the other, with Avgas required a Total fuel card that no-one had.

Eventually found someone that would lend us one and we repaid him in cash.

Just €5 landing fee and no overnight parking charges, fantastic.

Don't think that we will be flying immediately from Dinan

Last night Keith and Sheila joined us in Dinan after they'd spent the day in Dinard...., and Donald flew in from the UK via Abbeville with far less stops than I had.

Plans made for this morning to fly to La Belle Ile but this was the view from my bedroom window at 8.30 am so don't think we will be flying just yet awhile.

Up the top of Tour de l'Horloge

Climbed the stairs to the top of the Dinan clock tower. The original clock mechanism was made in 1498 and was used into the 18th century - amazing.

Tried to work out if it was Kevin and Sheila we could see landing at Dinan aéroport.

Chilling out in Dinan

After the flying exertions of yesterday a chilling out day was definitely called for.

Spent today walking, walking and walking. Went to see a friend of Ian's who turned out to be a very long 1km away, wine and frites for lunch, then more walking back to Dinan.

Good sunny weather.