Wednesday May 8,
Rain is pouring as we looked out the hotel
window. However, we could see the light house about two miles from the hotel
as well as some boats off the coast. The visibility was not too bad and the
cloud base was about 2000 ft MSL, good enough to fly north along the coast.
The weather reports indicated an improvement on the way to Bordeaux. So,
let�s go! The airport was almost empty and the weatherman, who was tucked
snugly in his office, was happy for our visit. His service consisted of
providing us with several pages of weather interpretations in a folder
covered with abbreviations and explanations to decipher the weather charts.
We were greatly impressed.
After departure
we followed the coast, cruising at about 1500 ft. Fishing villages and
beach resorts alternated. Some surfers enjoyed the wind and surf. The
Bordeaux Controller kept a watchful eye on our slow advance north to
guide us around restricted areas. The sun had come out and there was a
lot to see. There
were small airstrips, the Basin of Arcechon with its enormous sand
dune, large oyster hatcheries and swish resorts planted in lush
rolling coastal forests. At the Lac d� Hourtin, sailing was in full
swing. A smaller group looked as if a sailing class was being
conducted. We flew a 360� turn overhead to watch. Possibly, this
could have been a distraction to the instructor in his little motor
boat. We watched him turn and ram one of the little sailboats.
Unfortunately we had no floats on this plane so we could not stop to
investigate and help if needed.
Initially we had
planned to make a stop somewhere halfway to Poitiers. However, nothing
really was too inviting. So we soon turned away from the coast and
took the direct heading to our destination. Coastal forests changed to
pastures and occasional vineyards. Dotted in between were charming
villages connected by winding roads and small streams. Soon we picked
up the Autoroute Paris � Bordeau. We were glad to be in the air and
have unrestricted freedom of travel while on the freeway we could
observe standing traffic for several miles.
Poitiers (LFBI)
was easy to spot, a tightly packed old town on an outcrop of
limestone. Our enthusiasm still ran high despite having escaped all
the rain in Biarritz. From far out we tried to call Poitiers airport.
No response - even when we reached the entry check point. Should we
land on runway 21 as one should in low wind or was the wind strong
enough to land on 03? We overflew the tower, made our calls and felt
that runway 03 was the right choice. Pulling off the runway we noticed
a C-152 getting ready to start up. Asking over the radio, he very
kindly gave us directions in a most understandable English to park in
front of the Aero Club. There was no tie down possibility, so we
secured our bird with only some small wooden branches out of the Aero
Club garden. Unloading our possessions for the night slowly became
routine. Luckily we found someone at the Club who could help us get a
taxi. Joan, in trying to find a way to haul our luggage curbside
solicited the help of the fuel man and the fire fighter of the
airport. They brought a tow tractor around to ease the job and also
provide a ride.
We enjoyed the
visit to the old town of Poitiers, especially the beautiful old chapel
and the cathedral with its old excavations nearby, all newly
renovated. The town made a clean and comfortably provincial impression
favoring visitors on foot.
Thursday May 9,
The frontal system we had been outracing and dodging the days before caught
up with us. Low clouds and rain were the only items on the weather menu of
the day. On the weather radar and satellite maps we could see how all of
France slowly disappeared under a white blanket of cloud and fog along the
coastal area. There was no chance to fly low as the countryside was not a
calm sea but a green carpet of rolling hills. � Decision time. � First we
checked with the hotel to secure the room. Actually we changed to a slightly
larger room with an improved bed construction. Then we canceled the hotel
reservation for the coming two nights in St. Malo and then, finally got a
rental car. France was celebrating a holiday - the day of liberation from
the German occupation in WW II.
The Loire Valley
was an hour to the north and the Michelin showed an impressive number
of castles in the area. The first stop was Tours. The town was
deserted, as all the businesses were closed. In a cute little Bistro
we enjoyed a well prepared lunch which, with its quantity, served us
as dinner as well. Then, driving down along the River Loire to the
west, the Castle of Langeais came into sight. It really was worth a
visit. Up and down the many narrow stairways from one exquisitely
furnished room to the next we were introduced to life, culture and
history of the medieval French aristocracy. Returning to present day
we could not resist the chocolate and coffee shop near the old castle
draw bridge.
Friday
May 10, The
improvement in weather we had hoped for was only minimal. In fact we
sometimes had the feeling it was worse. The hotel was happy to keep us
another day and the car stayed with us as well. For this day we
targeted Saumur. Driving in the direction of our intended flight
routing we could observe that the weather was really BAD over the
whole area. We had made a good decision to stay on the ground! The
Castle of Saumur was more a historical site than a display of style
from life. Imagine the wild Vikings in control of the beautiful river
valley. Only when the French King started to divert the waters of the
river, putting the Viking boats on dry ground, the invaders decided to
go home. After a stroll through the old town we selected a road
passing a number of charming Chateaux and lonely, sleepy villages. The
closer we got to Poitiers the more it rained, then it poured.
Saturday May 11,
Still overcast and in the area of our
destination, the Channel Island of Aldernay, there was FOG. One more day to
stay put. We decided that it was a day for maintenance (for us). Near the
hotel was a convenient coin laundry (Lavage). Joan volunteered to go to
Printemps, a department store, to get some change coins for the laundry
machines. Besides using her French to get newly minted Euro coins she found
some washable pants. Not unbelievable to Ueli, there was a jacket with
matching jeans. Still yet she spotted another pair of pants in exactly the
color she had been looking for. Ueli in the meantime kept the machines at
the Laundromat cranking using the few pieces of silver he had. To kill time
he recorded the operating procedures of this French equipment on video and
caught up with the local news on the streets. How exciting!
Was it
imagination or did the clouds really start to lift? At least small
patches of blue became visible occasionally. There was hope for the
next day.
Sunday May 12,
The �wash-house� over France was about to drain. Clouds were still around
and an occasional �spritz� reminded us of the past days. It was time to go.
Return the car, pack all the laundry and new acquisitions and then head off
to the airport. � But stop! Out west, over the coast of Ireland was a
tremendous weather system sailing towards central Europe. In a day or two we
would be trapped again. This time, at Aldernay near the ocean, we had to
expect fog. In addition we would be even further away from home than now.
Reviewing the situation without the desire �to get there�, we decided to
fly east and check out some castles from the air which we had not been able
to visit the previous days.
Flying
northeast, skirting the airspace of Tours, we picked up the Loire
River again. Heading towards Orl�ans there was one castle after
another overlooking the river often surrounded by a neat
conglomeration of houses or a small town.
Occasionally
we flew circles while trying to get a shot with the camera, low clouds
permitting. Finally we found the Castle of Chambord that Joan had
marked with a prominent red circle on the map. The dozens of spires,
towers and turrets were unusual and an architectural sight to behold.
The numerous visitors strolling around the neatly trimmed gardens were
miniscule compared to the magnitude of this monument. Certainly
we had to get this object into the electronic box. While Joan tried to
get all the buttons, settings and the frame composition on the camera
correct, Ueli tried to fly one gentle 360 after another overhead -
first for the video and then the still camera. Ueli wished that there
was an autopilot for such a maneuver. No such luck. He is still dizzy!
At the end, the aging directional gyro in the little plane was
completely off. Well, it was only useful for five minutes after
alignment. Remember, stay VFR.
After this
beautiful creation of our culture we continued further east and passed
the next symbol of our society, a smoke and steam producing industrial
plant. Surprisingly, we did not see any visitors! Approaching Auxerre
(LFLA) the clouds became thicker and dropped lower and lower towards
the ground. In our planning with destination Basel, we had selected
Auxerre as an intermediate stop. Now we felt that there was no need to
delay our trip with a stop. We proceeded east across the rolling hills
and noticed how the visibility suddenly deteriorated. On the radio we
heard the controller from Orleans instructing VFR traffic near us,
trapped between the clouds, to descend immediately as he was in
Charles De Gaule air space. We had apparently caught up with the
frontal system that had harassed us the previous days. We had never
been in Auxerre. Why not stop here and check it out? Another new
adventure! We like that.
The airfield was
almost deserted. At the Aero Club office we met a nice flight
instructor waiting for an examiner to check out his student. With his
help we got a cab and made a reservation at the Maxim on the shores of
the Yonne River. The clouds moved east clearing the sky. This gave us
a chance to explore this charming little town and visit the pier with
all the house boats. Few guests were in town at this time of the year
which let us enjoy a formidable dinner and service at the elegant
restaurant of Maxim.
Monday May 13,
The night was quiet and the next day
brought a sunny awakening. The lady of the house, surprisingly of American
descent, served a very diversified breakfast, then a twenty minute taxi ride
to the airport. It was a pleasure to climb the ladder to the tower to pay
the airport fee and get the latest weather for our first leg to Basel
(LFSB). It recorded some fog en-route and low clouds breaking up over our
destination. We were soon bid farewell by the tower controller and off we
went across the beautiful countryside. Pastures with many vineyards on the
south facing slopes glided past. This was the northern end of the Burgundy
region. Then the pastures turned yellow at the height of bloom. On the
lightly curved tracks, the high-speed train to Paris (TGV) wound its way
like a silver snake through forests and pastures, around towns and off to
the horizon. The country under us was completely different than experienced
in the murky weather we had the day before and we were glad that we had to
wait a night.
About half way
we caught up with the tail end of the front, at that time only
consisting of a low cloud layer with tops around 2000 ft. It was in
the process of breaking up giving an occasional glimpse of the green
country or a little town below. Guided by the VOR navigation aids and
our GPS we soon got in contact with Basel Approach who gave us the
transponder code and from then on watched every turn and delay. The
clouds broke up but visibility diminished in the haze. We had studied
the approach chart carefully and could identify the required touch
down points and pulled off the runway to the nearby General Aviation
parking. Soon a �Follow Me� vehicle arrived and assigned one of the
dozens of parking places and then disappeared.
We had been
warned that Basel was a complicated customs airport, so we took it
easy, collected our papers and walked to the nearby office with the
sign �General Aviation� over the entrance. It was a stark room. A few
tables with utensils scattered around. At the other end were some
toilet stalls with no locks. Better yet than none, when you are in
dire need! Nobody was there to assist or direct us. So we decided to
do something for our fitness and started in the direction of the large
terminal building. Somehow we had the feeling that this was not a
pedestrian area and soon enough a yellow car pulled up next to us
curious about where we wanted to go. A short explanation and he was on
the radio to get the �Follow Me� vehicle back to pick us up and take
us to the Gate E, a door on the side of the building that needed much
yanking to open, obviously a newly built and seldom used French
construction. Back on our feet we followed the direction to the
immigration and had the choice to stay in France or pass the Swiss
Customs Officers. If you are not sure, you ask. We wanted to enter
Switzerland, get the weather, file a flight plan and then get back out
to our aircraft and fly on to Buttwil. The Swiss customs officers sent
us to the Information/Lost & Found booth as they were not informed
what to do. There we declared ourselves LOST and Found ourselves being
directed �just to walk past the Swiss Customs to the �Information� on
the other side�. No problem. At the other �Information� things
proceeded fast. From a nearby telephone we made a call to the weather
chief and then, still another call to the Air Traffic Controller to
file a flight plan, only to end the exercise by paying a few Euro at
the desk. Next sneak through a small corridor back to the French side
(do not look left or right) and go back to Gate E. A �Follow Me�
vehicle should be waiting for us there. (Sounds like a CIA plot.) It
worked. Soon we were back on the parking field reunited with our
HB-CLP.
As forecast, the
weather slowly improved under the heat of the sun. Meanwhile we got
our cockpit organized, maps ready, and frequencies set. The airport
did not seem to be too busy and we were given take off clearance
without delay. Our urge to get home was taking control and we forgot
to turn north after take off to the proper exit points, instead like
in good old times we flew across the city with all the Pharmaceuticals
lined up along the Rhine river. A scolding by the controller came a
little late. Nevertheless we apologized and thanked him for the
information. Our focus was already in a gap gazing at the bank of
clouds over the Jura mountain range. Soon a familiar landmark leading
to a successful crossing came into view - the cooling towers of the
atomic power plant of G�sgen. In Switzerland there is no restriction
on over flying the atomic power stations as there is in the USA.
Probably they are a little more solidly built!
The clouds were
also slowly breaking up as Hallwiler Lake came into view. Beyond the
next ridge was our home base, Buttwil (LSZU). The frequency was busy
and gave us an indication that the normal runway 34 was in use. The
approach was no problem. However, our side slip after crossing the
last trees of the bordering forest was cause for fright for some
members of a glider crew readying their plane, expecting us to land
short. We had them in sight, no worries! Touch down on home turf 13.5
flying hours after departure a week ago!
Tuesday
May 14
The
rain started again convincing us that we had made the right decision.
