Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
#1454145
Limoges does have a very good restaurant with good views of arriving low cost airlines making a mess of the landing.

Tours is a bit dead and middle of nowhere unless you plan on going into the city.

Santander is best avoided if the wind is blowing from the South you get horrible turbulence from the mountains to the south.

If you want to overnight on the channel, Deaville and then spending the evening in Honfleur is highly recommended. Outstanding seafood restaurants and a lovely ambience on the harbour of an evening.
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By Flintstone
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1454146
Dave W wrote:Regarding hotels, a handy hint I learned from Rob P:

The Accor hotel chain (Sofitel, Novotel, Ibis, F1, Mercure...) have a handy cancellation policy - cancel up to 1800 on the day without incurring fees.

Having said that, I usually turn up wherever, find ourselves a Joe Le Taxi and say "Un hôtel pas cher, s'il-vous plait. Et l'addition pour mon ami".


Now you're talking.

Talking forrin but..........*







* Oui, je comprends.




Josh wrote:Limoges does have a very good restaurant with good views of arriving low cost airlines making a mess of the landing.
Tours is a bit dead and middle of nowhere unless you plan on going into the city.
Santander is best avoided if the wind is blowing from the South you get horrible turbulence from the mountains to the south.
If you want to overnight on the channel, Deaville and then spending the evening in Honfleur is highly recommended. Outstanding seafood restaurants and a lovely ambience on the harbour of an evening.


Been a while since I've been to the first three so thanks for the heads-up. Deauville, recall that being open and flat from going there for qualifying circuits on a new type. Never been to Honfleur. Not a fan of seafood but I'm sure there'll be a kebab shop somewhere.


Edit: To clarify, I AM flying solo but in a sort of Tracy Hyphen-Hyphen style (ie, there'll be someone else in the cockpit). I shall be learning from the controversy surrounding other solo claims and so as to ensure my gong, awards and other handouts will have him photoshopped from any pictures.
By welkyboy
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1454158
St Malo airfield closed years ago, I think you mean Dinard? But why go there when 38 NMs North is Jersey, landing fee £8.40 if under 1000 kgs or about£12.60 1-1.5 tonnes. Fuel 0.97p per ltr 5% discount for AOPA members. Many guest houses/hotels and given decent cloud bases route East of Q41 via ORIST up to FL100 direct to KATHY clear of Danger Areas only 60 miles Cap de la Hague to St Catherine's point on IOW.
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By Dave W
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1454161
I mean Pleurtuit (Dinard Pleurtuit Saint Malo if you wish ;) )

Why go there? Because he needs to clear Customs somewhere outbound from France.

Which he has to do on the way to e.g. Jersey if that's where he wants to go next. :D
#1454262
Have used Troyes twice on northbound Tecnam ferry flights.

Super easy! Especially if you just want a splash and dash.

Firemen seem to run the place and are very helpful.

Fuelling needs a €1 coin to release the pump nozzle (you get it back after refuelling nozzle put back) however the firemen will loan you one if you are short.

Restaurant open lunchtime and very pleasant too.

If you want to stay the night there is a motel about 10 mins walk away with decent restaurant. Ask for crew discount when checking in.

Fireman hand you a phone to file flightplan to an English speaker 'somewhere in France'.

Stress free transit.

Troyes gets my vote.
:cheers:

CA
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By G-BLEW
Boss Man  Boss Man
#1454279
General tip - if you need to close a flight plan in France after landing at a non ATC field r after hours (the French generally don't roll up their runways when they go home) you can call 0810 IFR VFR - I believe that it will put you through to the relative BRIA who may also be able to take a flight plan over the phone. If you want to contact them direct, here are the numbers…

AJACCIO
Tél : +33 (0)4 95 22 61 85
ou +33 (0)4 95 23 59 80
Fax : +33 (0)4 95 23 59 69 Algérie, Italie, Malte, Tunisie

BALE-MULHOUSE
Tél : +33 (0)3 89 90 26 15/12
Fax : +33 (0)3 89 90 26 19 Allemagne, Suisse

BORDEAUX
Tél :+33 (0)5 57 92 60 84
Fax : +33 (0)5 57 92 83 34 Allemagne, Belgique, Luxembourg, Espagne, Portugal, Pays Bas, Royaume Uni

LYON Saint Exupéry
Tél : +33 (0)4 82 90 92 75
Fax : +33 (0)4 82 90 92 79 Allemagne, Belgique, Luxembourg, Suisse

MARSEILLE
Tél : +33 (0)4 42 31 15 65
ou +33 (0)4 42 14 22 90
Fax : +33 (0)4 42 31 15 69

Algérie, Espagne, Italie, Maroc, Tunisie

NANTES
Tél : +33 (0)2 28 00 25 70/71
Fax : +33 (0)2 28 00 25 69 Royaume-Uni

NICE
Tél : +33 (0)4 93 17 21 18
Fax : +33 (0)4 93 17 21 17 Algérie, Allemagne, Belgique, Luxembourg, Espagne, Grèce, Italie, Malte, Suisse, Tunisie
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By stevelup
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1454302
I couldn't get 0810 IFR VFR (0810 437 837) to work on my UK mobile no matter what I did. I tried 0810 437 837, 810 437 837 and +33 810 437 837 all to no avail. The first two tried to call UK numbers, and the third simply didn't work. Probably something peculiar to my mobile network (O2).

Instead I called Nice on the number above (I was nowhere near Nice at the time - realistically I was in Nantes area), but I had Nice's number stored.

They didn't seem to mind at all and closed it without any fuss. Admittedly, this is a sample size of precisely one, but I reckon storing any of the above numbers will do the trick!
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By Dave W
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1454304
G-BLEW wrote:General tip - if you need to close a flight plan in France after landing at a non ATC field r after hours (the French generally don't roll up their runways when they go home) you can call 0810 IFR VFR


Amusingly, when I called that number last month to close a FPL inbound from Germany on arrival at Nancy-Essey at sunset after the airfield staff had gone home, the conversation went something like this:

Me: "Bonjour, I'd like to close my flight plan please"

Him: "Ah, Golf Lima Charlie, yes?"

Me: <Thinks> That's clever

It became obvious that I was the only outstanding flight plan in his area: It had to be me!


PS It's 0810 IFRVFR, not 0800 IFRVFR. Dialling "0810 437837" from the '3' network connects OK.