Sat Aug 01, 2020 9:51 am
#1787605
I was filled with envy when my co-owner returned from his holiday last year, staying in a gite down near The Loire that has been set up by a pilot, for pilots. It became a no brainer to try it myself this year. We booked July whilst he has booked later in the year and with C-19 it looked as if he had made the right call. Our trip seemed in doubt right up to the last minute, though Andy, who owns the gite, was reassuring that we'd not lose out by cancelling or postponing.
I originally planned direct to Tours for the first leg, and after a bit of faffing this looked totally possible. We had booked (cancellable) a hotel for a couple of nights in Tours ahead of the Monday we had reserved for La Chaumine to give us weather options (Both I and the aircraft are strictly VFR). In the event we left on the Friday and Andy shifted the start date for us, so it was simpler to clear Customs at Calais then fly direct to the strip.
Calais was its usual easy-going self and the restaurant is, in my opinion, getting better by the day. We topped up with 23 litres of Avgas at a price that should make Le Touquet blush.
Pièce du Boucher pictured.
I had planned an uncomplicated route for the next leg at FL85 and clear of most Class D, forgetting that the French are oh-so-different from the UK. Trouble free it was and delightfully smooth, right up to the descent North of Tours where the heat of the day rendered Sandra far from happy with the bumpiness. She doesn't do bumps.
With Sky Demon and Sandra both helping we spotted the strip just a little too late to land off the approach, but circled making random calls in cheat-sheet French, for the information of absolutely nobody. This is effectively a private strip for the gite, though others use it from time to time. I certainly would.
At just short of 700m and almost as wide, with just a few stubby trees on approach it is by no means a challenging landing.
The hangar is at the western end of the strip and is accessed by a complicated series of combination padlocks and internal security locks. Lurking in the gloom is a rather cute little micro-SUV with possibly the clunkiest gearbox known to man and the steering wheel on the correct side for France, This too is part of the package.
Pictured below, Sandra reverses out the car whilst I wonder what could possibly go wrong and whether I should have had first go at the Bipper Tepee (I joke not, that's what the badge says)
The gite is about a mile from the strip and easy to find. Once unpacked it's a short drive, maybe four miles, to the pretty little town of Montrichard.
We had worried a little as to what the effect of the pandemic would have had on eating out in France. Basically as long as you wear a mask to be shown to your table and at any time you are on your feet, not much has changed. The serving staff though remain masked at all time. We hadn't booked anywhere for that night and anyway a simple meal was all that we wanted, so a pavement caff serving the famous local dish Pizza Napoletana was our choice. We had made it, we were three days earlier than originally planned. The weather was ideal, all was well in our world.
A short drive back to the gite and one hefty crack of my head on a cunningly placed oak beam saw our first day over.
To be continued ...
(c) all text and pictures are copyright Words And Actions Ltd 2020
I originally planned direct to Tours for the first leg, and after a bit of faffing this looked totally possible. We had booked (cancellable) a hotel for a couple of nights in Tours ahead of the Monday we had reserved for La Chaumine to give us weather options (Both I and the aircraft are strictly VFR). In the event we left on the Friday and Andy shifted the start date for us, so it was simpler to clear Customs at Calais then fly direct to the strip.
Calais was its usual easy-going self and the restaurant is, in my opinion, getting better by the day. We topped up with 23 litres of Avgas at a price that should make Le Touquet blush.
Pièce du Boucher pictured.
I had planned an uncomplicated route for the next leg at FL85 and clear of most Class D, forgetting that the French are oh-so-different from the UK. Trouble free it was and delightfully smooth, right up to the descent North of Tours where the heat of the day rendered Sandra far from happy with the bumpiness. She doesn't do bumps.
With Sky Demon and Sandra both helping we spotted the strip just a little too late to land off the approach, but circled making random calls in cheat-sheet French, for the information of absolutely nobody. This is effectively a private strip for the gite, though others use it from time to time. I certainly would.
At just short of 700m and almost as wide, with just a few stubby trees on approach it is by no means a challenging landing.
The hangar is at the western end of the strip and is accessed by a complicated series of combination padlocks and internal security locks. Lurking in the gloom is a rather cute little micro-SUV with possibly the clunkiest gearbox known to man and the steering wheel on the correct side for France, This too is part of the package.
Pictured below, Sandra reverses out the car whilst I wonder what could possibly go wrong and whether I should have had first go at the Bipper Tepee (I joke not, that's what the badge says)
The gite is about a mile from the strip and easy to find. Once unpacked it's a short drive, maybe four miles, to the pretty little town of Montrichard.
We had worried a little as to what the effect of the pandemic would have had on eating out in France. Basically as long as you wear a mask to be shown to your table and at any time you are on your feet, not much has changed. The serving staff though remain masked at all time. We hadn't booked anywhere for that night and anyway a simple meal was all that we wanted, so a pavement caff serving the famous local dish Pizza Napoletana was our choice. We had made it, we were three days earlier than originally planned. The weather was ideal, all was well in our world.
A short drive back to the gite and one hefty crack of my head on a cunningly placed oak beam saw our first day over.
To be continued ...
(c) all text and pictures are copyright Words And Actions Ltd 2020
Last edited by Rob P on Sat Aug 01, 2020 1:08 pm, edited 7 times in total.
"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready
in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
- George Orwell-
in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
- George Orwell-