Student Ethan takes us on a Sleepover in Le Touquet
This was my first foray with the School and I enjoyed myself immensely and got some experience. My thanks to Paul White who did a fantastic job organising the trip including the administrative tasks and to Dhillon who shepherded me along.
Two helicopters went; the Bell 206 Jetranger with Paul White, Jason Collyer, Chis Badell and Ross and the Guimbal Cabri G2 with Dhillon and myself.
The weather was not cooperating first thing so we departed Elstree later than expected and made the channel crossing at Hastings direct to Le Touquet. It was a pleasant late afternoon when we landed and Le Touquet was a stylish aerodrome and processing was quite quick.
As it was now quite a nice day we walked 3 km (ish) to the Novotel Thalassa Hotel through neat and pretty suburban streets. The houses were quite nice which led to perusal of real estate windows the following day but, alas, prices have gone up in Le Touquet.
The hotel was very nice, modern and right on the beach with great views. The indoor pool was very big by hotel standards and according to the web site was salt water and heated but despite the best of intentions I did not manage to try it.
After depositing our bags in our rooms we regrouped for drinks on the deck and then we walked about a kilometre in to town to find dinner. Although the season was over it was quite lively in town. The first restaurant we tried was full but the second had space (just) and we all found something we liked but we were in France and even the most mundane dishes tasted great.
The walk back to the hotel along the promenade was most pleasant. Le Touquet looked good during the day and it also looked good at night. It was late and after we all agreed a time to meet for breakfast in UK DST, UTC and local French time, I retired to bed.
Breakfast was in one of the hotel restaurants and there was a comprehensive selection; cooked dishes such as scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms as well as cereals, cheese, deli meats, breads, pastries, fruit, fruit juices, coffee, tea and more. I had forgotten that in mainland Europe you boil your own eggs in a little basket that you submerge in boiling water and make your own toast. I forewent both as I have made a mess before of the straightforward procedures. One could spend a lot of time and eat a lot and we did but we were also discussing the return flight (and lunch).
We separated for individual exploration and regrouped at mid day to check out. Return to the aerodrome was a stroll in to town watching the ceremonies for the start of a triathalon (so many fit people, many eating pasta), window shopping, a wander through an Intermarche. Lunch was at a cafe/restaurant where the server apologised for her English which was better than our French.
The weather was better than the day before, as forecast. The Jetranger was refuelled with Avgas by a bowser but the G2 had to taxi across to the fuel pumps for 100LL.
There was light drizzle on takeoff but the weather was clear by Boulogne. The Channel crossing was from Cap Gris Nez to Folkestone flying at greater than 2000ft altitude as drones were patrolling the Channel. At the QE11 Bridge a pleasant Heathrow Special controller gave us clearance to fly up the Thames and we could fly right up the middle of the river as it was Saturday and City Airport was not active. There were great views of the Thames Barrier, London City Airport, Greenwich, the Millennium Dome, Canary Wharf, Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast which had a frigate or destroyer tied up next to it, the Shard, the London Eye, the South Bank, Westminster, Battersea Power Station, Canary Wharf (not a comprehensive list of the sights). The view was very good and places that I did not think were close to the river were much closer than I thought. University College London was visible as was a residence in which Dhillon and I lived when we were undergraduates but about 100 years apart. He did tell the others that it was newer when I was there. At Kew Bridge we turned north to Hanger Lane and then followed the A40 west to Northolt and then turned north to Northwood passing Denham and HS2 on the left and Mount Vernon Hospital (which looks better from the air) on the right. From Northwood we went around the M25 to the M1 and then turned south to Alpha and home to Elstree.
As I said in the beginning, I enjoyed myself immensely and got experience and I was with a great bunch of people who were excellent company. I had not met Jason, and Ross and Chris before and I hope that our paths will again cross.
