We all know this situation: there is work to be done, but finally the weather is flyable…
I called myself very lucky when our instructor and Kajsa jumped in on my idea to combine the nav flight abroad with one of my business meetings in France spontaneously.
Rotterdam (NL)- Kortrijk (B) – Reims Prunay (FR) and back on one day. 2 trips each…and brilliant blue sky and sunshine on the way. I admit it feels funny to sit on the hot pilot chair in business outfit-thankfully the high heals were in the luggage department to swap quickly upon arrival where both the French colleague and my customer where expecting us. Business meeting over, we found a nice place for lunch….and got lost on the way back to the airport. Did it matter? Not in the slightest as we pass small villages and end in front of a farm house offering champagne. Well, we are on the higher limit of our weight & balance….but …..isn’t this a sign? 5 minutes later we find ourselves in a cosy farm house kitchen, learning everything there is to know about champagne production from two old originals. Unfortunately tasting was not possible as we still had our return flight to handle….but we already looked forward to opening a bottle after a happy landing back in Rotterdam. An hour later and with 10 boxes of bubbly in the boot (no, we did not go over our weight limit, the colleague played champagne chauffeur on his next trip to NL and thus secured himself our gratefulness for ever) we finally find the airport again (note: updated GPS systems do come in handy!). While Kajsa is practising some T&Gs I discuss business again, then it is time to say au revoir and head North again.
Learning points of the trip (apart from the champagne lesson): it is possible to make your run up preparations during taxiing when the airport closes within the next minute, it is easy to lose your position over the wide beautiful fields of France and….you are never too tired to celebrate a good day with a glass of bubbly.
Bubbles in Reims Prunay
