Abbeville France

It can't last! This good flying weather has been with us for a couple of weeks now and I am flying quite a bit at the moment. You have to take advantage of good weather when you can and with the longest day past us already, there's no time to lose.

So France was calling again, just two weeks after our last trip there. This time we decided to try Abbeville which is about thirty miles further South than Le Touquet which we visited two weeks ago. Abbeville is inland, around ten miles from the coast and we chose it because we heard reports that it was ok for a visit. Simple as that.

It was a similar plan to last time only we were going non stop outbound and on the return would clear customs and immigration at Lydd airport on the Kent coast. We departed towards Warrington at 1250 feet to meet the requirements of Manchester's Low Level Route before climbing to 2400 feet on route to the Lichfield NDB. It was a little bumpy but not too bad and as we had no passengers there were no worries there for us.

We cruised at 3000 feet as we turned to slip between the East Midlands and Birmingham Control Zones contacting Coventry early after hearing jet traffic on frequency. We were given a transponder code and asked to look for a Boeing 737 approaching runway 23. We spotted it fairly quickly and were soon leaving Coventry behind as Daventry VOR came up and we headed further South towards the Henton NDB and the aeriel activity at Halton near Aylesbury. A quick word with them on the radio and we turned eastwards towards the Lambourne VOR and Stapleford Airfield.

June 17th was the Queen's Birthday flypast and there was a no fly area directly in our path. Good timing on our part meant we got through and clear with ten minutes to spare before it became active and we were on our way to Detling VOR once again. We skirted past Rochester (again) and passed over Lydd before setting off towards the BNE VOR in France, a track that would take us over Boulogne. We were now cruising at flight level five zero and making good progress. Lydd passed us on to Lille and we descended to remain below cloud levelling at 3000 feet. After reaching the BNE VOR we turned south towards the Abbeville VOR and closed our flight plan with Lille when we reached our destination airfield. Time elapsed was 2 hours 20 minutes.

The Coast of France from flight level five zero.

We called a taxi from the airfield at Abbeville and 10 minutes and 10 euros later we were dropped in the town centre which was busy with cars and people on this Saturday afternoon.

On both visits to France we have found the atmosphere and the people very inviting and friendly and we immediately felt at home in Abbeville. We were pretty hungry by now and so picked up a sandwich and in my case, a georgous strawberry tart, and sat down in the sun to eat and watch the people.

Our first sight of Abbeville centre with street cafes and shoppers enjoying Saturday afternoon.

The town is laid out in a square at the centre with shops, restaurants and water features. You can then explore streets which lead past the cathedral and down to the river and another fountain. It's very nice and relaxing to soak up the French way of life. The cathedral is just a two minute walk from the central square and is certainly worth a look. Admission was free.

Inside the Cathedral at Abbeville and me relaxing in the town square amongst the flower beds with the impressive Cathedral behind.

We had a last drink at another street cafe and called our taxi to head back to the airfield and home. Ou route retraced the flight down only we landed at Lydd to clear customs and immigration. Another drink before we departed for home. Lydd is a very nice little airport: professional and with good facilities. The flight back to Barton was one hour fifty minutes and it all went to plan with no problems.

So our second trip to France was a success. We are now fairly confident about these trips and would like to return soon only staying overnight and trying some other rural airfields in France. Of course we need good weather and for that we can only hope.

One final drink before heading home ......