Tuesday 6 September 2011

Le Touquet, and the air display that wasn't .....

We decided to break our journey back from France with a couple of hours people watching at Le Touquet. As we drove over the bridge at Etaples, which forms a boundary with the airport, we saw a line of spectators and cars. Being British, when this happens the correct form is to stop and join them; rather like the way we always join a queue!


The Patrouille de France, the French equivalent of the Red Arrows were lined up with their engines running. You could smell and taste the paraffin in the air.They taxied to the runway, although Tim thought that with the weather conditions they were unlikely to display.



One of the planes did take off, but quickly disappeared into the clouds. Eventually the other planes taxied back off the runway to their parking spots to leave room for the rekkie alphajet to land.


This is what we missed ....



We continued with our journey to Le Touquet which was still really busy at 7pm.



As we walked along the seafront we came across the pilots chatting with tourists. The display was originally  scheduled for 2.30, put back until 5.30, sadly didn’t happen. This must have been really disappointing for everyone.


The queues leaving Le Touquet at 8pm were massive, making us wonder whether we would make it to the shuttle in time.



Sadly we did ……

11 comments:

  1. Hope the first day back isn't too bad. The weather is certainly the right sort to make you really want to turn round and be anywhere else than school!!

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  2. Have you ever been to Le Touquet at Christmas time? It is well worth a visit, the Christmas lights there are quite exceptional. I have never see anything like it before.
    Pity about the air show but not much point if the weather is no good!! Diane

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  3. Hello Gaynor:
    Disappointments all round!

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  4. We were lucky enough to watch this team doing an air display from our back garden during an air show in Cognac a couple of years ago - very good!
    Sorry that you made it back :(

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  5. I went to Le Touquet twice and really enjoyed the window shopping and having a drink on a terrace overlooking the beach. What I didn't like though was the parking fee: 2 euro for 15 minutes! And it wasn't even high summer .... martine

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  6. Martine,
    I think we paid 1 euro an hour which considering I was at our local hospital in Stafford yesterday and was there for 8 minutes and the minimum fee was £2!

    It is a great place to 'people watch'.

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  7. Mandy,
    Although I love my job I'm getting to that age where there are so many other things I would like to do that work rather ges in the way.
    Hope your work in school goes well.

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  8. Diane,
    I haven't been at Christmas but perhaps one day ....

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  9. Craig,
    We've seen them display before. They seem to use much denser 'smoke' than the red arrows.
    One of the best displays we have seen was by the Patrouille Suisse over Lake Geneva. Spectacular!

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  10. I was lucky enough to have a good view from the other side of the airfield. I did wonder if the display took place? If anyone is interested i have put a few photo's on our facebook page.

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Le-Touquet-Holidays/266169146735765

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  11. Thanks for the information Richard. We did see a few helicopters fly. We were only in Le Touquet for a few hours at the end of the day, as we waited for our shuttle. I visit each year as part of a school trip, but never get chance to browse without a hoard of kids following.
    There are some wonderful houses there ....

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