Oh I see. I think we had all assumed that you WERE going.

Who's we?

...and you missed quite a good meet up.

I'm talking to most of those guys twice a week for two hours already, I was glad to have a week off. Sometimes it's nice to hear just a lot of my own language for a couple of days. Besides, my French doesn't reach much further than "je parle une grande petite peu Francais". Not even enough to ask where I am. I don't like French, let's assume it doesn't like me either. Brrr.

---

... it seems that Richard is playing an absolute blinder out there ...

I'll leave that to others to decide, but you'll have heard me commenting and questioning occasionally on the recordings. Now, I'm f---ing shattered: beer calls. Over and out.

...cold, wet and alcoholic. Probably not brewed in France

Since I'm living above an American diner called 'Indiana' - Desperados, with a touch of tequila. Dunno where it was brewed, but it went down a treat. As did the next one.

Just how many bottles can you get in your hand baggage????

Just how many bottles can you get in your hand baggage????

Getting Desperados through security is probably even trickier than most other fluids - I'll just have to finish this tinnie before the bag drop opens. Bloody low-cost airlines - there are precisely two retail outlets land-side of this entire terminal, but at least Relay (the French equivalent of W H Smith) sells sleepy-juice. I can confirm that Desperados is brewed in France.

(and at least the airport has free power and free WiFi for laptops)

Hey people, can we please stop pointing to shops where one can buy alcohol? Stop pointing to shops in total even?
We're banishing spammers that leave links like that, so why should I allow links like that to exist in your posts and your account to go unbanished?

---

Although quite why one would want to drink German lager, flavoured with Mexican tequila in France I'm not quite sure.

Probably for the same reason a Brit drinks Polish beer :-)

Exactly :-)))

You quite sure about that?

I'm not quite sure.

Not 100% but fairly sure.

Surprising coming from an engineer of your standing. By the way, considering your sojourn elsewhere has been curtailed, would you mind keeping your childish attitude off here. It would be a nice needful thing for the boards to see :-)

Bloody low-cost airlines

Ah well you see, now you know why I fly BA everywhere.

Trouble is, if I flew BA, I'd have to change planes in Heathrow - and that's even worse. Similarly, that's why I don't use Eurostar - it's so bloody London-centric. It's about time Yorkshire started digging its own escape tunnel...

There is... it just takes you to Zeebrugge or Rotterdam, from Hull.
Rotterdam takes about 12 hours.
Zeebrugge takes about 13 hours.

---

Bloody low-cost airlines

Ah well you see, now you know why I fly BA everywhere.

Trouble is, if I flew BA, I'd have to change planes in Heathrow - and that's even worse. Similarly, that's why I don't use Eurostar - it's so bloody London-centric. It's about time Yorkshire started digging its own escape tunnel...

A fine, if somewhat ambitious endeavour I would be glad to travel through, Sir - in either direction. ;-)


World Airline Awards I lack the time to do anything other than cast an eye down the list at present, but the past 12 months have delivered thought-provoking changes, altering my own preconceptions in ways I had not expected. ;-)

Have you looked at Eurostar fares recently - "eye-watering" is an understatement, especially when one adds on the fare from the "far flung corners of Yorkshire"

Jet2 & KLM both go from Leeds/Bradford direct to Paris. Flybe goes direct from Doncaster/Sheffield.

Thanks for trying, Chris, but I know my own local airport better than that. The LBA Flight Guide is clear that only Jet2 flies direct: other sources make it clear that all KLM flights require a change of planes in Amsterdam. I've done that shuffle when travelling to Rome and Berlin: I can assure you that the walk from one side of Schiphol airport to the other takes a damn sight longer than 2 minutes (though at least they transport your heavy luggage for you).

Had I been Richard I would have taken the train from Leeds to Kings X, then a 2 minute walk to St Pancras Intl and the Eurostar to Paris Gare Du Nord. Leeds airport is 9 miles from Leeds city centre, and Charles De Gaulle airport is 14 miles from Paris city centre. requiring transport at both ends. However it's Richards personal choice how to travel which suits him best.

The trip from Leeds to London by train is fine, even adding in the (fast and comfortable) local commuter train to Leeds. Eurostar from London to Paris is also fine, but the interchange in London isn't 2 minutes: it's a short walk, followed by an airport-style strip search and a compulsory check-in delay. I just don't want that hassle after I've already settled in to the journey.

I use a local minicab firm to take me to the airport, door-to-door: they drop me within seconds of the Jet2 bag-drop, which is fast and efficient (though quite busy this trip). At the other end, CDG has one TGV station and two RER stations within the airport complex itself. I've travelled as far as Avignon in the deep south direct from the airport without a change of train: you couldn't get a direct train from Heathrow to, say, Perth (a similar distance).

The RER into the middle of Paris may not be particularly fast, but it's frequent and efficient, and links you into the entire Metro network. For this trip, I was able to book into a hotel just round the corner from an RER stop on the direct line. Even if I'd travelled by Eurostar, I'd still have been using that same RER B train for the final leg from the Gare du Nord.

Well, Jet2 sent me a 'welcome back' email, with an invitation to fill in a satisfaction survey with - unusually, but welcome - plenty of opportunity to express myself in my own words. They should know my views on remote airport ground handling provision now.

Ah, Shciphol... Quick changes are not possible unless you have the joys of a "Priority Boarding card", which shaves a good few minutes off the walk. At least there are plenty of boards and maps around to help you find your next plane. Charlie the Ghoole and Frankfurt are both far worse - especially if you have to change terminals with poor signage and so called shuttle buses that go the long way round to make sure you have to run to catch the flight you had ninety minutes to get to gate (never mind get on board).

CdG is better now - it has a fixed-rail automatic shuttle (think DLR) between the railway stations and the main terminals (not including T3, natch). No more unguided tours of the car-parks by navette.

Ah, Shciphol...

Together with Hthrearow, O'raeh Int, Nrewak and Sri Guru Ram Das Jee Int unpronounceable.

---