How to fit a super size aircraft through a village

In bits is the answer to the above!
Here are a few pictures of the latest A380 Convoy passing through Levignac on its way to the Final Assembly Line at Airbus, Blagnac.

I was surprised at how many people were there, as they pass through about once a fortnight - and I eventually found the website with the timetables www.igg.fr if you are interested.

Anyway the final couple of photos show how tight the fuselage is to the buildings on either side, and I think other parts of the journey it is even tighter.

What was impressive was the efficiency it passes through, one team up front removes, road signs and bollards (all slot in for the purpose) and the team at the back puts them all back into place.

Visits and photo plans

End of October and the "gang" arrived, Sally, Alan, Angie and Steve for a long weekend (Thur-Mon).
After the French ATC tried to prevent them arriving and BA having cancelled the midday flight they actually arrived within 15 minutes of the planned arrival.
After the short drive home we arrived at the house and had a midnight snack with beverages (be rude not to!).

Friday was a trip to Albi and the Toulouse Lautrec Museum along with an impressive cathedral, arriving around midday and being out of season both were closed until 14.00 and the end of the French 2 hour lunch. So we wandered the streets and gardens chatting, taking photos and generally being impressed by the architecture and vistas. Stopping for a snack lunch in a small cafe the difficulties of understanding accents presented itself with our Irish waitress!
We then made our way back around to the cathedral square and the museum, spending an hour or so in the museum and marvelling at Toulouse Lautrec's works that were on display - I especially like the doodled in school books!

Then to the cathedral, unfortunately it was "organ tuning" which consisted of one note continuously played for what seemed like an eternity - when it stopped there was an audible sigh from the gathered sightseers only to be replaced by looks of disbelief as the next note up was started - suffice to say we stayed long enough to look around and take some photos but not long enough to contemplate too much...

Returning via a cafe for a hot chocolate, coffee and whatever else was required we made our way back to Levignac. We stopped at "The Bell" on the way back for supper and I had "English Fish and Chips" - actually French fish in and english-ish batter and Frites - delish though, the others had steaks, grills and the same as me.

 Saturday we went to the market at L'isle Jordan in the morning, this has to be the best market I have found here with everything from fruit and veg, beef, lamb, chicken and horse butchers, fresh milk on tap (bring a container) and nuns selling honey (the edible kind!). It was the pumpkin festival so gourds and pumpkins of all varieties were dotted around with guess the weight competitions on many stalls - we started poorly as the ladies found a jewellery stall... but 40 minutes later we got to wander the market proper. Once we had wandered, bought and haggled it was into the car and into Toulouse for Lunch. At Place St George we ate at Wallaces, who do the most excellent food, we were entertained by the waiter in the next restaurant (we sat outside in wonderful Autumn sun) seeing how many wine glasses he could bounce off the floor - answer non out of at least six!

We then wandered back to the place du Capitole and the lads found a suitable cafe to reside in while the ladies went to C&A - apparently an essential part of the French trip! - we were treated to the best of French Waitering where you are a blot on an otherwise nice day for the waiter and if you were not there he would be having such a wonderful day! Having got our drinks about 30 seconds before the ladies returned (having sat for at least 20 minutes, and that is nothing to do with being English, or visitors, we were served in order, it is just the French waiters way) we ordered more for them and sat and enjoyed them in the afternoon sun.

Returning home via the Hypermarket (and ANOTHER C&A) we ate at a restaurant near by - not 100% convinced this was the best plan, but it was okay, although early so we were the only ones in there at the start.
Back at home we played some cards, almost learnt crib and various wood related terms... then a game of Trivial pursuit along with plenty of product from the cellar.



Sunday was going to be wet - so an early foray to the Forest and a walk to the memorial for the resistance members that were tourtured and then shot in the forest in 1944, then a return in the drizzle to get back to cook Sunday roast, along with some Skiing, Ski Jumping, Bobsleigh and a round of Golf along with a lap of Spa in an F1 car courtesy of the Wii.

Monday was similar weather wise and also a French holiday so most places shut, so we relaxed and enjoyed good company, got the gang to the airport for about 3.30 and they had a safe trip back.

Avenue du Bouconne Visitors: The first blog post from a visitor

Avenue du Bouconne Visitors: The first blog post from a visitor: "Having just arrived home, having disussed this blog not four hours ago, I'm super impressed that it's been set up...."

Have set up a seperate blog for visits from friends and family, so hopefully will be able to link in some pictures and any fun that is had there - and just maybe the visitors may post (complementary) blog entries!

Steve

Dad's 80th

The weekend after my visitors were here I was back in the UK for my Dad's 80th birthday.

Lily's photo, hmmm...

Family - I have been on a diet since then!

Don't do what your Uncle tells you!

Maybe it is funny when it's Dad?

Studying the menu...

Happy Families

He had no idea that myself, my Sister and her husband and daughter would be decending on them over the weekend and having - eventually - managed to meet up with my Sister and her family we arrived at the front door and he was literally lost for words, a great moment.

Mum had booked a restaurant for Sunday and we travelled there in a large people carrier I had hired - great car - and we were seated in the most fantastic position in the restaurant looking out over the estuary.

The food was amazing! It was a real struggle to choose one thing to have and I could have returned every day for a week to have sampled all the things on there that took my fancy!

It was a great weekend and a very enjoyable family reunion.

Les Filles du Palais en tournée and Jeux Sans Frontiers

So the first non-family visitors arrived in early July for a long weekend, and I think we all had a jolly nice time - and having three women in the house proved to be not as difficult as I thought it might have been...

Louise, Anna and Becca in Gaillac

Easy jet did their utmost to move the arrival from late Thursday night to early Friday morning, but the girls arrived before midnight and once we had made our introductions - only knowing Louise and meeting Becca and Anna for the first time - it was off to chez moi. The temperature even at 11.00pm was well into the mid to high 30's so once we got to the house, it was time for a late supper, some bubbly and a look around the house.

The girls seemed suitably impressed with the accommodation, and I realised I could probably have squeezed them into one room judging by the surprise that they each had one... know better next time...
There was some trepidation at investigating the Fritzel suite, but once down there and realising you couldn't be locked in - and if you were you had access to the Cave a Vin - they seemed happy enough!

After a good nights sleep and a French breakfast we decided that as it was a little overcast there wasn't going to be the Tan Topping activity available that morning - so the decision was taken to venture out in search of Wine.

Gaillac

A little aside here - Toulouse itself doesn't really produce wine - the nearest real wine production is towards Carcassone in the South, Bordeaux in the West and Gaillac to the North East. Gaillac is the nearest at about 50-60 mins drive.
So after the girls had re-showered and replaced tanning products for tanning products that allowed them to go out we made a start on driving to Gaillac.

Although I should probably apologise for the less than impressive iPod selection in the car, I have now (bit late I know) found a couple of good radio stations that play some good, 80's, 90's and 00's music.

How big?

We made it to Gaillac and after driving up and down the same road in a number of directions - I thought of it more as sight seeing rather than not knowing where we were going - and then struggling with the French road sign habit of pointing you in a direction and then at the next two junctions refusing to give you any clues!!! We made it to a wine producers outlet - again in a slight aside I have found some vineyards that you can visit and get a slightly better experience I think - anyway we had a sample of some red and white locally produced wines and after looking around at all that was on display - including the biggest wine glass you are ever likely to see - a case of RED wine was purchased and packed into the car, to be split up later.
We then made our way back into Gaillac and the "House of Wine" some more tasting and the girls very kindly bought me some wine as a thank you - we made our way around Gaillac to see what it had to offer... not a huge amount as it turns out, but we found a café for a café and wine for those not driving, and then continued to explore. Time being a driver we decided to head back towards home and visit the Hypermarche on the way to get some BBQ bits and pieces.

Action shot... but no names...

An uneventful trip back, and a BBQ in the rain! - Well half in the rain and then a few games on the Wii to wrap up the evening

A future Champion looks on...

Next day proved to be fantastically sunny so with only one shower and one application of Tanning product for sitting around in (as opposed to travelling in) it was decided a day by the pool would be the height of the activities. Although Louise had been harbouring a need to build an in pool obstacle course from the week before arriving! So armed with floating spaghettis, diving weights and inflatables a course that could challenge even Flipper was put together - I would say what it was but is far to complicated to remember!!

Is this how dolphin feels...

Suffice to say that after Becca, Myself and Louise had completed our laps (against the clock) Anna, having been a floating obstacle herself stepped up and wiped the floor with us! Obviously having studied our mistakes although pretending to read at the time...

"Your not taking pictures are you...!"

So Jeux Sans Frontiers Champion 2010 to Anna.


 There were then a number of "flotation assisted (or not)" races between the girls of which I have no idea who came out on top but have a suspicion it was Anna the eel - maybe with the use of hidden gadgets, who knows.

Les Filles du Palais

Saturday evening we went into Toulouse, and had a great meal in the Place du Capitole right in the centre of town, girls treat which was really nice.

Meal in Toulouse

It was a shame the weekend had to end on the Sunday, as I think there was a few more days of fun to be had, maybe next time, and a big thank you to the girls for making it all so enjoyable and easy, hopefully there will be a chance to repeat it at some point. Oh almost forgot! When we got the wine back from Gaillac it was WHITE!!! A huge disappointment all round but something to rectify next time, and the Cave is now well stocked after my Châteaux visits now.

Oh dear, four months past...

Well I really am going to have to try and get back in the habit here! Have just set up the "Visitors blog" to collate shared weekends, photos and experiences out here - so will post to there for the people who have been over here.

So I guess I need to sit down now and do July - October, will try and do a post for each month - although not 100% how the memory will serve me to get it all in the right order.

So first up will be July... and the three B's...

Deer, deer me...

Having had the shock of my life Friday night whilst on the phone - stepped out the door to come face to muzzle with a deer under the cherry tree - my little(?) friend returned Sunday afternoon.
And this time I had my camera to hand, only got a few pics as having been basking in the sun I was ill clothed to go deer stalking, well pretty much nil clothed but we won't go into that.

So a few shots of said deer, I think I will call her Delphine...

She seems to have taken a real liking to the Mulberry tree, not sure if it is the fruit, the leaves or both though, no doubt when I find I have just bare branches I will know!!

She also sampled the cherries that had fallen on the ground, I expect to see a somewhat drunk Delphine wobbly around the garden at a later date...

The final shot could have been superb... However I don't think I will be able to remove the tree in photoshop, it is not like the odd wrinkle or wayward hair...
I guess I need to be more aware of where the trees are planted!!!



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New tank mates - "Discus"

Finally got to the stage that the tank is ready for the Discus I have been wanting to get - the pictures were taken shortly after they arrived, which is about three weeks ago now.

They are stunning fish and the blue one in particular is very bright even at this early age- they are about 6cm across at present, and the true colouring will kick in when they are a bit more mature.

Apparently one is a Snakeskin, one a pigeon blood and the other possibly Turquoise or Blue something... Shows how little I know yet.

I am hoping they will prove as resilient as their football team as they are imported from Germany.

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What happened!!!!

Manuel Neuer - Knows it's a goal but

there is no honesty in football

Oh no, this isn't what was meant to happen!

Well there we go, all the hopes and aspirations gone for another four years, no new shirts with an extra gold star to go on sale.

Where was a TV blackout when it was needed to spare us all from seeing something akin to the 5-1 win in Germany all those months - years... - ago. Gone is the beard now, a little show of support that is now consigned to the plug hole, no doubt the same plug hole all the England players skills, and abilities seem to have disappeared down, where was the team from qualifying? Where was Crouch, Rooney was not playing well so how did he stay in the first eleven.

Lots of questions to be answered on the team, myself I have always thought you should have an English manager for an English team - saying that I think Capello has probably been the best of the managers in recent times and it is astounding that this World Cup has been our most dismal in recent times. So lots of work needed, someone needs to light a passion within the team - and make them a team, the skills and abilities are there, but somehow, someone needs to find the gel to bring it together.

As for the woeful decisions made by the referee and his "assistant", you have to say they were as inadequate in this game as England were, but it would be a moot point if Sepp Blatter would come off his high horse and accept that in this day and age technology HAS to play its part. Cricket, Tennis, Rugby have all embraced it and not to the detriment of the game, in some instances it adds a little spice.

The replay that was shown of the Teves offside goal was shown within 30 seconds of it happening, it could probably have been shown within 15 how is that slowing the game.

I think Gary Lineker had a great idea, allow the teams 3 challenges like in the tennis, if it is a good challenge you still have 3 if it is not you lose one. This could probably be used for RED CARD incidents and if someone is found to have "Oscared" the event then the red card is reversed and the actor is sent off - just the threat of that might bring some honesty back to the game!

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Why no loss of picture

Typical of ITV, they insisted on showing every minute of the game tonight, not an interruption or blank screen to save us all from viewing that dismal display.

Come on sort this out please, ensure we see the goals and ensure we don't see the rubbish that was on display tonight.

I don't understand why he wouldn't put Cole on and why he insists on sticking to a formation that is not working - the players though should realise it wasn't working and made the changes on field themselves, they seem to respect Capello but also too scared to put forward their own ideas.

We are under the cosh now, and need an outstanding performance on Wednesday, only a win will do no matter what the other possibilities could be - we need to win, we need to go through on our own merit and not rely on another team doing us a favour.

I have a feeling I will be sans beard come Thursday morning, but am not going to give up all hope, there is always hope.

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Those of you watching in HD...

Luckily this blog is not in HD or on ITV...

Well all the hype and we are left with only seeing a USA goal - What the hell was going on there!!!

"Those of you watching in HD the England goal is just behind this advert..." 

I want to know if this was the same person who ran an advert on the last three laps of the San Marino Grand Prix in 2005 - please, surely not...

Not a great night then of ITV sport coverage, or England goalkeeping prowess, the trouble for a goalie is one mistake is potentially so costly, and yet a striker missing an open goal would not be seen as so damaging.

What next, well a biased opinion myself in that I had Hart in my Fantasy Football team most of last year, give him a chance, there will be way too much pressure and attention on Green, and to be honest he should probably rule himself out of then next game and get his head sorted, he could still come back later.
Lets not take players to the the World Cup and not use them (Walcott in the last one!), so use Hart, keep Calamity for the next game if needed and then maybe Blunder Rob will be ready later... Who knows and Capello is not someone you can read very well.

OH and please at least tell the PLAYERS more than two hours before who is playing, even if you don't announce it, and if one of them Tweets, emails or texts it out there then drop them!





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November 09 - Present

Well I promised to jot down a few highlights of the last six months, as I have been pretty lax in updating this thing.

Not that I seem to remember that much happening...
On the Theatre side of things, completed - along with help from the UK based team - the design, layout and production of the programme for CMTC Spring show Sweet Charity - by all accounts a great show, and I was very pleased with the final copy of the programme. Which I collected a few of after driving up to Brittany - so a sort of courier role played by Mr and Mrs C, and a jolly weekend was had along the way! Best G&T this side of the channel, alhough the supplies of T must be restricted judging by their strength - not that I am complaining!

Work has been manic, with plenty to keep me busy this year, and hopefully all sorted now so a quieter six months for the remainder of the year with any luck.

Have had a few weekends away, one up near Rodez, for the Rallye du Marcillac, which was a great weekend with the Rally team from Beauzelle Renault. Great company, fab food, and plenty of laughs - albeit in French and I was invariably laughing some way behind everyone else, but at least I am getting there in the same evening now!!

Later in the year was a weekend in Nay - maybe where the knights come from... any Monty Python fans...? - this is between Lourdes and Pau, and at the foot of the Pyrenees, for the Rallye Du Bearne - another fab weekend, and also the first chance to see the car with a logo I designed displayed prominently on the side, front and back of the motor.

I still think William was ill advised to take up a new "Navigator" position during the day, and luckily saw sense and left the boot to use the seat up front.

Now I am just waiting for the global take off of the drink and my 25% - although it seems to be less each time I mention it...

A couple of shots here from Parc Ferme and also out on the course.

You don't quite get the sense of speed on these shots, I have some others - on the laptop - that I will add later as they do really give the impression of the speed they are doing.

One thing I have not touched on was the closing of our London Office - this was a complete shock to everyone and totally out of the blue, in fact you could almost say it went against what the bosses had reassured everyone in November on the longevity of their jobs.
Fortunately so far this has not had any direct impact on me - other than not really having a position to return to in the UK... there is now just a small office of 5/6 people and that may be further reduced in the coming weeks.

So keeping my fingers crossed that things don't change to much over here for me... watch this space I guess...



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