Provence
Two days in Provence
A tale of sun, sea, mountains, storms, overheating, high pressure, low pressure, high ground, low flying, diversions (three!), bad planning, good planning, determination… and jolly good fun. Dave Gibson and Martin Charlick report…
S
ummer 2019. After being relentlessly chased through the low countries to Norway and back by storms over eight days in June, we were looking for a calmer, shorter trip to enjoy some sunshine and relaxation. Dave’s neighbours in the village where he lives near Glastonbury, have a summer home in the south of France, a farmhouse and smallholding they converted over 25 years ago and where they now spend six months of the year. We were invited (or did we invite ourselves …!) to fly down and stay a couple of nights and share a glass of wine and a swim in their natural water pool.
Weather set fair
The five-day forecast was very fair, with high pressure sitting over France, so we departed Henstridge on the morning of 4 August in blue skies, planning a straightthere one-day flight to Valreas Visan (LFNV) just north of Marseille with three stops, Cherbourg (LFRC) for customs, Amboise Dierre (LFEF) for fuel and Clermont
Above Dave Gibson, standing, Martin Charlick with their comfortable, long range Jodel Mascaret, which they use to its full potential around Europe. Left The long weekend away entailed a pretty direct trip down to Provence to visit friends. 30 | LIGHT AVIATION | March 2021
Ferrand (LFLC) to stretch our legs before the final leg, a total distance of roughly 500nm, or between five and six hours in the Jodel. The outbound Channel crossing was uneventful, the removal of the lower Q41 airway into Southampton now making the Swanage to Cherbourg route more straightforward at a reasonable altitude (4,000ft). We transited talking initially to Bournemouth, then London Information, and skirted around the western corner of mid-channel danger area EGD036 although Plymouth Military didn’t appear to be active, so we switched directly to Deauville Info and then Cherbourg, listening to a mixture of fast French and occasional English.
