Come Fly With Me

Hot French People, Windsor Drama and Red Arrows!

” Is there anything worn under the kilt? No, it's all in perfect working order. - Spike Milligan

Why is this quote both funny and timely? Because I just received word from Michelle that she received a large box from Scotland. This can mean only one thing; my kilt and full accouterments have arrived in Dallas!! And in some point in the next year, I’ll come up a with a reason to wear it. :-)

Blog part 1 … Paris!

On Wednesday I had scheduled a department meeting in Paris, which was actually cheaper than having it at Sabre HDQ in London. Four people on the team live in Germany and France, and hotels are cheaper in Paris than London so we hit the Chunnel again. Tuesday night we all went out for a nice dinner at a place my boss recommended called Chez Andres (pretty French sounding huh?). Paris is a vibrant city and it’s always fun to go out there. On Wednesday Paris hit 104 degrees, and we were going to be in an all day meeting. Now before you Dallas people start rolling your eyes and telling me it’s like that every day here … remember that unlike Dallas, buildings and cars are not air conditioned. The office was an oven! Corinne managed to arrange for us to use the only AC room in the building, which was a life-saver. I had to step out for calls and meetings during the day, and the offices were literally like a sauna. Even London has been in the mid to upper 80’s which makes my flat really uncomfortable. I know you all feel bad for me … don’t you? :-) Anyway, the Eurostar back to London was over 90 minutes late and as compensations they gave us a free one way, or ½ price return ticket on a future train … so I got that going for me!

Blog Part 2 … Windsor Castle!

Okay well not exactly, but it was my intention to go to Windsor Castle on Saturday morning. But I overslept, and by the time I made it to Windsor it was 1:30 in the afternoon. Snapped a few shots of the outside of the castle, and since I had not eaten breakfast I thought I’d go grab a quick bite before touring the town. I found a pub and sat down for a quick Kronenbourg and a fish and chips. However, during my meal I got to chatting with some locals and next thing you knew it was 5 hours later and I had to get back to London. In my time in Windsor I met a guy named Kai, who is getting married to Sheila, they own the pub together with another couple (Jim and Leslie). Sheila was bawling and almost in hysterics when I walked in, Kai stormed out shortly there after. I was sitting next to Leslie and Sheila at the bar and somehow got sucked into the conversation. Sheila had been asked to buy some napkins for the receptions in “Chelsea Blue,” because Kai is a huge Chelsea fan. She foolishly bought another shade of blue that was close but not Chelsea … and Kai was having none of it. Over my hours there I went through a pack of cigarettes, and never smoked one. The whole crew was “quitting” and kept bumming them, so I bought a pack from the bar and just told them to help themselves … I’m an enabler! Long story a little shorter, by the end of the night I was sitting at a table with the four of them telling the obligatory stories about the difference of life in the UK and life in the USA. Nice people, but they all use the slot machine in their own pub too much. I know because I have a problem with over-using those things and these people made me look like an amateur. Fun day, just no good photos.

Farnborough Air Show

I decided to take a break from visiting quaint Victorian towns and scenery today and embraced my masculine side. Today was the Farnborough Air Show; the biggest air show in the UK. There was a huge British, European and US military presence, plus all the latest commercial planes. I had never seen the new double-decker Airbus A380 up close, it is absolutely massive. There is 5 hours of aerial displays by all the planes, F-16, F-18, B1-B, Harriers, attack helicopters, even a Russian MiG 29. Drinking beer, looking at missiles and watching mock dog-fights … it could bring a tear to my eye! I even shelled out $60 for a 5 minute helicopter ride over the show (hey, I was in a aerial mood). When the pilot asked who wanted to ride shotgun, I swear it was an involuntary reflex but my hand was up faster than I've seen it move in a while. :-) I looked around and sadly realized that there was a young kid in my flight, so I did the right thing and gave the kid the my cool spot. Damn I hate being a grownup sometimes! ;-) The show closed with The Red Arrows (UKs equivalent to the Blue Angels); it is amazing how close those guys fly together at 100’s of mph. I’m anticipating that by Thursday my hearing should be back to normal.

All in all a really fun weekend, hope yours were the same!

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