France 174 - Toulouse /Aeroscopia /spewing out 180 euros worth of diesel/Concorde and the Super Guppy

---

And now for something a little different to yesterday . After the cloisters our first stop was to dump our grey waste, empty the chemical toilet , fill up with water and try to find a petrol station. One that worked . We were heading for Toulouse and Aeroscopia which sells itself as interactive, entertaining , an exhibition of legendary aircraft such as Concorde , the Caravelle and the Super Guppy.

We drove back to the LeClerc supermarket . Parked in front of the machine and followed the instructions which started off in English but reverted to pictures and french . Insert card. Follow the instructions on the keypad. Pop your PIN number in. Take card out. What next ? The machine then told us that we should pick our pump. Pump 4 picked . Did we want gazole or AdBlue ? Gazole pressed and hey presto out spewed 180 euros worth of fuel .

Our drive to Toulouse took us down the motorways . Our Sanef pay as you go little box worked a treat . We flew through the gare de peage. We ended up diverted as we always do . Silly Sat Nag hated that and tried to get us back to where we started . Ignoring her we ended up on the free car park for the aeroplane museum that provided free overnight parking for motorhomes . The museum had opened in 2015 and was housed next to the Airbus facility . We could visit the museum and for an add on fee see the Airbus factory production line .

It was sunny finally and the weather seemed to be holding up. We walked over to the museum entrance and joined the queues of youngsters who were being forced to look round by their teachers. The building was designed to look like the interior cargo bay of an aircraft . 7000m2 space full of very large planes . It cost 11 euros to visit and this time we were charged at the seniors rate . As we queued to go in I thoughtfully said "Wouldnt it be nice to see the Beluga flying over " The large ugly looking plane starts its journey at the factory here at Toulouse and makes it way almost daily to North Wales flying over our home before dropping off aircraft parts to be made into aircraft wings which are then shipped back on the Beluga to Germany or Toulouse. Just as I spoke there it was having just taken off from Toulouse airport.

Inside the museum was a large Super Guppy showing just how big this aircraft was . The kids went inside and it looked as if the plane had swallowed them up. What an ugly beast . We walked inside an Airbus 340 and a 380. We saw the cockpits some larger than others . We walked inside Concorde . That iconic plane that was a joint venture between us and the French. It is such a lovely but impractical plane . Pretty with stylish wings . A tiny cockpit and narrow aisles . Not many seats but all packed closely together . It was the height of luxury to be able to go on Concorde . To get to the USA or Dubai at supersonic speed . But at a cost . It was never going to pay its way and sadly only flew for a short while before being deemed only for the rich and just a handful of those .

We left Concorde and walked inside a glass bottomed A300B. The cargo space massive . Inside one plane were examples of every type of passenger seat available. From the cheap seats with little room to the next class with more leg room and more space . At the back the business class with beds, kitchens and conference or banqueting space . The TV's inside were large and very old fashioned . How the world of travel had moved on in such a short time.

Outside on the Tarmac were two areas Another Concorde and a A380 plus some military aircraft . Sadly we could not go inside any of them . There was a boutique but no cafe . But plenty of interactive events and simulation pods .

Across the car park was another museum . This time it housed older airplanes . Some were parked outside and I could see them through the fence . Entry was another 5 euros and the museum was only open a few days a week and was run by volunteers . Today it was closed .

Was the museum what we expected ? Yes and No. It had the aircraft we had expected to see but perhaps we expected more . We enjoyed walking aboard Concorde and had always wanted to see inside one so it ticked that box. Was it as good as others we have visited ? Again yes and no as they are all different and offer a different perspective on air travel . It was one of those museums that perhaps could have had more but we enjoyed the change of doing and seeing something different .

---

Comments

[Home and Away]

And the weather is improving...
Interesting museum!

[JenGog]

weather
Yes its sunny near the med finally . The air museum and the halle de la machines are both interesting in different ways . Meant to go to Perpignan this morning but found out when we arrived at the station it was unmanned and there were no automatic ticket machines . Couldnt believe our bad luck !!!!