The weather when we woke up looked OK out of the window, not windy and overcast but with what looked like quite high cloud, so still do-able. We packed and checked out and got a taxi to the airport. I prepped and packed the plane then wandered over to the Meteo building next to the tower for a weather brief. I told him in broken French of my intentions and I got a simple ‘C’est non possible pour le VFR!!’. I looked surprised as it didn’t seem that bad, but then he showed me the rainfall radar, with really nasty stuff with what he said was embedded CB’s being blown directly across my proposed route from the south west to the north east most of the day until maybe mid-afternoon. There was already a nasty patch over Dijon to the south as I did even consider a ‘dash’ to Dijon, a mere 70 miles or so south.
So I decided to abandon the attempt until the afternoon and go back to town for lunch, as the airfield café looked excellent but was never open once when I was there. So back into town for lunch. Sure enough the wind picked up and it was indeed raining.
Sheltering from the rain
About 14:00 I thought I could see it becoming brighter rainy weather, so another taxi fare back to the airfield and a trip to la Meteo. But the rainfall radar showed a nasty trailing part of the clag still due to go over between Troyes and Dijon until at least 18:00. With heavy heart and a lighter wallet I decided to quit for today. I then recalled someone said if you go to the Hotel Relais St Jean in the town centre, the owner who is also a pilot would pick you up and drop you off. So I asked at reception and this is what happened. It really is an excellent hotel, but at EUR 100 a night not hugely cheap, but beautifully done in a very old building with bags of character.
Excellent room at the very 'pilot friendly' Relais St Jean Hotel in the town centre
We met up with some American freighter pilots also staying in the hotel in the bar (where else) who had been in Troye for three days waiting for their DC8 freighter to arrive at the huge runway at Chalon Vatry. We swapped stories for a bit, before going our separate ways for the evening meal. Troyes is still a very nice town, but when you are a pilot that couldn’t fly that day, it can be pretty frustrating, but such is VRFR touring in Europe!
Rather nice restaurant
I was not made any happier by learning on the Flyer Forum internet that another Raduno attendee had flown into Troyes around lunchtime on the same day, refuelled and pressed on and made it to Avignon, although they did have the grace to say that there was some pretty 'interesting' weather along the way!
