Orléans : 2013-11

We took a two-day field trip to Orléans France which is about an hour (train) south of Paris. We visited the base aérienne 123 Orléans-Bricy which is a support and heavy base. So, one of the highlights was the Airbus 400M Atlas. It was cool to see it up close because I had seen it fly earlier in the year at the Salon du Bourget. It is like a C-17 but slightly smaller, no wingbox on the inside (it sits on top) and with four giant turboprops.

They are impressive! In fact, about the only pictures I took were of the engines. The props each have eight blades and the right engines turn the opposite direction from the left engines. Hamilton Sundstrand makes propellers (USA!) and the engines are the Europrop TP400.

Here is the engine ... it's amazing we can make things this large that fly.

I like the tail section - very C-17ish, and it's the first 400M in the French Air Force. No 7.

Some more shots of the propeller and the engine - a little artsy, but still an amazing engine.

I included the pic on the left (from the web) to give a perspective of the engine's size. On the right, a cool model in the building where we had breakfast and lunch.

Our group ate at l'Ardoise in downtown Orléans. I appreciate the presentation of food as it is, in fairness, another art form. In this case, the presentation of the food was better than the taste. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't really at the level I've come to expect in France. Regardless, above is the menu and a nice little appetizer they gave us before our actual appetizer. Or, in French terms, it was the hors d'oeuvre which is before the entrée which is before the plat. America has changed the hors d'oeuvre into the appetizer and the plat principal into the entree. Maybe it's because we don't really do the hors d'oeuvre, and therefore our second dish is indeed an entrée.

Above is my entrée and plat principal. Once again, I didn't write down what they actually were.

En fin, the building where we had a nice lunch and a little breakfast. On the the right, was a picture taken during a rather boring briefing. Another cool place we visited was the Commando Parachutiste de l’Air 10.566. It was interesting to see how they prepared all the parachutes and the different configurations they have for jumping. In all, it was a nice trip. I had a good roommate, the train trips weren't that long, we saw more than I expected and the company was great.