Daddy found out in the wee hours of the morning that there was a local airshow in a little town 270 km out of Paris. Slept 3 hours, woke up at 8 plus and decided that we should go even though the website provided very little information on the location and schedule for the show. We printed out the map, packed some snacks, 1 set change of clothes (just in case it was too late to drive back), loaded up our old ‘new’ car and set off for a very last minute and unplanned trip.
As we munched our breakfast in the car, we were greeted by gigantic yellow sunflowers beaming cheerfully, corn fields filled with maize plant taller than Malcolm, handsome trees with ruffled lush green crowns, a vast different from the neatly trimmed ones in Paris.
We drove on roads too deserted for our modern GPS and the yellow sign with the word ‘MEETING’, was about the only clue we had for navigation nearing the base. It took us almost 3 hours to reach our destination, a french airforce base tucked in the countryside.
Inside the base, we were greeted by static display of jets engine planes, choppers, propeller and historic aircrafts. The show was informal, very personal and it was clear that the show was for the people, unlike the Singapore Air Show, whose objectives are almost solely commercial. There were endless aerial displays throughout the day, nonstop, one after another, you can’t help but to think about the amount of work that was put in to make this show possible.
We saw flying displays by the Patrouille de France (acrobatic team of the French Air Force), a Mirage 2000, a Swiss F18, an Italian F16, a B1-B and many others who came from all over Europe. All morning, the sky threatened with dark clouds but the ensuing rain failed to dampen the carnival atmosphere nor Malcolm’s determination to stay and see the rest of the show. It was after all his first encounter with the European fighter jets. 
All in all, what was initially thought as a small scale and low key local airshow, turned out to be truly spectacular. What that started off as an ordinary Sunday, turned out to be a fully charged, adrenaline packed last minute getaway, made possible by our old ‘new’ car.
I love the freedom and convenient of owning a car, the surprise and thrill that can only come from an impromptu trip like this, and I think we should do this more often.
More pictures here