The finished product...“Foie Gras Conserverie”.
 

Church in Toulouse.

Fountain in Toulouse. 

Toulouse at night. 

Busy street in Toulouse. 

Compare the A319 (72 tonne ac) to the A330-200 (233 tonne ac) 

Visted Condom!

I finished my ground school on Friday and start Simulator today. The weather has cleared up some here and the days have blue skies and temperatures are going up to about 10C/50F. I switched hotels and now have wireless internet (but signal strength low in my room so I drop off line a lot), a kitchen and a bit more space. The area of town that I am in is not the best… the streets are full of dog poo (they love their dogs here but do not bother picking up the poo) and men think any building is their urinal… needless to say you would not walk barefoot around here! I have found the wine very cheap with bottles in stores ranging from about US$2 up. I have bought several bottles in the US$5-6 range and am very impressed. The French love their bread, cheese, salami and wine but I do not see very many fat French people…wonder why? If I ate a diet like that all the time I’d be a Pilsbary dough boy!
I went on an Airbus provided tour on Sunday to Auch (the capitol of the Gasconge region and the home of Dartagnan- one of the 4 Musketeers). We stopped at a farm where they produced “Foie Gras Conserverie” which means fat liver. They force feed geese (by sticking a metal tube down there throats) 2 times a day for 15 days (a total of about 11kg/22lbs of corn) to fatten their livers then make a pâté. It was ok…but I wouldn’t buy it at about US$60/lbs ((US$150/kg). Auch was a beautiful city with an amazing church that took about 300 years to build! We had a walk around and lunch then off to a city called Condom (really!).
Condom was a very beautiful little town where we visited “Ryst-Dupeyron” a famous sellar that produces Armagnac (a liquor made from distilled white wine). After a tasting and look around we returned to Toulouse.
On Wednesday I am taking a tour of the A330/A340 production line…should be very interesting.

In Toulouse!

Arrived late last night in Toulouse.... weather is a bit cold but the city looks nice. The hotel that I am staying at it just ok....small room, lovely color (if you like sleeping in an orange room!) and down a dark street. I was told that they had internet....not true! I looked around for another place a bit nicer but with the large amount of money Qatar Airways allows me for a hotel it would cost me about US$600-700 more out of my pocket...so I think I will just stay there! I found a cyber cafe but it is very confusing- all the letters are in different places on the keyboard( so I type even slower now!). I found a good little gym about a 15 minute walk from my hotel so at least I can try and keep up with Harold and Kathy (my brother and sister) in their little contest (3 month weight loss and improve fitness). But the diet bit will be a bit hard here as the French are not well known for their low-fat food!
I start class tomorrow and will finish the ground school Friday. Then the weekend off...for some sight seeing, study and of course working out! My simulator starts Monday. I will try and post some pics on Friday or Monday.

Bombay slums next to airport. 

Slums next to Bombay airport (picture from cockpit). 

I am inside a Pagoda (Buddhist temple in Yangon) wearing a longyis (sarong).
. 

A Buddhist Temple in Yangon. 

This lady was staring at the sun for the whole hour that we were at this temple! 

In the gounds of a Pagoda (Buddhist temple). 

In the grounds Shwedagon Pagoda (The largest Buddhist temple in Yangon). 

Entry in to Shwedagon Pagoda (The largest Buddhist temple in Yangon).
 

These people have vowed silence until they find inner power… some have not spoken for over 3 years!
 

Restaurant on lake. 

Fountains going off - Lake in Yangon.
 

Lake in Yangon. 

Monks cross road in one of the worst part of Yangon - notice how clean it is! 

Local ladies wash a Buddha - it brings good karma.
 

Street market stall. 

A street view of Yangon. 

At lunch with my Mexican first officer.
 

About 40 people on a local public transport.
 

Terminal building Yangon airport 

Yangon!

I finally have some time to post!
I flew to Yangon, Myanmar (http://www.myanmartravel.net/myanmar.htm)…what a nice place! The people were very friendly - many spoke English, it is one of the cleanest cities I have been to (only beaten by Singapore), very economical (cheap!), the food was great and the city beautiful. The infrastructure is great (roads and services), many beautiful Buddhist (the most famous being Shwedagon Pagoda http://www.myanmar.com/shwedagon/ ).
We only had a day there but hired a taxi for about US$4.50 an hour. The driver spoke good English and acted as a tour guide also. He took us around to several temples and several parks in the city.
The weather was fairly hot (about 30C/86F) and humid. The best time to go is December (according to locals) as that month has the coolest weather. I understand that the coast is beautiful and I am looking forwards to returning there soon (unfortunately it will not be with work…the A319 flies there and I am switching aircraft- so on days off).
After returning from Yangon I have flown 2 Bombay return flights. One of them during the day- I have included some pictures from the cockpit of the slums around the airport. It is an interesting airport which sometimes you have to stop the aircraft taxiing to let dogs walk in front of you (sucking up a dog into a US$5,000,000 engine will ruin your day, the dogs day and the engine also!). Not my most interesting experience with dogs - that would have been when I was flying with Ansett and we were taxiing for departure out of Bali. There were 2 dogs mating on the taxiway! After I had stop the aircraft, I had to give a creative PA to the passengers trying to explain why departure was going to be delayed... let alone trying to ask the tower controller (who spoke very limited English limited to aviation phrases) to send out someone to break up the action!
Today I do my last flight on the A320 aircraft! I am flying to Istanbul, Turkey. I started flying the A320 on Aug 2, 1989. After 15 years and 7 months, 3 airlines and 1 divorce - it is time for a change!
I leave for Toulouse, France on Monday the 7th for training on the A330. My training is spread out there (only 7 days required) to 16 days… lots of time off to explore Toulouse!

Out of time to post pics!

I will post some pics when I return tonight.. running late for a flight (but they will not leave without me!).