Daks over Caen Capriquet

Sitting in the hotel room after a long day. Arrived in Caen at 8.00am after over night ferry. Found the carpark with no problem but already very full. Sat and watched the long bus queue from the car. Clear to see there were no buses. As weather was overcast but dry decided to find alternative parking closer to airport. Followed group of Dutch and parked on the grass verge. 15min walk to pay gate and in by 11.00. No aircraft on static but all visible. Weather conditions worsened as the day progressed with only the DDA Dak taking passenger flights. Lack of information has been the biggest issue today. If somebody had said flying cancelled due to weather it would have helped. What I found unacceptable was the double fence which meant most images have a red and white tape in the foreground. Unnecessary and not acceptable.

A heads up for anyone heading to Caen-Carpiquet on Sat 8th June:

Today, June 7th, it is chaos. The parking system/shuttle bus is disorganised and queues for that are waiting 90 minutes foe the 1 bus to do a round trip, around roads which are at a standstill.

There is negligible signage and once you do find the route to the entrance, a 10-15 minute walk awaits you. We queued for a further 20-30 minutes to get in and once in, found a few ‘stalls’ and food stands. These all had long, long queues so no doubt food will have run out by midday, which will be interesting, given you’re not meant to take your own food in. There are 8 portaloo toilets, all again with mammoth queues and no visible cleaning team on site.

There is no information being shared nor anyone apparent to ask. Storm Miguel has stayed away and it is dry, but the wind seems to have curtailed any form of flying, aside from 2 scenic flights. The scheduled programme has long since, disappeared, it really is anyone’s guess as to what’s going on. There is no evidence of airfield staff/aeroplane handling teams to speak of.

People are leaving in droves, but the shuttle bus is no longer running, so we’re all jumping on to public transport. We stayed at Caen for an hour or so before deciding that there are many other events taking place in Normandy which we are now en route to visit.

Pleasingly, our few days in France have taken in many other commemorations and although I’ve looked forward to Daks Over Normandy for the best part of 2 years, unfortunately based on our experience today, it has fallen very, very short of what it had the potential to deliver.

Apparently there’s a flock of observation kites at one airport, no idea which one.

Observation kites more appropriate to WW1 surely?

The Lbirds are at St Andre

Apparently there’s a flock of observation kites at one airport, no idea which one.