They've done it again!

Ryanair that is... the winter timetable doesn't include any direct journeys from London airports to Perpignan or Gerona. Last year's experiences persuaded us that we could combine our travel to the French home with visits to other cities – always, of course, making sure that the airports in question were not hours away from the cities Ryanair claims they serve. So the internet searches have begun again, and the first journey we make will be via Cologne.

Summer schedule

Although at the end of March Ryanair did resume some flights to Perpignan and to Gerona, they weren't always convenient for our schedules – and by then we'd found we quite enjoyed trying out other routes and visiting other cities so it's a trend we'll continue.


With London-Perpignan back on the Ryanair schedule again, Mike finally went back to our most often-used route in April. Despite missing his intended coach to the airport (the result of travelling at rush hour, and when there are road works it seems on every other London street at present) he made it to Stansted just in time for his flight. However, our neighbour who had offered to pick him up evidently had the wrong flight time noted, and there was an hour's wait (and several phone calls and text messages) at Perpignan before his lift appeared - so not the early arrival he'd hoped for.


Transport: Terravision bus, Ryanair flight, lift home
Door-to-door: 7 hours
Cost: £16.99

Northern route

Frogbus made a timetable change which was not compatible with our next flight out of Gerona. Both of us were flying from there to Birmingham International with Ryanair. Our good friend François very kindly drove us all the way to the airport in his taxi without charge! After two days of almost non-stop rain in the south of France, the weather cleared before we left home, giving us fantastic weather for flying. The views over the Pyrenees, and then later over the Atlantic coast, were superb. We got to Birmingham International with time to lunch before getting our train to London Euston. Unfortunately we got on the wrong London train (a Virgin train, which was scheduled 9 minutes before our booked Midland train) and had to get off at Coventry and wait for the train we'd actually booked on to arrive. Oh, for the days of British Rail – when there was only one company it was impossible to be on the “wrong” train going to the same destination. The platform announcer at Coventry has the most irritating voice imaginable – think of the rise-and-fall associated with the reading of football results, then magnify it! - so it was a great relief when the train arrived and we could escape her!

Transport: taxi, Ryanair flight, Midland train, 168 bus

Door-to-door: 8 hours

Cost: £66.12

Torre Pendente

Morag was also booked on an early flight in March, but from Gatwick not Stansted. As the trains from London Bridge don’t run very early in the morning, she decided to go down the previous evening and catch a bit of sleep in the terminal building – not very much sleep, but some. The flight to Pisa was with Easyjet – a pleasant change from the usual Ryanair service. The pilot had a sense of humour, the staff were friendly – and the seats were comfortable – not plastic! Also, although like with Ryanair there were attempts to sell extras – they didn't keep plugging something every five minutes over the intercom.

All went swimmingly until we were almost at Pisa; it seems the pilot was told only on his final approach of changes to the landing procedures at Pisa airport – so it was a sudden climb into a “go-around” for a second approach. One of the stewardesses was thrown against the rear bulkheads, injuring her arm, leg and neck At first she thought the arm was broken but as the (successful) final approach was made she got some feeling back in the hand and thought probably not a break after all. She would go to hospital in Pisa to be checked anyway. Morag – having some hours to pass before the next flight – offered to keep her company if needed (as the rest of the crew would have to go back with the aircraft). They must have found someone on the ground to go with her though – Morag was not called on. (She texted the next day - she'd been taken to hospital on a spinal board - happily X-rays and a CT scan had uncovered no breaks.)

Pisa airport is very near the city and the local bus costs only €1.50. The go-around had given a chance to see Pisa from the air, but as the weather was good and there were a few hours to fill, a bus ride and a walk were indicated. Although the weather was variable, it was never cold or rainy, so very pleasant for walking. With the free city map picked up in the airport, it was easy after a little sightseeing to find the main railway station and thus the navette back to the airport.

The second flight of the day was typically Ryanair – so no need for further comment!

Transport: London Bridge to Gatwick with Southern Railways, Gatwick to Pisa with Easyjet, Pisa to Gerona with Ryanair, Frogbus.

Door-to-door (including a night at the airport): 24½ hours

Cost: £73.29

STILL Germany!

Mike’s next journey to St Jean in March also involved a change in Germany, this time at Bremen. The early flight meant leaving home at 5 a.m. in order to get to Stansted in time, but did mean that there was time to visit the city in between flights. Unusually for Ryanair, the airport is very close to the city of Bremen so it was easy to visit the city – though not for a long walk, as the weather was very cold. He found it an interesting town, and wants to visit again some time.

Transport: car, Terravision coach, two Ryanair flights, Frogbus, car

Door-to-door: 15½ hours

Cost: £51.82

Germany again

Mike also returned to London via Germany, flying from Gerona to Memminghen (Munich West) and then Memminghen to Stansted – both with Ryanair. The first flight was made in fantastic weather with beautiful views of the coast. Memminghen was a tiny hangar type airport with only one food outlet... selling soup (very salty!), Bavarian sausages and lager... not much else. Fortunately the delay between flights was only a couple of hours. He was back in London in time for us to go out and celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary!

Transport: car, Frogbus, two Ryanair flights, Terravision coach to Liverpool Street, 78 bus.

Door-to-door: 11 hours

Cost: £59.12

Frankfurt WHERE?

Morag spent only two nights and one day in St Jean Lasseille before making her return journey, which was via a German airport. The departure time meant that the first Frogbus of the day had to be taken – 4.45 a.m. from Le Boulou! This bus now makes an extra stop – at Gerona railway station – so now takes about 15 minutes longer than it used to. The 50-seat coach had one passenger between Perpignan to Gerona rail stations, and one (Morag) from Le Boulou to Gerona airport – one hopes its return journey to Perpignan had more takers, or this service won't last very long... There was then almost three hours to wait at Gerona for the flight to Frankfurt/Hahn with Ryanair – time for breakfast? Sadly the catering facilities at Gerona haven't improved, so a bar of chocolate and a fruit juice had to do (€4.95!).

Having an aisle seat meant it was difficult to appreciate the glorious view crossing the Alps. Approaching Frankfurt/Hahn the pilot announced that the runway was closed (an earlier aircraft’s jet engine having blown rocks onto the runway). This occasioned just enough of a delay to spare the passengers the annoying Ryanair “ahead of schedule” fanfare when the aircraft was finally allowed to land.

Ryanair’s poster makes Frankfurt/Hahn airport look very important – but it’s a place to travel from, not to! On first sight it appeared to be quite pleasant – several different eating places and a few shops in the terminal. Closer inspection however led to the sad conclusion that though the snack bars were all different, they all seemed to serve depressingly similar menus. A walk then? Outside the terminal... just as the first flakes of snow began to fall... soon they were falling thick and fast and covering the car park outside with a layer of white. So... retreat to a snack bar for an early lunch. Lunch over, the sun had come out and begun to melt the snow. This did not make the place look any more attractive! With a nine hour gap between flights… a walk was indicated. So the nearby village was explored – not that there was anything much to find - even its few bars looked closed (Sunday lunchtime not the time to eat and drink in Hahn?). Frankfurt itself is 120 km away so a city visit was not an option!

Having got wet feet during the walk in the snow (why must shoes start to leak when you don’t have spares with you) the logical thing to do was search out some dry socks… with several shops in the airport that shouldn’t have been a problem – but one could buy almost anything to wear, from boots to knickers to sunglasses – except socks! The feet did dry out gradually over the next few hours… This was the first journey made using a “Rufus Roo” jacket to carry all the odds and ends that won’t fit in an airline-locker-size piece of hand luggage. It worked a treat, but the weight on the shoulders was painful after a while!

It's always amazing that so many people feel they must join – or even start – airport queues. After security checks at Hahn there is a lounge with seats, two snack bars and a duty-free shop – but people stand in a queue for passport control, more than two hours before their flight is due to depart. Go figure!

It was an uneventful flight to Stansted with Ryanair, followed by a wait in the cold for the Terravision coach to Liverpool Street, and finally the 78 bus completed the journey home.

Transport: car, Frogbus coach, two Ryanair flights, Terravision coach, 78 bus.

Door-to-door: just over 19 hours

Cost: £68.19

Happiness is a Chinese buffet

Returning – finally – by car on 16th February instead of 27th January, we stopped, as has become our habit, at Orléans, where we were very pleased to discover that the Chinese buffet restaurant had reopened after its makeover. It is now buffet only (previously there was an à la carte menu also) – and drinks are included in the price – well, most drinks anyway: as much table wine or beer as you can drink – but extra for a pot of tea! The weather, which had been awful just days earlier, was very kind to us and the driving conditions were excellent all the way. Starting on a Thursday the evening traffic was very light compared to previous journeys when we have driven on a Friday.

Transport: car, P&O ferry Dover to Calais, car

Door-to-door: 31 hours

Cost: £205.68

The lost documents saga

We were then to have the pleasure of driving our French car back home at the end of January, again via Orléans, and all bookings had been made for this and returning by air. In early January Frogbus announced a change of timetable – the bus booked for our separate journeys to Gerona was no longer running. Although there was an earlier bus available, this added 3¼ hours to the length of time Morag would have to wait at Gerona airport.

Unfortunately, two days before the scheduled departure date Morag discovered that her passport and driving licence were missing. These are always kept in her pink travel wallet, and were last seen (well, the passport anyway) when checking in at Calais on 4th January. The wallet had been unopened since then so the only assumption to be made was that the documents had been stolen during the crossing. Two days is not long enough to get a replacement passport, so all the travel arrangements had to be changed. We had already checked in online for the Ryanair return flights, so the cost of these just had to be written off. Fortunately we were able to change the ferry (£10 extra), hotel and bus bookings.

The flights we were to have taken, and for which we had already checked in, were:

- Morag, Gerona to Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden (£5.42)

- Morag, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden to Stansted (£9.03)

- Mike, Gerona to Venice/Treviso (£9.03)

- Mike, Venice/Treviso to Stansted (£18.96)

So, including the £10 ferry date amendment, replacement passport (£129.50) and driving licence (£20) a total loss of £201.94. Thanks, thieves! Fortunately there does not appear – yet! – to have been any attempt to steal Morag’s ID using the stolen documents.

Sadness - no Chinese!

Returning to the UK in January 2012 was by car, driving our French car back to the UK, where we can get it serviced by a mechanic we trust. This is a journey we've made many times before, though this time we had our lodger Aurélie with us. As usual we made our overnight stop at Orléans, but were disappointed that the Chinese buffet restaurant which we normally patronise was closed, with building work going on. Instead we ate at the Pizzeria directly facing the B&B. Fortunately this time I had booked with a ferry company which didn't go into administration before our arrival at the port! Bad weather on the Channel meant that the sailing was delayed, but only by half an hour.

Transport: car, P&O ferry Calais to Dover, car

Door-to-door: 37 hours

Cost (for 3): £207