REPORT - A great weekend in Dinard!
Not only did it rain, at least on the Friday, but we had to
endure the humiliation of sitting in a French hotel bar, watching
England loose to France in the rugby. Ah well, c'est la vie !
In fact life wasn't bad at all, actually, for the twenty one of
us who joined in the "Evening by the Rance" dinner on the 7/8th
October. Five Jersey based aircraft, some aero club based, some JAL
hangar based, and one from AVB took the group across to Dinard
during the Friday. The only instruction was to be in the hotel bar
in time for an aperitif before dinner. Coming from different
corners of the airfield and with friends added to the mix, the
aperitif served well as a meet and greet venue.
Choosing a standard chain hotel for the venue might not have
seemed the best of choices but circumstances, like the annual
British Film Festival in Dinard, meant that staying in town was not
a viable option. But the Kyriad, just up the hill from the Barrage
de la Rance, was great in every way. No apologies then for sounding
like I'm being paid to write this. The hotel was spotless, the
rooms good, the food perfect, and the staff couldn't have done more
to make us welcome. Well, that's not totally true - the hardy group
still going at 1am were told, by the night staff, that it was time
for bed !
With the exception of one early departure back to Jersey on the
Saturday morning, the rest of us congregated around the TV to watch
the match before setting off for Dinard's busy Saturday morning
market . A spot of shopping or just taking in the sights and
smells, got our appetites going again. With some amazing luck, or
maybe they just felt sorry for us having lost the rugby, we found a
great restaurant in town who were not in any way fazed by being
asked if the just happened to have a free table for seventeen. A
spot of re-arranging saw us all set down together for the menu du
jour which was excellent value for money - L'Abri des Flots is well
worth a visit if you find yourself in Dinard - more advertising
!
So we enjoyed a great weekend, ate some good food, drank some
good wine, and made some new friends. It doesn't get much better
than that.
Richard Hawkin