I finally succeeded in getting the video incorporated in my blog. So here it is on the left-hand frame. Bear with me as it may take some time to download it. The file is quite big :-(

But I hope it is worth waiting and that you will have fun seeing me running in the air while lifting off

I managed to land safely just along a small river in the valley. I hope I'll go back gliding soon

 

...addicted to PARAGLIDING!

 

I flew last Monday and it has been GREAT. I've put some pictures of my hobby online plus a little bonus: a video of a missed take off!

Paco, the guy who landed in a bush (have a look at the pics), is making a video. So I'm waiting for him to show you that I succeeded to take off and finally landed safely!

I'll put a hyperlink here in this blog soon.

One of my dreams came true : FLYING  and what an incredible sensation!

It was yesterday in Port de Lers in the French Pyrénées. And finally we got good weather conditions for paragliding!! I then made my 3 first flights as a paraglider ;). 3 short but marvellous flights which lasted 5-10 minutes. I was very stressed for the first one but then for the 2 folllowings I simply enjoyed it!!!

Now I am looking forward to flying more and more... So many things to learn in paragliding like for example how to go in thermic streams in order to remain in the air as long as possible.

A friend of mine is currently looking for an indian and a plumber to join his new band called "Le village du peuple" (kind of new village people). He is completely crazy and wants to cast people as soon as possible. As I'm trying my best to help him, please send your application to matthieudelannis@hotmail.fr.

Below there are two pictures of your future band member...

 

Note: thanks to Mateo for these great pictures

I did not provide you with any news about paragliding. Well I go on... Last weekend I was supposed to fly for the first time as a paraglider in the French Pyrénées but unfortunatly I could not because of ... guess what? The weather!!! There was a bad wind coming from the south (at about 25 km/h) on location we planned to take off. I then asked the instructor why we don't take off from another spot? But he explained me that when there is a south wind such as this, it is very dangerous to fly in French Pyrénées because if the turbulences get a hold of you (to the other side of the top) you are in big troubles: you can loose control of the sail and crash... So everything is because of aerology (complicated to explain and I am not very clear) Basically it would have been possible to fly but in Spanish Pyrénées! It was too far away...

So I hope all meteorological conditions will be ok this weekend as I am badly looking forward to flying... I eventually learned something last time, paragliding is a sport for patient and humble people. So no hurry, I'll fly sooner or later :)

 

By the way, my mobile has been sold on eBay even though there weren't many offers for it :( I got 27,50 € for this crappy phone. Thanks to the buyer!

I just put my mobile phone on a very famous online auction website: eBay. Let's see if I can get a good price for my old mobile, a Motorola C350. Here is a picture of this marvellous phone with color screen and a non-ergonomic user interface ;) The reason why I am selling it by the way!

Please follow the here after link and take a bid for rising the price!!

I am fed up with this phone. I actually use an older one, one designed in Finland, a Nokia 3310!! Still working :)

Anyway I am hoping lots of bidders... for maybe buying a brand new mobile phone :)

Today has been a paragliding day... I was looking forward to doing small flights but weather conditions were not optimum so I'll wait next week-end for flying as a bird ;-) It was too windy (roughly 30 km/h) on the spot we planned to take off. I definitly have bad luck with the weather lately but I hope it is going to change soon!

It hasn't been a white day anyway as I've been practicing on gentle slope all day long learning how to inflate the wing. I also glided on the ground to get used to the handling of the wing.

I was up to make a tandem flight with an experienced paraglider in the late afternoon but the wind was definitly too strong :-( Hopefully, next time will be better.

 

I forgot previously to tell you to bear with my English and turn on your mental spellchecker while reading.

 

I'm back home. Unfortunately I had no time for having beers in Bremen because of the bad weather :( Let me explain... Initially I had to change plane in Frankfurt at 9.30am and then fly to Bremen but there was a snow storm in Frankfurt on Wenesday evening and as a result I got stuck at Toulouse airport until 8am because the aircraft could not have landed... After the snow storm has gone I finally took off from Toulouse but then when I arrived at Frankfurt airport, the flight to Bremen was gone... bad luck! As I was travelling in business class I didn't have to worry about anything, the airline, Air Lufthansa, settled me in a hotel in Frankfurt for a night and booked me a flight the next morning very early (boarding time was 6am). You should understand by now why I haven't had beers in Bremen. The bad thing is that my French colleague was waiting for me at the Bremen airport and I couldn't contact him to tell him that I'll go directly to Airbus for the meeting instead of going to the hotel in Bremen. I only left him a message at the reception of the hotel... and he got it quite late. So I owe him an apéritif because of that!! :-)

 

The journey at Airbus has been then very good. I could go for a short walk down town in the afternoon. That is a shame that I could not have taken pictures for showing some good sights but my camera had no battery :-( Without waiting too much, I had to go at the airport again!!!! And again I had bad luck on the way back... As a matter of fact, the Canadair Jet 700 which usually operates from Frankfurt to Toulouse was out of order for some reasons that Lufthansa did not tell us! And we had to wait for another one which was approaching the airport. Eventually I arrived in Toulouse on Thursday at midnight and I was home around 1am completly exhausted! Anyway it has been a great experience and I met very kind German people. I hope I'll go back sooner or later.

 

For sure travelling life style is great but exhausting especially if you fly 3 times a day and if you have to cope with unexpected events ;-)

 

I am flying to Bremen tomorow :-) I am quite excited because I have never been in Germany. Unfortunately I won't have time to visit the city because I go there for a meeting. In fact, I'll arrive there late at night (around 10pm), I'll go then at the hotel down town and the next morning I'll be fresh to meet German's colleagues at Airbus premises for finally flying back to Toulouse in the evening ... not so many time for sightseeing :-(

 

Hopefully I'll take some time tomorow night for having beers in a pub... with a French fellow from Airbus who left Toulouse today and who suggested me to join him to that meeting. I am actually kind of meeting a Frenchman in Bremen! (weird, isn't it?) but I'll have an opportunity to meet Germans so that is cool! Anyway I should not have a hangover on Thursday, so no more than a couple of beers ;-)

 

 

Hi all!

 

I've been looking at pictures I took last year during the Erasmus exchange programme in Helsinki and I've decided to put some here in this blog. I had a great time over there in Finland and I hope I would have an opportunity to go back soon for having a good time ;)

 

Meanwhile I am working here in Toulouse as a consultant at Airbus. My consulting company is COFRAMI. They made the mistake of hiring me 2 months ago and they're still hiring graduated engineers at the moment. So if you're seeking to a job in France feel free to send me your résumé (& cover letter) and I'll do my best to bring it to the Human Resources department... You may wonder why I'm advertising for my company... well it is not because I have suddendly got a corporate spirit. It is only that I'll get a bonus on my salary if I make someone hired :) Business is business, isn't it? I'm trying hard to coopt someone. I haven't succeeded yet! I do not know if this co-optation system is used by all consulting firms all over the world ????

 

Anyway I experienced paragliding this week-end and it has been great! First of all you should not be stressed for doing that kind of sport cause it is weather dependant... There are basic rules you must accept like no paragliding if rainy or stormy ;) and then always taking off and landing against the wind. So you have to be patient... but the good thing is that this sport is not a difficult one. In one day I learnt how to inflate the sail and I was able to make some leaps on a small slope :) I am looking forward to doing small flights next week-end. :)