Toulouse

As an aviation professional and geek myself, it was only a matter of time before I’d find myself in Toulouse. The city is home to one out of two assembly lines of the large planemaker Airbus. The other assembly line is in Hamburg, Germany. It is possible to visit several parts of the Airbus facilities on guided tours. Toulouse is not only home to Airbus, but has been a center for French aviation for a long time. There is a space museum in the city as well. When I had a 3-day weekend off from work and found cheap tickets to Toulouse, I decided to finally tick these spots off my to-do list. A lucky coincidence was the fact that I visited the city on the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the Concorde.

SATURDAY, March 2nd

My trip to Toulouse started in the wrong direction geographically, as I flew from Zurich to Munich to connect. The first flight of the day with SWISS in the morning was about 20 minutes late. The crew had to arrive on an earlier morning flight from Stuttgart.

That wasn’t much of a problem. I still had two hours in between flights in Munich, which I spent at one of the Lufthansa Business Lounge.

The onward flight to Toulouse with Lufthansa left 15-20 minutes behind schedule. We touched down in Toulouse only a couple of minutes late.

I bought a sandwich from a kiosk at the airport in Toulouse, in order to get a quick lunch. Then I took a taxi to Aeroscopia, an aviation museum adjacent to the Airbus facilities. Aeroscopia is located at the northern end of the airport grounds, actually relatively far from the passenger terminal. I needed to get there in time for two guided tours I had booked at the Airbus factories.

Fortunately the Aeroscopia, at least at the time of my visit, had some lockers where I could store my bag. I still had my carry-on with me. I arrived a bit earlier than the first tour began. This gave me about 20 minutes to take a quick look inside the museum. It was possible to enter the museum multiple times on the same day, using the same ticket.

The parts that I got to see of the exhibits then were mainly related to the history of aviation. There were a few pictures related to the first attempts at flight in the late 18th century, using wings and balloons.

Of course, the first flight of the Wright brothers had to be mentioned as well.

Also covered were the early days of airlines in the early 20th century. Biplanes connected France (and other countries) with overseas destinations, some of which were colonies.

The next few steps of aviation history that were covered in detail was the beginning of the jet age. It was triggered by military advancements and research during World War II.

The museum presented aviation from around the world, but there was a slight emphasis on French aviation history. After all, the museum is located in France, so that’s very understandable. One of the highlighted planes that might not have been well-known internationally was the Breguet double-decker, one of the first French-built aircraft after WWII. The picture below was taken in 1949.

By then it was close to 2 PM, which was the beginning of the first tour I had booked. This tour focused on the A380, the largest aircraft produced by Airbus. It is the largest civilian passenger aircraft in the world. The A380 is known for its characteristic double-decker design.

Pictures are somewhat restricted during the tour. I did sneak in a few, and others were definitely allowed. But, because of the restrictions, I don’t have a lot to share from the tour visually. The tour begins inside a presentation room at the museum, with videos from the test and certification flights for the A380. The tour guide highlighted some figures and statistics, and asked a few questions from the group. Our group was approximately 25-30 people.

Airbus has several different facilities at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport. The northern sections are mostly used for the production of the A380. After seeing the videos from the test flights and a presentation about the A380, the tour continues in a bus, driving past the flight line outside. This is where nearly-completed aircraft are parked in between their test flights.

Airbus needed a lot of test flights in order to have the A380 model and its design certified. Each individual airplane still needs several test flights before they are handed over to the airline. Some of the aircraft have already been painted, others have not. One of the highlights was the “Flying Honu”, destined for Japanese airline ANA. The aircraft’s livery is inspired by sea turtles.

Another interesting aircraft parked outside was the new Beluga XL. The Beluga, named after beluga whales, is a transport aircraft used by Airbus themselves.

Various parts and components of Airbus planes are manufactured in different factories throughout Europe. The different components are then transported to Toulouse or Hamburg for assembly. Most of that transportation is done using the Beluga planes. The Beluga XL is a newer, slightly larger aircraft that will help transport the largest components, such as entire wings.

During one part of the bus drive around the northern Airbus areas, it was also possible to see several A330neos, such as the two above.

The tour continued with a visit inside the assembly hall for the A380. You aren’t allowed to walk inside the assembly line floor. Visitors are limited to an observation room at a floor above the assembly line. At the time there were 3 aircraft inside the building, two of which were A380s being put together for Emirates. The third aircraft, looking slightly beat-up, is a test airframe. It has been used for all kinds of structural tests, and will continue to be used for tests and experiments. This particular aircraft will not be delivered to any airline, which is why it’s not made to look “pretty”.

Afterward, the tour continued to an outside terrace, at a similar height to the indoor observation room. From there you have a nice view of the flight line parked outside, which consists of both A380s and A330s.

In most cases with the A380, the finished aircraft is flown to Hamburg, where the last finishing touches are done. The official handover of these aircraft to the purchasing airline usually takes place in Hamburg as well. Sometimes Emirates, the world’s largest A380 operator, takes deliveries straight from Toulouse.

The A380-themed tour actually ended with a focus on a different aircraft. Next to the museum entrance there is an A400M, a military transport aircraft developed by Airbus.

The A400M parked in front of the museum is a permanent exhibit piece. This aircraft has been more or less gutted on the inside. This exposes all the cables and various components that are usually hidden away behind wall panels. The tour guide gave a presentation about the A400M and showed a video.

The first tour ended around 3:30 PM. I had a short break before the beginning of the second tour at 3:45. This tour had a focus on the A350. When I entered the museum lobby again before this tour, I noticed some familiar faces. I was about 99% sure that they were the crewmembers of my Lufthansa flight from Munich to Toulouse. Obviously they were not in uniform, so I wasn’t completely sure. However, they recognized me right away!

It turned out that the crew had a night-stop in Toulouse. This meant that they would spend the night in Toulouse and work again on a flight back to Munich the next morning. Three flight attendants and one of the pilots had decided to sign up for this A350 tour. Although they were all working on short-haul flights, it was a little special for them. There were several A350s destined for Lufthansa at the assembly line.

The A350 assembly line in Toulouse is in the southern parts of the airport. It is on the opposite side from the A380 assembly line. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to take any photos during this tour.

In a similar fashion to the first tour, it all started with a brief presentation at the Aeroscopia museum. Then we set off in a bus to the other side of the airport. The A350 assembly line is adjacent to facilities used by ATR, another planemaker specializing in turboprops. ATR is a joint-venture where Airbus is one of the stakeholders.

We got to see inside the A350 assembly line and also the flight line outside. There were several A350s about to be delivered. It is becoming one of the more popular long-haul aircraft, competing with Boeing’s 777 and 787 models.

As we were about to drive back to the Aeroscopia museum, the tour guide mentioned that it was exactly 50 years since the first-ever test flight of the supersonic Concorde in Toulouse, on March 2nd, 1969. I had not yet realized that was the case. It was very much a coincidence that I happened to be in town for the anniversary. One of the main events celebrating the anniversary was an auction of Concorde memorabilia. The auction would take place at the museum later that evening. I had no other plans, so I planned to visit the unique auction.

After the 1.5 hours A350-themed tour, we returned back to the museum. I kept running into the Lufthansa crew members, and at times I went around the museum together with them. Initially, I continued where I had left off earlier, with an explanation of aviation history. It highlighted some of the aviation history that was more specific to Toulouse.

One of the earliest, popular jet aircraft assembled in Toulouse was the Sud-Aviation Caravelle, introduced in the 1950s. Sud-Aviation eventually became one of several aircraft manufacturers merged into what is today known as Airbus. This is one of the reasons why Airbus has its assembly lines at the airport in Toulouse.

There are two Concorde aircraft at Aeroscopia, one inside the museum, and one outside. It is possible to enter F-WTSB, the Concorde that is inside the museum building. This was one of the test aircraft, however, not the one which flew the first ever test flight in 1969. That aircraft is located at an aviation museum at Le Bourget Airport in Paris.

Thanks to the anniversary of the Concorde test flight, there were a lot more visitors at the museum. The line to enter the Concorde was extremely long, so I put it off for later. Initially, I had to make do with a separate replica of just the Concorde cockpit. This replica is also found inside the museum. I’ll include pictures of the cockpit later, when I visited the “real” one.

Throughout the aviation museum, there are several displays explaining air traffic control. Because I work in that field, it’s always interesting to see how they summarize a rather complex job.

One of the displays featured an awkward English translation. I’m not sure what is meant with “organic controller”. However, I can assure you that most of the humans sitting behind the radar screen are usually very organic and living!

Although most of the aircraft inside the museum are intact, there is one section showing aircraft debris from WWII. There are several different crashed aircraft being profiled, mainly belonging to the Nazi German Luftwaffe or British Royal Air Force. The objects below are all from a German Messerschmitt Bf 109E that crashed near occupied Toulouse during a training flight.

I continued outside of the museum where there are three large aircraft parked. One of these is the A400M that I visited earlier as part of a tour. The other two aircraft are the second Concorde found at Aeroscopia and a Sud-Aviation Caravelle. The Caravelle is painted in the livery of Air Inter, a French airline that flew from 1958-1997.

As mentioned, there were a lot of visitors at the museum coming to see the Concorde. It was virtually impossible to get a good photo of the one parked outside, without someone taking selfies in front of it.

There are numerous historical fighter jets on display inside the museum. One of the more prominent French ones is the Mirage, which flew between the 1950s-80s.

I was surprised to find that the museum collection included a MiG-15. The MiG-15 was built in 1947 as one of the first Soviet fighter jets. It gained infamy during the Korean War.

Before going into the more famous Airbus aircraft, one of the last aircraft that I saw was the Super Guppy. This was a predecessor to the Beluga transport aircraft that are flying for Airbus today. However, the Super Guppy was developed by Aero Spacelines for NASA in the US.

Airbus bought a pair of Super Guppy aircraft from the US. One characteristic of the Super Guppy was that its entire nose opened to the side, including the cockpit. This feature enabled the loading and unloading of large pieces of cargo. However, it also meant that the cables that connected the pilots’ instruments and controls to the wings and engines had to be very strong and durable.

By now it was around 6:30 PM, with the museum closing at 7. I had intentionally put off visiting the Concorde until last. I figured that the line would definitely be much shorter at that point. Indeed it was, and I still managed to squeeze in the visit before the closing time. There were only a few people behind me too.

At first you enter the Concorde’s cockpit, although you can’t sit in one of the chairs. Doing so is actually possible in the replica cockpit that I went inside earlier. Unlike most modern cockpits with digital screens, the cockpit of the Concorde is full of gauges and analog displays. This was common for aircraft built at the time of the Concorde.

Pictured above are even more instruments and gauges where the flight engineer used to be seated

Most of the cabin interior has been removed. Some glass cases display various cockpit instruments up closer, as well as communication equipment and systems normally installed elsewhere on the Concorde.

There are however still some rows of seats left in place, in order to give visitors a sense of what the aircraft cabin looked like in the 1970s. Not surprisingly, it’s a bit more luxurious than what you’d see in a regular aircraft cabin today.

After you walk through the Concorde, a bridge connects you to an A300. The Airbus A300 was the first aircraft developed by Airbus. The company came to be when several West European governments signed an agreement to establish Airbus. If you’re wondering, the Concorde was built as a joint-venture by Aerospatiale and BAC. Interestingly, the A300’s first test flight was just over three years after that of the Concorde in 1969.

Just like with the Concorde parked beside it, you can look inside the cockpit of the A300. Unfortunately, there was a dark, blue light installed in the cockpit, which didn’t help the quality of the photos.

Unlike the Concorde, the A300’s interior exhibited little else than the former cabin interior itself. However, three different layouts were presented. One section showed a regular economy cabin, while another section had business class seats installed.

The last section of the plane’s cabin open to visitors was showcasing a private VIP configuration. This included an actual bedroom and a stylish bathroom with a shower.

The A300 was the last item that I saw at the museum, which was now closing. I still had my bag in the museum’s reception, which I picked up on the way out. My flight into Toulouse had landed at around 12:20 PM. Almost 7 hours later, I still hadn’t really left the airport! Obviously it was now time to head downtown to check-in at my Airbnb.

Because I wanted to get back to the auction in time, and due to a lack of public transport from Aeroscopia, I decided to take an Uber downtown. However, that proved slightly more difficult. The driver found me just outside the museum without any problem. As we got closer to the city center, several roads were blocked by police. This was all due to the “yellow-vest” demonstrations that regularly took place throughout France. Eventually, the driver found a way around most of the closed roads. He dropped me off a few blocks away from my Airbnb.

I met up with the owner of the Airbnb per agreement, who let me in. He had to explain how the keys work, as there were several. One for the street gate to the courtyard, another one for the building, and then the apartment. The owner spoke very little English, but I understood his French explanation anyway. My Airbnb was a guest room with its own bathroom in an apartment in the attic. However, the owner was still living in other parts of the apartment.

After checking-in and unpacking a few items, I didn’t stay in the apartment for too long before leaving again. First I went to Subway for a takeaway sandwich as dinner, which I ate while riding the metro.

I decided the best strategy was to take the metro as far away from the city center as I could. This would avoid the issue with the roadblocks. Once I got off the metro north of the city center, I took another Uber straight to Aeroscopia for the auction.

I arrived shortly before 9 PM, after which the auction began. Over 900 Concorde-themed items were up for sale over the weekend. The list included everything from menu cards for the food served onboard to cutlery, documents and equipment used on Concorde aircraft. There were also books, posters, and even artwork and furniture created using pieces of the aircraft. Some of the most prominent pieces were offered in the auction on Saturday night.

My interest was on several technical devices. I went back-and-forth with another bidder for an original anti-skid tester. Not being sure whether I would walk away with anything else, I was persistent. Finally, I won it. It’s a device used to test whether the Concorde’s anti-skid system would function as designed. Long story short, it’s a system designed to enable the wheels to match the speed of the aircraft right after landing.

I placed a few bids on other things, but they all got too expensive quickly. However, an original transponder was the highest priority for me. It wasn’t just any transponder. It was the very first transponder installed and used on the Concorde prototype, one of the aircraft used for test flights. Essentially the first transponder used on any Concorde, ever.

The French-language brochure with the items that were auctioned off on Saturday evening. The transponder was #61.

A transponder is part of the system that communicates with radar receivers on the ground. As an air traffic controller, this part was extra special for me.

I was surprised to see low interest in the transponder. There were a few other bids, but the others quickly gave up. I won the transponder and was super excited! I got weird stares from people sitting around me. Yes, I understand that it seems weird that I would pay 800 Euros for a small black box with a few outlets and buttons. It is the history and significance of the device that makes it more than worth the money.

However, it seemed as if most of the crowd were regular auction attendants of the auctioneer, who specializes in art. Not many attendees seemed to be aviation enthusiasts.

A lot of the Concorde-themed artworks and furniture went for much more than they were estimated to be worth. Most of the aircraft equipment was either within close range of the estimate, or cheaper.

I sat through the rest of the auction, but most remaining items were not of interest. I had to pay for the anti-skid tester and the transponder that I won. However, the items couldn’t be collected until the next day.

After the auction ended at midnight I was in no rush to get home. I tried walking to a tram stop within reasonable distance from Aeroscopia, but I realized it wasn’t running. Instead, I once again requested an Uber to get back to my Airbnb. 

SUNDAY, March 3rd

After waking up I walked straight to the auction house. I was hoping to pick up the items I had won the previous night. A second, longer auction of even more, mostly smaller Concorde memorabilia had begun. It was thus not yet possible to collect the objects, and I needed to come back later.

However, there were several glass cases showing all of the items which were for sale over the weekend. I was able to at least see the two items that I now owned.

The transponder which was the one I was most happy about winning.

The anti-skid test unit, the first Concorde device that I won in the auction.

Because it was early on a Sunday, the auction house had lined up fruits, pastries, and juice for anyone that showed up. I still hadn’t had any breakfast, so I made full use of that before leaving. Even though the food was meant for those participating in Sunday’s morning auction, I guess as a paying customer of the auction house, I could use it too!

My next stop became Les Halles de Victor Hugo, an indoor market hall that is busy on Sunday mornings. Locals come here to buy all kinds of fresh food and produce. Even if you’re not shopping, it’s a nice place to stroll through. All the butcher’s shops, cheesemakers, chocolate stores, fruit vendors and wine sellers add their own “flavor” to the atmosphere.

I continued walking downtown to make a stop at the tourist office to buy a discount card for the weekend. The Toulouse Tourism Pass would enable me to get reduced or free admission to several sights.

The former dungeon of the old Capitole palace, the backside of which is seen behind the dungeon. This tower is at the Charles de Gaulle Square. The tourist office is inside the former dungeon!

I then crossed the central Place du Capitole square, which I was going to walk past several more times. It was just a few blocks away from my apartment.

My next stop became the Couvent des Jacobins, one of the most important religious buildings in Toulouse. This religious convent played an important role during the first decades of the Dominican Order.

Construction began in 1230. The church doesn’t see many worshippers although it is an active church. The interior of the church is highlighted by its tall, stained-glass windows.

The Couvent des Jacobins is famous for being the final resting place of St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the more important medieval figures in the Catholic Church. A reliquary shrine for St. Thomas Aquinas is on display inside a small exhibit. He is buried beneath the altar.

The convent has a quiet courtyard surrounded by other rooms formerly used by the Dominican Order. There are a couple of chapels, which sit mostly unused.

However, plenty of the chapels’ original 13th-century decorations, stained-glass windows, and frescoes remain.

After visiting the religious convent, I actually returned to Les Halles des Victor Hugo for lunch. Upstairs on the mezzanine floor, there are several restaurants clustered together one-by-one, most of which also have access to a long terrace.

The seats of the restaurants were all crammed together, and it was quite intimate, but packed.

It was also not uncommon to see different individuals sharing tables. Still, it proved a tasty option for lunch.

From Les Halles des Victor Hugo, I took a bus to the Cité de l’Espace. It is a large space museum on the southeastern outskirts of the city.

The museum provides some cool insight into space history from the US, Russia, and ESA, the European Space Agency. An indoor exhibit details some history of spaceflight, and what it takes to become an astronaut.

The Vulcan 1 engine, which propels the first stage of the Ariane 5 rocket. This is the main launch rocket for ESA missions.

The French contribution to ESA is also highlighted. Apart from several French astronauts, France also contributes by enabling the spaceship launches. Most ESA missions depart from Kourou, French Guiana in South America.

Another feature of the indoor parts that I found cool was a wall covered with badges from most of the international space missions of the US, Russia, and ESA. A few astronauts and cosmonauts who visited Cite de l’Espace have signed the wall too.

Most of the space museum is actually outdoors. As you leave the indoor exhibit, you’ll notice a walking path with dozens of glass panels. All of the glass panels are meant to show the magnitude of the altitude at which spaceships orbit. The first panel is a zoomed-in picture of the stone tile on which you are standing. Every subsequent panel then zooms out by 10 meters, each multiplied by a factor of 10. You go from looking at your feet, then the space museum, the city of Toulouse, all of France until finally, you see all of Planet Earth. The image would be similar to what astronauts would see from space. However, zooming out continues until you see the Milky Way galaxy without Earth being discernible.

The walkway ends at a replica of the Ariane 5. The Ariane 5 is of one of the launch rockets used in Kourou to launch ESA missions. Off to the sides, there are various other exhibits.

The outdoor exhibits include different satellites and the Soyuz spacecraft. The Soyuz is a series of spacecraft first designed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s. Several newer Soyuz spacecraft are still in use today.

Another part of the Soviet/Russian space program that was on display was the Mir space station. It operated between 1986 and 2001. On display was a replica of the crew module from the space station as it looked in the early 1990s. It was possible to enter the replica and have a look inside.

After exploring both the indoor and outside parts of the space museum, I returned to the city.

I went for a stroll through Park du Rond towards the Muséum de Toulouse. Admission to this museum was included on the discount card I had bought at the tourist office. However, I had to wait to get inside due to weird restrictions on the Toulouse Tourism Pass. It took quite an effort to get the card scanned and activated properly at the museum.

The Muséum de Toulouse is a natural history museum. It features a large collection of minerals, stuffed-out animals, and insects, from all over the world. It is not overly exciting, but as mentioned the entrance was free, so I figured I’d have a look inside.

Following the natural history museum, I took the bus to the Chateau d’Eau.

This former water storage tower has been converted into a contemporary photography gallery. The photos weren’t really interesting though.

The exhibited images looked like someone’s private family photo album, with some odd photos of Chinese restaurants mixed in.

After concluding my sightseeing for the day I crossed the Garonne River and walked towards downtown Toulouse. I was trying to find a restaurant for dinner. Even at 7 PM, I couldn’t find a place that was serving food yet, except for fast food.

I decided to buy a waffle from a small street stand to postpone the worst of the hunger. Then I swung by my apartment to drop off some things.

Back at the apartment with WiFi, I searched Yelp for suggestions on nearby restaurants. I found a good option that I walked towards, with plenty of other restaurants in the neighborhood, just in case.

The restaurant I aimed for was called “Meet the Meat”. It was certainly not a vegan restaurant.

After dinner, I returned to the auction house. There was still over an hour left of the Concorde auction that had been going on for most of the day. Primarily I was there to collect the two devices I bought Saturday night.

However, there was not a lot of activity going on. I figured I’d add a couple of more items with little competition.

I bought a certificate for a round-the-world flight signed by a Concorde captain. Later, I won a bid on a book by one of British Airways’ test pilots.

Towards the end, I also acquired a bundle containing an onboard safety card, an in-flight magazine, and some passenger certificates for supersonic flight. All of these items were from British Airways.

After the auction ended, everyone in attendance could receive their items. Until then the items were still on display in a showroom in one corner of the building. Although everything had a label with a number, there wasn’t much order or logic in how the items were stored. It took the staff well over 30 minutes to find my 5 items.

The important thing was that I received everything, so I didn’t need to come back later. I asked for some bubble wrap for the two devices and a paper bag. Then I carried everything back to the apartment and went straight to bed. 

MONDAY, March 4th

I had arranged with the owner of the Airbnb that I would check out by noon. That was essentially when I needed to leave for the airport anyway. I woke up early to fit in some sightseeing beforehand.

For breakfast, I decided to walk towards Place du Capitole. Although it was a Monday morning and a French holiday, I figured that I could find a café somewhere. There was exactly one French café open at the square and a McDonald’s. Between the two, I obviously decided on a breakfast menu in a traditional French café over a fast food joint.

I had one church planned as the first sightseeing spot. I passed off a neighboring museum for later in the morning as an option if I had enough time. The museum had an archaeological collection, but it turned out that it was closed on Mondays anyway.

I deleted the museum from the list and went inside the Basilique St. Sernin instead. It is a Gothic church from the 12th century.

Some of the more notable details inside the church are several remains of original frescoes, all from the Middle Ages.

Afterward, I turned around and actually walked back to the Place du Capitole. This time I was going to enter the Capitole building itself.

There’s been a town hall in this location for over 800 years. The current building dates primarily from the 18th century. It still serves as the official town hall for Toulouse. Therefore, it’s not possible to visit the entire building.

The most interesting parts of it are open for visitors though, and visiting is free. The reason for everyone’s visit to the town hall is undoubtedly Le Salle des Illustres. Before you reach the Salle des Illustres, you walk up a staircase surrounded by beautiful, colorful murals. There are about a dozen rooms that you walk past before reaching the end.

These rooms include an early 17th-century council chamber with several paintings on the walls and ceilings, chandeliers, and pink marble.

Not to be missed are a couple of rooms with even larger paintings. Many of these paintings show French landscapes and ordinary citizens.

The visit to Toulouse’s Capitole culminates in the true highlight, the Salle des Illustres. The Salle des Illustres is best described as one long corridor, although it was actually three rooms joined into one.

This section of the town hall was being reconstructed at a time when French pride was running high. Some images in the Salle des Illustres reflect scenes from the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. 

All of the large wall and ceiling paintings are complemented by sculptures. It is truly a feast for the eyes. 

My next stop became the Cathédrale de St-Étienne, the main cathedral in downtown Toulouse. Most of the cathedral was constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries. It is also designed in a traditional Gothic style. The interior features numerous stained-glass windows, and even a couple of massive paintings.

Before turning back towards my apartment, I made a quick detour along the Canal du Midi in central Toulouse. On the way there I passed the La Halle aux Grains concert hall. In front of the theatre is the Place Dominique Martin Dupuy, with a victory column.

The Canal du Midi is heralded as a great feat of engineering. This is because it runs for over 200 km (~120 miles), but is entirely man-made.

To be honest, it’s difficult to see that this isn’t a natural canal. The city has long shaped itself around the canal, which was created in the 17th century. If you just happened to walk by, you wouldn’t think much of it. 

My last stop in Toulouse became the botanical gardens, the Jardin des Plantes. It was pretty much already on the route towards the apartment. I had plenty of time and entry was free. I figured I’d pass through it while walking to my Airbnb.

Of course, it’s a different experience to visit it in early March instead of over the summer. It didn’t take more than a few minutes before I noticed a pair of squirrels running up a tree though. A couple of bushes and trees had already started blooming despite the season. 

I continued walking to my apartment, collected my baggage, and left the key on a sofa in the common entrance. As mentioned, the Airbnb owner still lived in a different part of the apartment throughout my stay. We had agreed to do the check-out this way. I got on the metro for one stop, and changed to an airport shuttle bus. 

It turned out that my flight was delayed, which was quite okay with me actually. I was already a little nervous as to whether or not my two Concorde devices would clear security. At least I had more time to settle any potential issues.

If the devices wouldn’t be allowed, I would simply have checked-in my trolley instead of using it as a carry-on. Both devices needed to go separately through the X-ray scanner, but otherwise passed the security check without any hassle. This left me with more than plenty of time to get some lunch before my flight.

Before flying to Frankfurt, I learned that my onward SWISS flight from Frankfurt had been canceled. Strong winds in Frankfurt and Zurich were to blame. The winds were also the reason that the Lufthansa aircraft arrived late in Toulouse. However, I got an automatic re-booking for the second flight. It would have been tight regardless thanks to the delay of my flight from Toulouse.

My Lufthansa flight departed Toulouse over one hour and 15 minutes late. Thanks to a tailwind on the flight to Frankfurt, we landed “only” about 45 minutes behind schedule. I had enough time to grab a quick bite in one of the Lufthansa Business Lounges.

Much to my surprise considering the weather, the Lufthansa flight to Zurich, onto which I was rebooked, actually departed on time.