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<\/p>\nCurrent travel restrictions have kept me grounded, but I have to say, I love to fly. And while the U.S. and the Wright Brothers claim \u201cfirst in flight\u201d, France has its share of honors to celebrate in aviation.<\/p>\n
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Un avion sur les toits<\/strong>1<\/a><\/sup>Autres mots utiles<\/em>\/other useful terms<\/em>: la toiture<\/em>\/roofing<\/em>, le plafond\/ceiling<\/em>, le plancher\/floor, flooring<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n In doing some follow up research to last week\u2019s post<\/a>, I learned about les exploits<\/strong> de l\u2019aviateur Jules V\u00e9drines<\/strong> (the adventures of the pilot Jules Vedrines)<\/em> who, in 1919, landed a plane on the roof <\/em>of the Galeries Lafayette!<\/p>\n For the sum of 25 000 francs (a bit more than 31 000 euros in today\u2019s money<\/a>), the flying ace flew from l\u2019a\u00e9roport<\/strong> (the airport<\/em>) in Issy-les-Moulineaux to the roof of the grand magasin<\/strong> where he had to d\u00e9crire deux ou trois courbes autour des Galeries, afin d’atterrir dans un vol ralenti <\/b><\/a>(make two or three loops around the Galeries, in order to be able to land at a reduced speed). <\/em>Click here<\/a> to see a picture of Jules \u00e0 bord de son avion<\/strong> \/ in his plane<\/em>.<\/p>\n En acc\u00e9l\u00e9rant \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n France\u2019s history of flight started out slow but then got faster<\/em>. In 1783 les fr\u00e8res Montgolfiers <\/strong>(the Montgolfiers brothers)<\/em> were the first to fly a manned balloon. The flight over Paris lasted almost 25 minutes<\/a> and cemented their name in history (the French word for a hot air balloon<\/em> is une montgolfi\u00e8re<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n More recently, and more rapidly, France, in partnership with the UK, developed and ran the world\u2019s longest running commercial supersonic flights. Reaching speeds of Mach 22<\/a><\/sup>twice the speed of sound<\/span>, the Concorde shuttled passengers between the US and Europe in half the time of typical planes, from the late 1960\u2019s until the program was shut down in 2003.<\/p>\n Sadly I will never achieve my dream of flying on a transatlantic Concorde flight3<\/a><\/sup>I always loved the idea of leaving Paris or London and arriving in New York before I left<\/a>!<\/span>, but thanks to a new project at the Mus\u00e9e d<\/strong>e l\u2019air et de l\u2019espace\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>at the Paris-Le Bourget airport<\/a>, I might someday get to \u201ctouch\u201d one. The museum is hoping to scan and digitize a 3D model of the Concorde Sierra Delta currently expos\u00e9 au mus\u00e9e<\/strong> (on display at the museum<\/em>).<\/p>\n This initiative is being soutenu<\/strong> (supported<\/em>) by D\u2019Artagnans <\/a>if you’d like to find out more.<\/p>\n Picture courtesy Pexels. [CC0]<\/a><\/p>\n Current travel restrictions have kept me grounded, but I have to say, I love to fly. And while the U.S. and the Wright Brothers claim \u201cfirst in flight\u201d, France has its share of honors to celebrate in aviation. Un avion sur les toits In doing some follow up research to last week\u2019s post, I learned…<\/p>\nThe Galeries Lafayette re-opened to the public over the weekend<\/a>, allowing visitors and employees alike to see the amazing sapin de No\u00ebl<\/strong><\/a> and other decorations in person.<\/div>\nAutres mots utiles<\/em>\/other useful terms<\/em>: la toiture<\/em>\/roofing<\/em>, le plafond\/ceiling<\/em>, le plancher\/floor, flooring<\/em><\/div><\/li>twice the speed of sound<\/div><\/li>I always loved the idea of leaving Paris or London and arriving in New York before I left<\/a>!<\/div><\/li><\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/12\/pexels-pixabay-255514-350x233.jpg\")