Top tip No 17 in a seemingly endless series

If you find yourself late (due to flights being delayed) at Paris,
Charles de Gaul and decide it seems like a good idea to use one of the
taxi bikes do not say to them "It's alright, I ride bikes all the time.
You won't scare me so go as fast as you can, I'm in a hurry".

If you do they'll manage to carve through the snarled up traffic on the
Peripherique in next to no time; including spells at 140km/h on the hard
shoulder (well, what passes for one- looked more like a gutter...) and
filtering through quasi static traffic at 80-100km/h.

I was particularly impressed by how well a goldwing filters- its mirrors
are a little higher than most cars so it passes through gaps nicely.

What I wasn't impressed by was the heated seat; no warning so I wondered
if my bladder or bowels had let go.

All in all though, recommended. 40km in 32minutes through hideous
traffic; 70 euros (plus generous tip.)

 

"I've heard you guys are pussies..." Then tap him on the shoulder and make
hurry-up gestures.

I had a Nigerian minicab driver take me from downtown Manhattan to JFK in
similar style once.

You're welcome to have a play on the Black Pig sometime.

Cheaper than skydiving...

 

I had Chris Foster (some of you know him) tapping me on the shoulder
and telling me I was on the mountain mile and should go flat out in
seriously thick fog where I could hardly see the road markings. I was
very tempted to pull over and tell him to ride the fucking bike
himself if he wanted to go faster.

 

"Ok, no fucking only sucking"

 

BGN wibbled:

I think we've experienced the same taxi driver - although throw in a
couple of near death experiences and you have it

 

Pussy.

 

Heh, I've always fancied a crack at that, but have never found the
correct excuse.

 

Based on my current experience it's simple; fly BA. Their European
service out of/in to Heathrow has gone to shit... and yet, Lufthansa are
fine.

 

I've taken four return flights with BA over the last week. My
daughter's taken one. All with BA. Every flight delayed by at least 30
minutes.

Highlights include:
- Daughter spending 60 minutes on tarmac at LHR and then landing in Lyon
75 minutes late- resulting in a 60E taxi to the train station rather
than a leisurely 6E bus.
- Flight leaving T4 late... resulting in motorcycle taxi being taken.
- Flight arriving at T1 1.5 hours late, and then a wait of 1 hour for
the bus to take passengers off the plane (but crew bus arrived in about
10 minutes)
- Flight arriving at T1 3 hours late.
- Flight departing from T1 40 minutes late because 'for some reason last
night's baggage was left on board'.

I suspect it's because BA are trading short haul slots for long haul
ones so they can turn the expensive planes around faster. I also think
BAA might be prioritising other airlines over BA; BA will soon have the
dedicated T5 terminal so are unlikely to leave LHR whereas some of the
others aren't as tied to LHR.

Either way it's a fucking pain.

 

Ah, thanks that was my suspicion. Doesn't change the snottogram I sent
BA asking for compensation though.

 

AOL. I avoid BA into LHR at almost any cost, at the point I gave up
using them almost 50% of the flights were delayed. Yep, on any given
return flight I could almost guarantee one leg would be late. They're
shite.

 

Are you sure it's the airline or the airport/time you fly? I think that
air traffic congestion has a lot to do with it.

 

Yep.

 

I flew KLM last week and it was a pleasure to be served by a proper airline
again. My flight was cancelled due to weather conditions. At no cost they
arranged an alternative from another airport including transfers. The
planes had great leg room and wider seats than I've become used to with
proper complimentary food and wine. The flights cost no more than the
*actual* costs of flying with Sleazyjet or Flybe, the latter of which
doesn't know the meaning of the word service.

 

So that was you, the frightened bloke on that slow 'Wing?

Just about average

70 euros (plus generous tip.)

.... and a pair of pants

 

Well, he only let a couple of sports bikes pass and passed many others,
including some other taxi bikes.