Condom and Airbus

Condom

I never thought I’d see Catholicism and contraception come together!  But it kinda did at the pretty little town of Condom, about an hour from Marmande, which had the Cathedral at its centre.

By the way, the French call the rubber thingey preservatif instead of condom, and there is no relationship between the name of the town and the contraceptive.

We had breakfast in Condom … coffee (in a cup) and croissant (on a plate) before a little walkie around town.

Just on the subject of condoms, in France they’re sold through dispensers in very public areas … so everyone can see you buy them and make your choice of colours and texture too!  I guess the Europeans are for more open minded that English-speakers.  In the same way as how in Amsterdam you get open urinals on the city streets!  And in France, urinals are often located by handbasins in the common areas shared by the ladies and the gents.

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Airbus Factory

It was less than 2h driving form Condom to Toulouse, the fourth largest city in France.  Toulouse is also home to the European aerospace industry, not just now, but through recent history.  There was the Caravelle, the Concorde and now the Airbus A380.

We had a booking for an English-language tour at 1430 for the A380 assembly facility.  We met up with Kim’s best mate Rodger for this tour.

The A380 factory tour was a small and friendly operation.  The guide does a considerable amount of talking, supplemented with some video presentations.  Quite unlike many all-singing and all-dancing fully automated presentations one expects nowadays in a Disneyesque fashion.  Despite this, the whole tour operation (subcontracted) had a mickey-mouse feel to the way it was run.

The 90 min tour was interesting.  We learnt about various aspects of the operation.  In true continental fashion, the factory is only operational Monday to Friday.  Each shift lasts 9 hours (including a one-hour lunch I presume, not sure with or without wine).

Apart from the aircraft being built and tested, we saw a fully painted A380 being towed out, a takeoff and a landing.  We were told not many visitors get to see all that in one visit!  Unfortunately, photography during the tour was strictly prohibited so we captured very little in terms of photographic memories.

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The Pink City

It is also called the pink city because many old buildings are finished in orange/red brick without plaster.  It is very much a centre of education with one of the oldest universities in Europe.  We had a two-night stay at the local Ibis here, with exploration of the surrounding area planned for tomorrow.