Our trip to France began with a phone call to Dieppe Airport to check the weather. We planned to fly there in a Piper Archer and to meet Lesley's husband John who was travelling over by car.

"It's impossible; you can't land here" was the response from Air Traffic Control. This isn't the usual format for a weather report so I assumed there was going to be a problem getting a landing slot. Not so, the problem turned out to be Gipsies on the runway, not a problem I've had to deal with before. Le Touquet was still open so we decided to head there instead.

Gladys, Katie and Neil - Three generations of Parkers ready to embark

The weather was still looking marginal and the forecast wasn't good but we drove to Fowlmere to collect the plane and make a final decision. The forecast still predicted thunderstorms so we decided to go round the east of Stansted rather than fly through the narrow corridor between it and Luton. This would give us more room to avoid the storms, provided they were far enough apart.

The flight turned out to be fairly straightforward, although we heard several reports en route of thunderstorm warnings for all London airports and one pilot was advised to reconsider going into Biggin Hill. As we crossed the Channel the sky got brighter and the clouds a little higher. By the time we landed in Le Touquet it was almost a nice day.

John was waiting for us so we all went off to the airport restaurant for lunch. We had only been there once before but had enjoyed a superb meal. This time we ate in the lower-priced section but found the meal to be equally good.

Chateau Digeon - Green Witch's base for the Solar Eclipse, August 1999

Accommodation had been arranged for us by Taste of France (TOF) at the Digeon Chateau. The drive took us a couple of hours and we were welcomed on arrival by Madame Lidwine Goisque, the proprietor. The Chateau is an imposing building with beautiful gardens that are open to the public. Inside, it is fairly basic but has a very friendly family atmosphere which more than makes up for the lack of amenities in the rooms.

Having settled ourselves in, we drove the short distance to Carroix village to meet John Fletcher from TOF and to recce the site for the eclipse party. After a large glass of sherry we went off in search of dinner in Poix. We tried the Cardinal Hotel where most of the TOF party would be staying and found the restaurant to be excellent.

Amiens Cathedral - Look for John the Baptist's Face and the Weeping Angel

The next day we visited Amiens where we saw part of the face of John the Baptist in the cathedral. This is a venerated relic that spent many centuries in Constantinople before being removed to Amiens in the early 13th century. The cathedral is well-worth a visit; look for the weeping angel which is world-famous (apparently).

All day we had to dodge showers, some of them very heavy, so we were a bit apprehensive about the eclipse. In the evening we gave a presentation to the TOF guests staying at the Hotel Cardinal in Poix. This included constructing a simple model of the Solar System to illustrate the scale of the coincidence that produces the eclipses we experience on Earth.

Setting up the ETX-90EC

Wednesday arrived with lots of cloud but also a little sunshine, so we made our way to Carroix to set up telescopes and cameras, and to brief those guests who had not been at Tuesday's presentation. By now the Sun was shining fairly strongly and the clouds were beginning to break up. The rest of the party arrived in good time for the pre-eclipse briefing, then settled down to await the event itself.

Photographing the image from the Lightline Solar Projector proved popular - Donald shows how it's done

As First Contact approached the clouds continued to disperse and everything was beginning to look good. Everyone had their cameras and telescopes ready and a party atmosphere was developing. As the partial eclipse progressed the crescent-shaped images of the Sun appeared beneath the trees and lots of photos were taken.

What the camera saw

By the time totality arrived the sky was practically cloud-free. The eclipse turned out to be everything that we had been led to believe, and more. Baily's beads, the diamond ring effect, the chromosphere, solar prominences and the beautiful solar corona were all there and easy to see, either with the naked eye or through telescopes.

All too soon totality was over and the diamond ring appeared for the second time. Filters were quickly refitted and we realised that the total eclipse was over. Immediate feelings were mixed but it was easy to see how people become hooked on eclipses and follow them around the world. This one had been all too short and we wanted more.

Simon, Carol and Alex Abbott at the Carroix Centre. Simon is holding up the complimentary guide provided by Green Witch

As the Moon moved on and revealed more of the Sun, so the eerie light returned to normal as we enjoyed the feeling of quiet and peace. John Fletcher produced champagne for a toast to what had been a truly wonderful experience. Lunch followed then people went their separate ways to contemplate what they had seen and prepare for the evening celebrations.

Two car-loads went off to Beauvais to visit the memorial to the R101 airship that crashed nearby in 1930. This proved harder to find than expected as several new roads had been built since our map was produced and the memorial had almost been swallowed up by an intersection. We found it with the help of several locals who went out of their way to take us to the R101 Museum (closed for refurbishment) then directed us to the memorial.

On Wednesday night there was a Gala Dinner and Dance at the Village Hall in Romescamps. Much wine was consumed and a good time was had by all. Unfortunately, there was almost complete cloud cover, so the planned star party did not take place. However, by the time we returned to the Chateau the sky was clear and we watched a couple of satellites and shooting stars. The stars were so bright they seemed almost within reach.

On Thursday we continued our exploration of the Somme Valley with a visit to the underground town at Naours. This is in a series of man-made caves cut out of the limestone to the north of Amiens. Besides being the site of many famous battles the Somme Valley has always been subject to unwelcome attention from invaders and the local people took to the underground as a means of survival. The caves will hold 3,000 people with their animals and belongings, and are well worth a visit.

Following this we returned to Amiens for a boat trip around Les Hortillonages. These are small parcels of land, criss-crossed by canals, most of which are used as market gardens. The cruise was on an electric boat and was very peaceful in the early evening.

Later on, following a meal in Aumale where we bumped into Professor Richard Hills from the Cavendish, we stayed up late to watch the Perseids meteor shower. The sky was not completely dark, but the stars were crystal clear and the Milky Way was easy to see, stretching through Aquila, Cygnus and Cassiopeia. We saw about twenty meteors in just over half an hour, some of them very bright.

Chateau Rambures with Lesley and John

On Friday morning, after the usual breakfast of croissants, bread and home-made jam, we said goodbye to Mme Goisque and headed for Le Touguet. On the way we called at Rambures Castle for a quick guided tour. Unfortunately our French was not good enough so we never discovered what the curious shoes mounted on raised iron rings were used for. These were displayed on the billiard table so if anyone can enlighten us we would be grateful. Using an English script we were able to follow the rest of the tour and found it very interesting.

On arrival at Le Touquet we decided to lunch in town so drove to the seafront and found the Saladin Cafe. A light snack turned into a full lunch which was excellent, a fitting last meal in France.

G-DJJA: Pre-flight checks at Le Touquet

At Le Touquet airport we filed our flight plan, paid the landing fees and prepared to depart. I had forgotten that Customs in the UK require 4 hours notice if we want to clear them at Fowlmere. This is to give them the opportunity of meeting us on arrival if they want to. However, Anna at Modern Air called them for us and they were happy to accept the 2 hours notice we gave. So we climbed aboard and taxied out for departure.

The aircraft ahead of us seemed to be having trouble finding its way around on the ground and at one time lined up to take off on the wrong runway. This was a bit unnerving as we were in the middle of that runway at the time, having been directed there by ATC to do our power checks. Fortunately, ATC was more awake than the other pilot and told him to look at his compass and check if he really was on runway 24. This made me feel quite professional by comparison.

Visibility across the Channel was poor and we had to descend to keep clear of cloud, but the rest of the journey was easy and comfortable. John meanwhile, had headed for Calais to fill up at the supermarket then catch the train through the tunnel. He would still have been pushing his trolley by the time we arrived home.

This picture was taken with an Olympus OM2n using standard slide film on an ETX 90. Note the symmetry of the corona which is typicalof the Sun around a sunspot maximum.

The trip to France came about as a result of a chance meeting at the Gransden Agricultural Show last year, before we had started Green Witch, so it is strange how things turn out. In the event, it was a fantastic week and an experience that will live with us for ever. We enjoyed sharing it with those members of the Cauldron Club who were there as well, and are only sorry that more of you couldn't have been there. Anyone for Madagascar?

The team members were John Vertue who took the car, telescopes and luggage through the tunnel, Lesley Vertue, Katie Parker, Gladys Parker and myself, Neil Parker.