Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island

Ponta Delgada, August 2026

This was a three-day pairing with one night-stop in Paris and another one in Ponta Delgada. It also included a turnaround to Terceira Island. The two pictures below were taken at Lajes Airport and Thiais (Île-de-France).

I didn't do much in Thiais and we arrived very late in the day at Ponta Delgada. I had a two nights layover in Ponta Delgada last year and I already wrote about it. But that time I took a tour around the island instead of visiting the city. This time I wanted to take a little stroll in a place that I last visited in the year 2000.

-o0o-

Ponta Delgada

This was the pool view from my room. It was early in the morning so nobody was there yet.

Then I just ventured through the city.

Down below, probably the most famous landmark, the three arches named "Portas da Cidade" at Gonçalo Velho square.

At 11am the sun was shining and temperatures were like 27 ºC already. So many people took the opportunity to get a tan.

This commemorative plaque is dedicated to the SATA founders and it can be found in the building where they run the first headquarters of the airline. Today, SATA doesn't even have a ticket office outside the airport.

Summertime means several stages are set up in Portuguese cities for music bands and outdoor entertainment in the evenings.

And a clear view of the City Hall...

I only had a morning to see the city but the fact is that there's not much to see in Ponta Delgada. They also have the São Brás fortress (which I didn't photograph)and Mercado da Graça market (which I didn't visit)... and that's it. Visiting the whole Island is what it is really worth it. 

Back to the hotel, the pool was already getting crowded. And a final photo of a SATA Air Açores Dash aircraft before flying back home on a A321neo.

Strolling around Paris in rainy weather

Paris, September 2013

During the flight to Paris I agreed with the chief purser that I would to go with her to the center of the city on this short night stop. Despite the rainy weather we remained resolute on our purpose.

First stop, she wanted to buy a bottle of champagne!

And then, of course, some sightseeing on a city that many seem to love but which is far from being one of my favorites. Sorry, I can't help with that!

-o0o-

La Seine

Quality of the photos was a bit compromised and dark due to the dull weather. And I was still using an old iPhone 4...

-o0o-
Champs Elysées

-o0o-

Return flight

Yep, another very early morning flight... Aircraft was the Airbus A319-111, tail number CS-TTN, now retired from the company.

Airbus A320 Family random pictures

Airbus A320fam, 2024/2025

Just a few random pics I took either while on travel or on duty. Thought you might like them:

Paris. First Class. International

Paris, September 2023

When my current company launched their new image in 2005, they used the motto Red and Green - Out of the Blue to introduce their new colors. And since I joined the company I've been using that sentence to mark the milestones in my career in this blog:

• When I joined the company, in 2008
• When I got my permanent contract, in 2011
• When I started flying long haul, in 2014
  

This post could have been another "Red and Green - Out of the Blue" since I moved back to the European fleet in September this year for the sake of my own peace of mind. I did not become a senior crew member yet - usually people go back to the A320 family when they attain the purser position - but I decided to return on my own will.

Since I left the ACMI scene, I believed I was totally a long haul type. I had a long 6 years wait until that happened again and 4 more years to fly exclusively on the A330/A340 fleet. And I was truly happy when I started doing long haul flights in 2014. But... working conditions have changed. I changed. I'm not anymore the happy kid in his twenties discovering the world while working. I'm still a happy guy but priorities are not the same anymore. Today I value a lot my time spent in my home base and I'm closer to anything that looks like more to a 9 to 5 job than the other way around.

So... last September I started to rediscover the joys of medium haul and Europe!

And while I certainly took advantage of my layovers in Europe to visit sites of interest during my first tenure in the medium haul, it now seems so foolish that I never visited Rungis in Paris, our most frequent night stop/layover in the medium haul and my first one on this comeback. But it's never too late to feel young again!

-o0o-

Ville de Rungis

-o0o-
Paris-Porto

Next day I would return as an extra crew to Porto and since the incoming flight was a little bit delayed I enjoyed the airport traffic in Orly airport, in a dedicated rest area with a view to the tarmac.

Air Caraïbes A350

Can you spot the Eiffel Tower?

Back in Porto, before leaving to Geneva

And what a beautiful sight seeing the Alps again, while returning in the early morning from Geneva!