the Concorde is still my best memory. The stewar- desses were very professional and very pretty; there was foie gras, caviar and unlimited cham- pagne, and I could smoke a cigar. The speed of the flight was phenomenal! Any bad memories of the flight? Yes, a plane struck by lightning between Cap-Haïtien and Puerto Plata, the weather radar on the plane was red all the way and the airport had just closed after our take-off for weather reasons. We'd lost all the avionics and had to reset the circuit breakers one by one. That day when we landed in the pouring rain, I kissed the ground. And I'm not someone who's afraid of flying! Another anecdote : I once flew on a charter flight for naturists, chartered by a Dominican naturist hotel group, and the people stripped naked after take-off. I wasn't very comfortable and I was the only one with clothes on. There were bundles of clothes everywhere...
the way back, it was going to be Bastia-Orly. I did the whole GR20 with some friends, I was 19, it was extraordinary! The third time I flew, I was 21. I flew from Orly to Casablanca, then to Rio on Royal Air Maroc, I remember that very well. And I discovered the country that became my adopted country: today I have dual nationality, French and Brazilian. I've lived in Brazil for 20 years without interruption. What's my fondest memory of flying? I was lucky enough to travel by Concorde once in my life. Between New York and Paris. I was working for Air France on the Concorde product, and I was allowed to travel on it on my way back from an event. It's an unforgettable memory. I remember a lot of details. First of all, I'm 1.85m tall. The Concorde's cabin wasn't very high, so I had to stoop a bit to get in. Secondly, when you think of the Concorde, you think 'grand luxury': well, not as far as the seats were concerned. They were barely improved economy class seats, two on the left of the aisle, two on the right. There were 100 seats. On the other hand, the service was impeccable. Of course, we had Air France's best stewardesses on board. I browsed through the newspapers, had an
Christophe Didier
Christophe Didier is Vice President Global Sales and Distribution at Etihad.
Christophe Didier: The first time I took a plane, it was to go hiking, the GR20, in Corsica: an Orly-Calvi flight on Air Inter, on the outward journey. And on
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