Plane

December 2023. I've just returned from a four-month trip to Fiji, Polynesia, Australia and Indonesia... After three years without traveling, three summers spent diving in Brittany near my home, I took a long leave of absence to go bubbling in seas warmer than the English Channel...

Before, I used to travel to dive. Today, the climate emergency encourages me to reduce my air travel. No more warm exotic seas?

Ah, Indonesia! My favorite diving destination. But when you travel there, you'd better get used to jam karet, the "elastic weather"...

"We are pleased to upgrade you to Business Class." Sitting in front of the Qatar Airways boarding station at Doha Airport, I can not believe my ears.

"Do not stay under the coconut trees," I am told when I arrive at Triton Bay. Yes, the biggest danger here is to get a coconut on your head!

My first trip to Polynesia in 2012 made me want to go back (sigh). But the plane ticket is not given and given the duration of the flight, it is better to have a little time in front of you. Here are some practical information to remember.

Five archipelagos with 118 islands and atolls, scattered in the Pacific, on a vast territory like Europe ... Polynesia is just huge!

" So ? Tell! "Tell Raja Ampat, not so simple. I feel like coming back from the end of the world. I do not know where to start ...

Ten days off. Ten days of freedom. From May 10 to May 20, 2014, I left. In Pulau Weh, Indonesia.

I've been dreaming for years. I'm there ! The Maldives ... A gigantic archipelago at the water's edge, spectacular from the arrival by plane.

Derawan is a tiny Indonesian girl on the east coast of Borneo. I had already been there in 2009. But for this 2013 trip, I have revised my itinerary.

Nature, calm and pleasure ... In North Sulawesi, Indonesia, I headed for a dream island. His name: Bangka.

The Indonesian company Lion Air has a unique trick. With the safety instructions, there is a special prayer booklet for the plane.

I was (still) gone. A short trip of 15 days in Indonesia. On the program: rest and dives at Halmahera (North Maluku) and Bangka in North Sulawesi.

Alor and Raja Ampat: two distant archipelagos in Indonesia. I am back from it. I reconstructed in video my itinerary ... Total: 13 planes!

NYC. Three inspiring initials New York City, come back! It was my first trip to the United States and my first steps in "the city that never sleeps" ...

The Dutchman Max Ammer is the "pioneer" of diving in Raja Ampat. A sacred character. He is an eco-adventurer, an enthusiastic explorer and a fabulous storyteller.

I was in southern Egypt in November 2011 to dive in the Red Sea. Strange feeling of being in the middle of nowhere. No other landmark than a strip of asphalt between the sea and the desert.

Since the time I speak (Air Asia here, Air Asia by that), this time, that's it! I finally tested the brand new Air Asia X line from Paris to Kuala Lumpur. The link was launched by the Malaysian lowcost company in February 2011.

Usually, I'm not too buggy on the plane. But here I had the opportunity to have a big fright on a flight Phuket - Kuala Lumpur ...

Small stopover in Singapore, between two planes, at Changi Airport. I'm leaving for Manado just now ... See you in Sulawesi!

A new start, very soon ... Three years after my first trip to Sulawesi, I return. On the program: Bangka Island, Lembeh and the Toraja country.

This is it! I've just launched a new blog. It's called Voyages & Voyageurs and it's for my duck's website, Ouest-France.fr. I'll be talking about travel, of course. Always with the aim of helping you discover the world, here and elsewhere...

Sometimes you can choose your seat on the plane. Dilemma : is it better to sit in the front, or in the middle, or at the back of the aircraft?

It's probably the company I've taken most often, with all my travels in Southeast Asia! In this month of October 2009, AirAsia, the Malaysian lowcost airline, has just submitted a request for authorization to operate in France.

No more Perhentian. On to Sipadan! I'm taking two flights on Air Asia this Monday to reach Borneo. At last!

I will leave again. At the end of June, I fly again towards the Orient. It was enough for me to receive the e-ticket on my mail to feel wings.

Here I am in Bangkok, in the tourist district, for a short night. I take off again early on Friday for Phuket. Heading for Koh Yao Noi, my first stopover, in Phang Na Bay.

A short video for my fellow travelers in the Dominican Republic... This plane is an "avionnette". Imagine a minibus with wings and a propeller.

The warmth of the welcome in the Dominican Republic is very real. Big, beaming smiles everywhere, from the staff of the big tourist hotels we visited to the people we met outside.

I don't know where to begin this new post. We've been made to do so much in so few days! The purpose of this press trip is to highlight activities other than pure "farniente" in the Dominican Republic.

Walking around on the web after booking my plane ticket, I came across this: an animation showing air traffic on the planet for 24 hours.

At the moment when you discover this message, I will be in the clouds, towards Asia ... The trip will be a bit long, since I had to juggle the specials of air fares, connections , availability and companies, to fly to Bali at a lower cost.

Today I am back in Manado, where I find the civilization and comfort of the modern world: air conditioning and hot water, shopping malls and club-sandwiches, mobile phone that captures and high-speed internet connections ...

Today I fly to the other end of Sulawesi with Lion Air. Flight Manado-Makassar, departure 7:55, arrival 8:30. The plane is full like an egg. I am the only Westerner.

Through the porthole of the plane, I discover Sulawesi, and the island of Bunaken, where I will spend the first five days. Arriving a creepy hair: it is nice over the bay, but a big rainy cloud settled on the airport of Manado.