Brian Holden: Little city adds character to Easter

Josselin Chateau in France is a place of legend and magic, and an Easter egg hunt is held in the grounds. Photo / Supplied

As you read this the And Another Thing team would have just touched down at the most hated airport in the world - Charles de Gaulle, France. It is a monster and if you're not sure where you're supposed to be going which is bound to be the case, it can be a nightmare experience. Workers there have a notorious reputation for speaking only French and all I can say is thank goodness I can speak it.

From there, we're heading west to Brittany where a self-catering cottage awaits us in Josselin - population of just 10,000. We'll be putting our feet up in this pretty little spot for what will be the start of our holiday abroad. Not too much time for relaxing though as we're here for just two weeks with so much to see and do.

Josselin holds the much coveted title of "Petite Cit de Caractre"- literally little City of Character - with historic buildings on the banks of the River Oust up the slopes of the valley.

The main feature is clearly the fairy-tale castle with soaring ramparts and three mighty Rapunzel towers dominating the river valley below. The chateau was a fortress where the history of Brittany was forged with the mediaeval and the Renaissance coming together to create a place of legend and magic.

The town has about 50 half-timbered houses dated from 1538, with the oldest, nestling in the St Croix quarter at the foot of the castle walls. The little man on Google Earth Street View has led us to a couple of boulangeries within skipping distance from where we're staying.

Picture two people seated at their breakfast table devouring croissants with jam. That'll be us. Great to know that we will be just in time to join "A la recherche de l'oeuf d'or" - Hunt the golden egg. The family treasure treasure hunt has been organised for Easter weekend and daily after that until the end of April. Twenty wooden Easter eggs (chocolate would have been tastier) will be hidden, in the castle grounds.

Over the last decade or two, with international flights, travellers have become increasingly nervous with whom they share their cabin space.

And let's be honest, if you're going to be cocooned for hours on end at 38,000 feet, it's not unreasonable to expect your fellow passengers to be well behaved and not have a mental meltdown just because their sandwich arrives a little late.

But now, the focus is on the elite team who are seated at the sharp end - the pilots. Yikes, now we're giving the pilots and crew the visual once over as they step out confidently in small groups at the airports, wheeling along their shoebox-sized carry-on bags.

Like surgeons and military officers, pilots represent that part of the pecking order where you hold them in complete trust, with their skills and cool attitude.

But after the recent French Alps disaster, given the choice, we would much rather fly with pilots who are happy, without a chip of any description on their shoulders.

Goodness knows where the aviation industry will go from here, but having at least two crew members in the cockpit at all times is a good start. It's reassuring to know that on long-haul flights, three or four pilots are always on board to share the flying and keep all operations running smoothly.

As I said, knowing that they're all content with their lives enables me to sit back and watch the inflight movie without feeling the least bit anxious.

-Brian Holden has lived in Rotorua for most of his life and has been writing his weekly column for 11 years.