AIR travel may have its problems, but it certainly makes the world a smaller place. And that includes bringing distant marketplaces closer to Welsh producers.

Cardiff Airport plays host to the bmibaby operation, the low-cost division of Britain's second-biggest carrier, British Midland.

The service extends to eight mainland Europe destinations, with more planned for next year.

The Cardiff/Paris route has just celebrated its second anniversary and the airport organised a Press trip to celebrate it.

Reporters belonging to daily papers from Gloucester to Swansea wobbled up to check in at 6am for the 7am service.

The beauty of a regional airport like Cardiff is that parking is almost on the runway and check-in is handled with a minimum of fuss.

The executive lounge is comfortable and the flight schedule allows the best part of a working day in Paris.

With France being one hour ahead of the UK, the one-hour flight arrives at about 9am.

That's very handy for missing the rush-hour traffic pouring into the French capital: the road journey only took about 25 minutes to the Hilton Hotel by the Eiffel Tower.

We visited the British Embassy, which has a large trade bureau dedicated to helping UK exporters sell more in France, and helping French companies to invest in the UK. For the latter it works closely with the WDA. Despite all the old jokes about the Anglo-French relationship (or lack of it) France is actually the UK's third-largest trading partner.

In 2003 6.7 per cent of French imports came from the UK, with a combined price tag of £18.4 billion.

By the same token, France is the third-largest exporter to the UK, accounting for 8.1 per cent of our foreign purchases.

The French are the heaviest whisky consumers in Europe, and we return the favour by being the heaviest consumers of champagne and Cognac. At the UK Embassy, men like commercial officer Charles des Moulins busy themselves in trying to fix up appointments between UK and French business people.

He and his team will work directly for UK and French companies, or through the UK's network of chambers of commerce and organisations like Wales Trade International.

They conduct extensive research of French markets and use it to offer advice to exporters, especially first-timers.

M des Moulins said: "There are significant cultural differences between the British and French way of doing things, and first-time exporters can make it so much easier for themselves by using us as intermediaries."

He said the French way of interpreting the law was very different from the British approach. "The British focus on applying the law, while the French are more interested in the spirit of it." (I could put that in a blunter way but I don't want to spoil the entente cordiale.)

He claimed that personal relationships are much more essential to success in France than in Anglo markets, and his team spends a lot of time developing them.

Quality of product and quality of service are the watchwords to business success, apparently.

And a never-say-die attitude. "Essentially, if you think you can do it, you can. And if you think you can't, you can't."

In the past French companies and the government sector have looked to other French companies to satisfy their procurement needs.

On ground of competitiveness the pressure is now on to diversify and source more goods internationally. M des Moulins said that when it came to engineers, the French variety are so lauded that their social standing is equivalent to surgeons in the UK.

"They don't like to be told that they don't have the answers to everything. But if you present a product to them (without any jingoistic claims attached) they will recognise its merits.

"We were successful in introducing a UK radiator manufacturer to 16 buyers from Peugeot, and this has resulted in a contract win."

There are 35 people at the embassy, working across the trade sectors to develop expertise in areas such as general manufacturing, automobile, aerospace, fashion, finance, food and the licensed trade.

They feel a bit forgotten by UK industry, claiming 75 per cent of firms don't know they exist.

The British Embassy and its quadrangle and gardens are sometimes pressed into service to host business receptions.

In effect you can hire it, at rates which M des Moulins claimed are much cheaper than equivalent hotel rates.

Land Rover launched its Freelander this way, and more recently, Bentley sold five Continental GTs in the alcoholic vapour trail of an embassy soire.

If you choose to hire the embassy, make sure you get rooms with air conditioning.

For the Press briefing we sat in something hotter than the Black Hole of Calcutta and not a refreshment in sight, alcoholic or otherwise. But stiff upper lip and all that.

Hospitality picked up dramatically in the evening when our hosts from Cardiff Airport booked us on to Le Bateau Rouge.

Essentially, this is a floating nightclub which cruises down the Seine while you have a lavish dinner with cabaret entertainment.

In London such a venture would inevitably end in tears, with poor food and more feedback than fanfare.

Being Paris, the entire venture was immaculate with fantastic food, sophisticated music and nice timing on the part of the captain who slid back up to the pier as I was quaffing my Drambuie.

The river journey reminds the visitor how beautiful the architecture is in the French capital. All in all it's a great city, and if you can't think of a reason for going on business, go there for pleasure.

Before leaving we checked out a relatively new tourist attraction called Bercy Village, in the Parc de Bercy.

It's located near the Seine and is based on 42 historic wine warehouses. They once constituted the largest wine market in the world.

Now restored, the district offers alfresco restaurants and exclusive shops. It's a bit like Covent Garden, but more tastefully done.

The bmibaby return service is easy on the hangover, departing Charles de Gaulle airport at about 10am. By virtue of the time zones it arrives at the same in Cardiff.