USA Trip

The Japanese Gardens, Portland, OR

My wife and I had a nice trip to the States. We did the West Coast (where my son lives) and visited Oceanside, Portland and Oceanside. In Portland we stayed in the Alberta quarter, which is on the east side of the city and it was much more interesting (i.e. lively and diverse) than the west side of the city. In particular it was nice to see evidence of resistance to the current Trump presidency.

Inside the Guggenheim, NYC

On the East coast we visited Baltimore (where my daughter lives), Manhattan, Portland Maine, Acadia National Park, a Shaker village in New Hampshire and New Haven. 

You can see some pics here.

South West France Visit

We had a short visit to Pau and Biarritz in SW France. Pau is a very attractive town just north of the Pyrenees; it used to be a fashionable place for wealthy Brits to spend the winter. Biarritz is known for surfing and some obliging young men were in the water so we could get some photos. Some pics of Pau and Biarritz

Edinburgh

In our stay in Scotland, my wife and I spent the first 8 days in Edinburgh. It's not a city I know terribly well but I've always known it to be a beautiful city. But I must admit, I was blown away by how nice it is. It isn't just that the nice parts (the Castle, the New Town, the Meadows etc) are nice, but really how nice it all is. Several times we went for long walks and everything we saw was lovely. 

The other thing is that the city contains lots of green spaces and also has a definite boundary - when you leave the city, you're in the countryside (instead of endless suburbs or dormitory towns).

It's the most beautiful city by far in Britain, if you get a chance, go there! I'm afraid I didn't take anything like enough photos, but here are some pics that don't do it justice.

Stow-on-the-Wold

Stow is a very cute little village in the Cotswolds, a range of very low hills to the NW of London. In fact, all the villages seem very cute there; it became a very trendy place for wealthy Londoners to retire to 40 or so years ago and everything seems hyper-gentrified. 

My wife and I were on our way up to Scotland and we stayed overnight there. In the morning we had a stroll around and took some pics before resuming our drive North.

The pics!

Ireland

I finally got round to visiting Ireland, and it was worth the wait! I had a very nice 2 week vacation with my daughter and, for the first week, my wife. We stayed in Dublin, Galway and Killarney and did a lot of ticking items off lists in the tourist guides. We were pretty lucky with the weather (we had two very wet days, apart from that the worst we had was showers).

The remarkable thing as how friendly everyone was. This became clear right at the start of the vacation. My wife and I arrived in Dublin and got installed in our Airbnb before going out to do some shopping. We quickly realized we didn't know where suitable shops were and asked a young lady. She didn't just tell us where the shops were - she took as there in her car!

For me, it was about as stress free as a vacation can be - the language is mine, the currency is mine and the culture is a friendly version of British. 

My pics and a movie that Google made out them.

Coastal Hikes in the Borders

Clouds reflecting in the sea at St Abbs head

My wife and I had a short trip back to Scotland. At the end of the stay we had a couple of days' hiking down near the Borders on the east coast. One was at St Abbs, some cliffs in Scotland near the fishing village of Eyemouth. The other was to Lindisfarne (or the Holy Isle) in England; it's an island at high tide but you can drive to it at low tide. The northern light is very different to the light in southern France and a lovely contrast.

Lindisfarne

 

The West Highland Way

I haven't lived in Scotland for 34 years, and lots of things have happened since I left. One of them is the West Highland Way (WHW), a nearly 100 mile super-scenic hike completed by 30,000 people each year. Today my son and I wanted some gentle exercise (it was an almost unprecedented 26C / 79 F in Glencoe!), so we explored a part of the WHW. 

We started from some lovely woods of Scots Pines at Inveroran and followed the way for a couple of hours across Rannoch Moor, had lunch and came back. The route was very easy, it followed Telford's road, created in the early 19th century, still 'the road' into the 20th century and looking good today.

Agag's Groove

Etienne emerges from the top of Agag's Groove
onto the easy ground of Crowberry Ridge.

I'm on a break in Scotland with my family, and visits back home are always a little bit nostalgic. This was even more the case today. 

I took my son on his first rock climb on a mountain. We did Agag's Groove, a real classic route on Buchaille Etive Mhor in Glencoe - steep, exposed, sensational but not terribly hard. Forty years ago, it was one of my first climbs and I remember it very well. Revisiting it today felt strange and a little bit like completing a cycle. 

For Etienne, maybe (like me) it will be the first of many routes he does, but if he doesn't do any more rock climbs, at least he has done one of the best!

Shanghai

I'm just back from a 2 week visit to Shanghai for work. It's a fascinating place and it's changing very quickly; I was last there around 7 years ago and I think they had 4 metro lines - now they have 14. It's also seems more accessible for westerners - more signs include English or Pinyin (Mandarin in Latin characters). Some more pics.

I'm back home now to the peace of St Andre. The weather is lovely and and I'm looking forward to some outdoor activities.

The Luberon

On the way back from Barcelona, my daughter and I spent a couple of days hiking in the Luberon. It's not very far from where I live, but it's different - more Provence and less Alps. Warmer as well, with no snow! 

It's an area made famous by Peter Mayle (via A Year in Provence) and the countryside is very cute. It all seems a bit gentrified, with hardly any run down buildings. A bit like the Cotswolds, but with better food and weather!

A few pics from one hike.

Barcelona Visit

My daughter and I spent a very enjoyable few days in Barcelona. After the snow in St Andre, it was very nice to stroll around in shirt sleeves and admire palm trees. Wonderful architecture, good weather, a big city with a beach and very welcoming locals! Maybe because the local language (Catalan) isn't spoken anywhere else, the locals spoke really good English and enjoyed doing so. Highly recommended! A few pics.

Hiking in the Bauges

I'm in the Chambery / Annecy region for a few days break and had a nice hike today. My girlfriend took the train into Lyon for the day and I headed into the Bauges (a mountain range in the northern pre-Alps). 

Up here, the mountain ranges - the Bauges, the Chartreuse, the Vercors are a bit like castles, surrounded by moat like valleys. Climb up the steep castle walls, and inside there are relatively flat fields and forests, dominated by isolated peaks. During the second world war, their natural defenses made them strong points of the resistance; unfortunately, they were also the scene of terrible reprisals just after D-day.

I climbed one of the highest peaks in the Bauges and throughly enjoyed my hike and the contrast to the southern alps. Greener and softer scenery, cows instead of sheep, fall is further advanced, a bit more chocolate boxy. The last 200m was very steep grass (I wouldn't have liked to slip) and, at the summit, I had a wonderful view of Mount Blanc, a little further east.

More pics here and also some of Chambery and Annecy - two very cute towns.

Walking the Dog

I took advantage of my time in the States to walk with my dog, Cleo. We walked in Forest Park (sometimes described as the biggest urban park in the world). It's always a nice place to walk and is especially popular in the heat of the summer, when the trees bring welcome shade. 

Cleo will be 10 this summer and I was a bit worried she would get tired, but we had a nice 4 hour hike and she was still full of energy at the end. Some more cute dog pics.

Going Coastal

I'm on a business trip back to the US of A. Saturday's forecast wasn't stellar, but it looked good enough for some coastal soaring at Cape Look Out. I haven't flown the coast for at least a couple of years and it's a complete contrast to the flying I normally do. Add in CLO's stunning scenery and I was keen for a day at the beach, despite only having old, incomplete gear.

I wasn't the only one with that idea and found myself with 25 other pilots, para-waiting for strong enough conditions. When it eventually became soarable, I found myself at the end of a long queue of wings. CLO's launch is tiny and a little tricky, so it was a long wait. By the time I was in the air, conditions were pretty weak and just staying up was the name of the game. 

It was busy as pilots scratched for lift - and I was unimpressed by a few pilots' lack of knowledge on ridge rules - but eventually enough pilots sunk out to make things easier. I mowed up and down the same bit of ridge, slowing gaining height. The most I got was 100m over launch and then there was a long, slow, flush cycle. I resisted as long as I could and found myself the only pilot in the air until the cycle did for me too.

I didn't have a watch but I reckon I was in the air for a couple of hours, mowing the same bit of ridge. The flying might have been so-so, but the scenery and chance to see my old flying mates more than made up for it. Hope it isn't two years before I fly the coast again!

Manosque

When I flew last Wednesday I knew I had a cold coming on, but I felt fine during the hike up the hill and the flight. It turned out to be the flu and the next 48 hours weren't very pleasant. By Friday evening I was feeling reasonable again, but knew I wasn't in any condition to fly on Saturday (I actually tested my motor-coordination skills on my GT5 racing game, and they were shot to hell - quite an eye opener).

So come Saturday I headed to Manosque,  a lovely little town with a fortified center I've been wanting to visit. St Andre is more on the alpine side of the departement (les Alpes de Haute Provence) while Manosque is more provencal. Spring weather, gorgeous buildings, very busy (especially for the start of March) and a lovely market. I spent some gift vouchers in a bookstore and had a huge lunch before heading home.

Old Friends

Back in Portland for a business trip, Saturday was flyable. I hadn't taken any flying gear for my trip, but I had 'cached' an old wing and harness in Portland for occasions like this.  So I joined Dan, Mark and Mary Beth for a day's flying - just like the old days.

Summer is a tricky time to fly in Oregon. The 'chosen' site for the day was (unusually) one I hadn't flown before - Hoover Ridge. And a pretty intimidating one it was too. From launch, you can only see trees or water and the trees seem especially close. 

Since I was flying gear that had been sitting unused in a garage for 3 years, I graciously let the other launch first. I considered my old wing a faithful companion, but it was horribly difficult to inflate in light conditions - no doubt it was badly out of trim. I struggled into the air and had an entertaining - but not terribly enjoyable - short flight, landing with Dan after about 30 minutes. You might expect a lower graded wing to feel reassuring to fly, but that wasn't the case at all. I never really felt 'in contact' with the wing - I seemed to be reacting to the wing, rather than controlling it.

Everyone landed at the same time and we all went back up to launch. The others flew, but I wasn't terribly keen - I really hadn't enjoying flying my old wing and I didn't trust it on such a technical launch. The little enthusiasm I had evaporated when another pilot launched into a tree.

We had a nice evening meal before the long drive home; typical Oregon flying, with a more driving than flying. I enjoyed my day out with my friends, but was disappointed by my old wing. I expected to find an old friend and instead found something unfamiliar and a little spooky.

Trip Stateside

I will be heading over to the States tomorrow for a trip that will keep me away for a couple of weeks. As I type this, the sun has just disappeared over Chalvet and I'm sitting out on the terrace, enjoying the evening cool, a local wine and watching the swallows swoop over the village. At this time of day, there is often a stream of wings heading to the LZ, after their gentle evening 'restitution' (glass-off) flights. But not today - it was a little windy, so I squeezed in a bike ride, not a flight.

I'm looking forward to my trip, but I'm also regretting leaving here and looking forward to getting back. It's hard to leave the S of France in summer. I wandered about the village this morning, just drinking in the atmosphere and snapping some photos.

Exploring Day

Today would have been perfectly flyable, but I went exploring some of the nearby villages and areas. The goal here is to better understand where it would be good to live. There are so many factors (scenery, weather, flying, hiking...) it's hard to know where is best - there are lots of very attractive places around here.

Mistral Day

Saturday was beautiful; cool and breezy - the Mistral had arrived. The sky was bright blue - the continental air descending the Rhone valley had very little moisture content. It was probably flyable at St Vincents (a site sheltered from N winds), but I'd flown the last 6 days and reckoned I deserved a break. So I explored the countryside and towns around Laragne and Gap.

In Gap I had a refreshing beer in a cafe and the paper I was reading nearly got blown away by the Mistral - dangerous things these winds. I had intended to get back to Laragne in time for a walk, but I didn't - I went for a nice meal with 3 other pilots.

St Jean de Montclar

For at least 12 years of my kids first 18 years, we have taken a summer vacation in France. We’ve also had a few skiing vacations in winter or spring. We’ve covered most regions of France, including beaches, countryside and Paris. But this is the first time I’ve been in a ‘station de ski’ or even in the ‘hautes montagnes’ in summer.

And it isn’t perfect. St Jean de Montclar isn’t a charming little village with a church, a square, a ‘lavoir’ etc. It’s a ‘nouveau village’ – a village created at the bottom of some chair-lifts, I’d guess in the sixties or seventies. But it isn’t bad either.

It’s hot during the day, but fairly cool at night. You can swim, play tennis or pétanques, hire a mountain bike, go for a walk, take a chair-lift up for a high altitude hike etc. You can even take a tandem paraglider flight (though, after yesterday, I’m not sure I’d recommend that). There’s a big lake just 15 minutes drive away. There’s plenty of cheap accommodation. There was a nice market last Sunday morning. And the scenery is really nice; a combination of open valleys and mountains. Nice villages nearby, with forts and museums. And it’s a nice size; big enough that you have everything you need, but not so big you can’t park your car.

All in all, not a bad place for your summer vacation!