On the way to Scotland, I drove up to Paris to pick up my wife. She was staying with a former school-mate, Sylvie, for a little re-union. I arrived in the middle of the afternoon and we all went out for a very pleasant walk, taking in the Jardin des Plantes, the left bank of the Seine, Notre Dame, the Ile de la Cite and the Ile St Louis. It was all very pleasant and relaxed - the 1st of Nov is a holiday in France, and Parisians were out enjoying it. However, in the aftermath of the terror attacks, it felt a little bit sad too, like a city trying to resume normality.
A few pics.
Le Cousson is quite a complicated mountain near Digne les Bains; it's got two summits and leaves the town in the shade in winter mornings. I've flown over it quite a few times (in paraglider and in a sailplane) and I must have driven past it at least a hundred times. But I've never climbed up it on foot.
Today I got to fix that. I had to drop my wife off in Digne to catch an early morning bus. After a quick coffee I headed to Entrages and the start of the hike. The climb wasn't very memorable except for the views and the chapel St Michel, which is perched on the edge of a cliff. But at least when I drive past it I know I've climbed the thing!
Some pics.
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.
The Paragliding World Cup visited St Andre for a week's competition in September - the biggest competition we've had here since the European's 4 years ago. Conditions were rather poor and only three tasks got scored. I went up to launch to watch the start of one task; an afternoon storm was predicted so a short task was set. Everyone hurried into the air and the task was started, but the storm won the day and the task was cancelled.
Some pics I took plus some info on the PWC site - results and pics from the action.
My wife and I had a break in Aix-en-Provence for a few days with one of her relatives. I took the opportunity to go for a hike on Sainte-Victoire for one of the days.
Sainte-Victoire is a famous mountain just outside Aix. It's an escarpement - the north slopes are gentle but the south face is a series of limestone cliffs. It was a favorite subject of Paul Cezanne's paintings.
This really isn't a good time for hiking in the area - it's too hot. Today was forecast to be 35 degrees (95 in old money). The most interesting hikes are on the south side, but I did one that climbed up the north side and set off early to minimize discomfort. The hike was hot but bearable; the landscape (limestone cliffs and plateau) was very interesting.
Some pics
I got to fly a Pegase sailplane today and it was very nice. It's a single-seater and, while it's not exactly a high perf beast, it's definitely more than a training 'mule'.
Thin wings and retractable undercarriage reduce drag and increase performance. It flies very nicely in the air; the controls are light and direct. There seems to be less need to use the rudder to keep it flying symmetrically in a thermal than with other gliders I've flown. It was also very comfortable, with decent storage for water, food, camera etc (very unusual for a sailplane). I also liked having a beeping vario!
I had a nice flight of just under 4 hours, flying a nice little 100 km triangle. The sky was blue when I took off and I struggled for 15 minutes or so to gain altitude. But from then on there were some clouds and things got easier. Even better, I landed on runway 10 for the first time and it was quite a nice landing (at least, by my not very exacting standards...).
Some pics and explanations.
I drive across the Plateau de Valensole to get to my sailplane club; it's a stunningly beautiful place. It's flat and open but the Alps (well, the Prealps) start right beside it. Wheat, almonds, olives and sunflowers are all grown there, but it is most famous for the lavender (strictly speaking it's lavendin, a commercial varient of lavender).
It blooms in the summer months and has pretty much reached its peak. Especially in the evening, the scent of lavender and buzz of bees seems to be everywhere (lavender honey is excellent). The tourist season is also at its peak also and they all seem to want one thing - the perfect picture of them strolling in the lavender fields. You frequently see Asian couples dressed as for their wedding out in the fields.
One thing that is striking is how open it all is. None of the fields are fenced in, there are no 'No Trespassing' signs and I've never seen anyone get annoyed with the tourists. This is quite a contrast to what you'd expect to find in the States and it reflects very well on the locals.
A few pics.
On the way to Scotland, I drove up to Paris to pick up my wife. She was staying with a former school-mate, Sylvie, for a little re-union. I arrived in the middle of the afternoon and we all went out for a very pleasant walk, taking in the Jardin des Plantes, the left bank of the Seine, Notre Dame, the Ile de la Cite and the Ile St Louis. It was all very pleasant and relaxed - the 1st of Nov is a holiday in France, and Parisians were out enjoying it. However, in the aftermath of the terror attacks, it felt a little bit sad too, like a city trying to resume normality.
