It is now 3 weeks since the family left us in Chamonix and I
have finally got round to updating the blog. Just goes to show how I can be so
easily distracted from writing by doing fun things in new places.
The common themes of the 3 weeks have been going to new places,
the heat (it has been over 30 deg C most days) and the Lothians.
But let’s take things a bit at a time.
Before we left Chamonix we had a relaxing family free day
climbing at Valancine , and caught up with friends from the Gritstone club. Life is different without the family, and we missed them terribly!
On Monday 16th we set of south into Italy and went to Gessu Valley in the Maritime Alps .
This was the first of our adventures into new areas , and we were not
disappointed. The mountains of the Maritime Alps are rugged and stately, with
dramatic rocky peaks towering over the high valleys and tumbling mountain
streams.
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| High pass and mountains |
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| Fiona on the Punta Balmarossa |
We stayed in the beautiful village of Entracquel, with
charming streets, and a fascinating center for the study of European wolves.
The center has a Hogwarts type display room where the pictures all come to life
to tell the story of the wolves in the area, and a big enclosure with real live
wolves roaming around.
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| A Wolf |
Butterflies all over the place.
We were joined here by Jim and Mary Lothian and together we
spend a hilarious 10 days in the area. The high points were the cycle up the
Valley Gessu. We were caught up in the middle of a Sunday cycle race and got applause
from the spectators and pats on the back (and pushes) from the competitors as
they overtook us. The ascent of the Punta
Ciamberline ( 1200 meters with a entertaining scramble at the top) , catching a trout on my second cast , the
Funs via ferrata ( honest , and it lived up to its name) , fantastic storms,
and generally having a great laugh with the Lothians all make it a place to go
back to.
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| The Lothians had us in tears of laughter |
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| The best fondu ever ... honest |
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| Mountaineering on the Punta Ciamberline |
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| The top of the Punta Ciamberline |
Eventually it was time to move on, and on the 26th we went over
the Magdalaine Pass (on 3 wheels at one corner as we passed a big lorry), to
the Vercors in France. We stayed at the old town of Die in the Drone valley. Again
as we had not been there before and were rewarded with 3 fantastic days of rock
climbing, cycling and a via ferrata.
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| Fiona at full stretch behind the chantelle |
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| Chatillon en Diois |
The valleys there were more open with lots
of vineyards, beautiful old villages, and deep swimmable rivers, all crowned by
rocky limestone escarpments. Lots going on with a weekend Roman festival of
battle re-enactments, people in strange clothing and a late night concert for
the whole town.
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| Romans in Die ...Obilix is about to appear |
As we were coming to the end of this part of the trip we got
a call from the Lothians to say Jim had been in a cycling accident and was in
hospital in Beaune. We headed north to give what support we could . He had been
in a head on collision with another cyclist and had a broken jaw, cheek bone
and other facial injuries, so was not a pretty sight. We all stayed in Nolay
while Jim recovered and had some remedial treatment, then we all set back to
Calais on the 2 August with Mary driving and us following on.
While helping Jim to recover we managed to explore the area
around Nolay on our bikes and even did a bit of climbing, as it was all new and
part of our exploration of new areas.
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| Old Market in Nolay |
Now we are at Calais and about to see Jim and Mary onto the
ferry for the last leg of their trip home and a visit to the surgeons at the
Inverness Hospital . Jim is looking a lot better, the swelling is going down, he
is recognisable again, but I am sure he is looking forward to eating solid food
again.
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French church window ( because it is colorful)
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Next stop Amsterdam.
