You could say its been a mixed bag. The first week of our Alpine trip has offered a whole lot of all three. The journey south passed painlessly, punctuated with regular stops for tea and we arrived at La Motte Du Caire to the usual warm welcome from Christian and co. We managed to set up camp before the heavens opened and spent the following day watching the deluge with the associated tea and moaning - just like being back home!
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| Last taste of English tea??? |
Saturday 13th got the check flights out of the way and gave us a short window for soaring staying local to La Motte under the threat of thunder storms which duly arrived and stayed for the next day too. So Matt put his culinary expertise to good use and cooked a gluten-free vegetarian feast which put Phil in Hospital the next day. Nothing wrong with the feast but Phil's Gall-bladder took exception.
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| A not so lovely nurse |
Phil spent the night under the observation of two lovely nurses and JB was looking for excuses to try and stay as well. When we asked what the prognosis was, one of them said with a wry smile"prepare for the worst!" So of course we went home to get ready for flying next day. While Phil languished in bed, bored of french TV, Matt and JB flew locally dodging the thunder storms. Matt collected Phil that evening - fully rested, hydrated and clutching a large manila envelope of holiday snaps!
While Phil's saga was going on there was a small weather window which allowed Gordon to take the only launch of the day to sample the local mountains which were spectacular enough to get him exited about returning next year.
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| Gordon buckles up with a storm over Sisteron |
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| Clouds in the way of height |
Tuesday 16th and the first day without thunder storms giving long flights but the low cloud base prevented us from sampling the higher mountains. On Wednesday and Thursday the airmass was drier which gave us even longer flights but a northerly airflow made for some interesting challenges for the novice mountain pilots.
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| Le Gache, brilliant in a northerly wind |
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| Looking North over the Durance valley |
The forecast is improving in readiness for the weekend and arrival of Matt Williamson...
JB
