Thank you :)
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Location:Place du Bosquet,Villefort,France
Friday, May 27, 2011
Thank you
I would not be here in France if it wasn't for one person who is looking after our babies, and as always doing a great job of it, through birthdays, soccer, swimming, gym, you name it.
Thank you :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thank you :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Happy birthday from 20,000k away
Dear Mr. Oliver,
Sorry I missed your birthday darling, but it does mean a present from London. I hear Mum has worked hard on a cake for you.
Have a great time with your friends, and see you in a week.
Love you very much,
Dad
I used to be quite small, but I've always been very cool...
Even when Mum painted my toenails...
My balance may not be perfect
But damn I scrub up well
:)
All my love, Dad xx
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Sorry I missed your birthday darling, but it does mean a present from London. I hear Mum has worked hard on a cake for you.
Have a great time with your friends, and see you in a week.
Love you very much,
Dad
I used to be quite small, but I've always been very cool...
Even when Mum painted my toenails...
My balance may not be perfect
But damn I scrub up well
:)
All my love, Dad xx
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Place du Bosquet,Villefort,France
Of Rain, Mountains, Cold & Downhills
We left the camping ground
at Florac early, without breakfast and in the rain, uphill. It got slightly better when we discovered an open cafe about 5k up the road.
Getting out of the rain was nice, looked like brekkie would be croissant and coffee until the baguette man arrived - yay! Spread with butter and jam we started to feel a little better about the day ahead - 30k of climbing another mountain, this one Col de Finiels, at 1541m another monster.
But then it turned ever so slightly sour again - Simon had the sheer nerve to fill his bottles from a tap in the toilet, closely followed by me doing the same. Mdm Grumpy packed a wobbly compounded by me presenting a 100 Euro note in payment - must have been having a bad hair day...
Anyway, back to the climb, relatively easy but our rest day had left us out of our pattern and it took a good hour or so to find it, and going up hill thats hard work.
We stopped at Pont de Montvert for a cold drink as we knew the climb was about to get serious - about 700m vertical in 11k. Most of it was fine, a few sharp pinches as we slowly made our way up.
By this stage there was a cold wind blowing, but the rain had stopped and it was clearing.
Finally summited
and it was freezing! Luckily I had my merino running top, threw it on, we made quick work of a couple of spare emergency ration sausages we were carrying, and started the descent - ah, if only we really knew...
11k of fast and furious downhill later, we arrived in Le Bleymard, hoping for a late lunch. With a shrug we were told we might get a ham and cheese sandwich - in France that can be ordinary or it can be a work of art - we scored the latter
You could place that Sanger in a contest based on size alone, let alone the quality, fabulous.
We were sitting in the sun, neither of us wanting to move, when we finally called time at 3PM and moved our old and tired bodies.
Leaving the village we saw the sign saying 29k to Villefort, our destination. Mental math had us reckoning 530PM for hitting town, as we slowly got the legs moving again.
We climbed a small rise, went through some really deep gravel road works, and then, blow me down, a miracle happened. We started descending, and it just didn't stop. Peddling very briefly on the flatter bits, maybe a bit of brake in the corners, but down down down we went, k after k; watching the k markers click down every minute or two was magical.
On the way up, our slowness had allowed us to smell great lung fulls of the fields of flowers we were slowly going past. Our downhill had us gliding past chateaux and lakes with a huge grin on our faces, we were flying, the roads were smooth and quiet, cycling heaven. 10k, 15k 20k it went on and on, as we plunged to the valley floor.
We passed under a railway bridge, crossed over a bridge over a lake, turned right for the final 1.5k in to town - another lovely downhill. Superbe.
We have found a great and cheap place to stay, and all is good. Now THAT was a ride :) Oh and we did that 29k in 90 minutes - that felt nice too. :)
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at Florac early, without breakfast and in the rain, uphill. It got slightly better when we discovered an open cafe about 5k up the road.
Getting out of the rain was nice, looked like brekkie would be croissant and coffee until the baguette man arrived - yay! Spread with butter and jam we started to feel a little better about the day ahead - 30k of climbing another mountain, this one Col de Finiels, at 1541m another monster.
But then it turned ever so slightly sour again - Simon had the sheer nerve to fill his bottles from a tap in the toilet, closely followed by me doing the same. Mdm Grumpy packed a wobbly compounded by me presenting a 100 Euro note in payment - must have been having a bad hair day...
Anyway, back to the climb, relatively easy but our rest day had left us out of our pattern and it took a good hour or so to find it, and going up hill thats hard work.
We stopped at Pont de Montvert for a cold drink as we knew the climb was about to get serious - about 700m vertical in 11k. Most of it was fine, a few sharp pinches as we slowly made our way up.
By this stage there was a cold wind blowing, but the rain had stopped and it was clearing.
Finally summited
and it was freezing! Luckily I had my merino running top, threw it on, we made quick work of a couple of spare emergency ration sausages we were carrying, and started the descent - ah, if only we really knew...
11k of fast and furious downhill later, we arrived in Le Bleymard, hoping for a late lunch. With a shrug we were told we might get a ham and cheese sandwich - in France that can be ordinary or it can be a work of art - we scored the latter
You could place that Sanger in a contest based on size alone, let alone the quality, fabulous.
We were sitting in the sun, neither of us wanting to move, when we finally called time at 3PM and moved our old and tired bodies.
Leaving the village we saw the sign saying 29k to Villefort, our destination. Mental math had us reckoning 530PM for hitting town, as we slowly got the legs moving again.
We climbed a small rise, went through some really deep gravel road works, and then, blow me down, a miracle happened. We started descending, and it just didn't stop. Peddling very briefly on the flatter bits, maybe a bit of brake in the corners, but down down down we went, k after k; watching the k markers click down every minute or two was magical.
On the way up, our slowness had allowed us to smell great lung fulls of the fields of flowers we were slowly going past. Our downhill had us gliding past chateaux and lakes with a huge grin on our faces, we were flying, the roads were smooth and quiet, cycling heaven. 10k, 15k 20k it went on and on, as we plunged to the valley floor.
We passed under a railway bridge, crossed over a bridge over a lake, turned right for the final 1.5k in to town - another lovely downhill. Superbe.
We have found a great and cheap place to stay, and all is good. Now THAT was a ride :) Oh and we did that 29k in 90 minutes - that felt nice too. :)
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Location:Place du Bosquet,Villefort,France
The day of rest continued
So we left town for the campground beside the Tarn, first stop a Carrefour supermarche.
Bog roll, laundry liquid and a few bits like decent beer and wine for tent erecting duties.
Simon went in first, and came out with four of the largest toilet rolls I've ever seen, smallest he could get apparently. I had been chatting to a group of French motor bikers, basically doing what we were but more quickly :)
I went in, got chips for my salt needs, beer for tent pitching and a small bottle of Cotes Du Rhone for later
I came out to find Simon firmly ensconced with his French boyfriend, suspected he was looking to leave so packed up and made a move.
Just as we were leaving, a legume disaster - a woman leaving the market lost peas (in a jar) and sauce from a box she had on her trolley. We stopped, Simon held my bike and I picked up her other bits and pieces, re boxed them, accepted her thanks and we rode the 2k to the campground. I can be helpful in French now as well :)
So, we have arrived, made camp, about to do washing and have dinner. I suspect an early night, but dinner awaits...
Dinner did await, but so did the Green Goddess. Simon has obviously been away from home far too long, and has taken matters into, erm, you know. Meet the Green Goddess.,,
Yes, that's the cafe at the camping ground, Simon had bought a date..,
And then, when she becomes non compliant, she is disposed of - it was not an easy thing to watch. The sheer cruelty, oh the humanity of it all - pass the wine please :)
Thankfully dinner, comprising salad du magret fume, or smoked duck salad and frites
and a lovely and well executed Tarte Tatin
more than made up for the abhorrent inflatable behaviour. I'm ashamed to have been a part of it at all.
Question: how many NZ camping grounds serve beer and wine, can produce a great duck salad with lovely fries and a very good Tarte Tartin and all for under $NZD40?
Bog roll, laundry liquid and a few bits like decent beer and wine for tent erecting duties.
Simon went in first, and came out with four of the largest toilet rolls I've ever seen, smallest he could get apparently. I had been chatting to a group of French motor bikers, basically doing what we were but more quickly :)
I went in, got chips for my salt needs, beer for tent pitching and a small bottle of Cotes Du Rhone for later
I came out to find Simon firmly ensconced with his French boyfriend, suspected he was looking to leave so packed up and made a move.
Just as we were leaving, a legume disaster - a woman leaving the market lost peas (in a jar) and sauce from a box she had on her trolley. We stopped, Simon held my bike and I picked up her other bits and pieces, re boxed them, accepted her thanks and we rode the 2k to the campground. I can be helpful in French now as well :)
So, we have arrived, made camp, about to do washing and have dinner. I suspect an early night, but dinner awaits...
Dinner did await, but so did the Green Goddess. Simon has obviously been away from home far too long, and has taken matters into, erm, you know. Meet the Green Goddess.,,
Yes, that's the cafe at the camping ground, Simon had bought a date..,
And then, when she becomes non compliant, she is disposed of - it was not an easy thing to watch. The sheer cruelty, oh the humanity of it all - pass the wine please :)
Thankfully dinner, comprising salad du magret fume, or smoked duck salad and frites
and a lovely and well executed Tarte Tatin
more than made up for the abhorrent inflatable behaviour. I'm ashamed to have been a part of it at all.
Question: how many NZ camping grounds serve beer and wine, can produce a great duck salad with lovely fries and a very good Tarte Tartin and all for under $NZD40?
Thursday, May 26, 2011
The well earnt Day of Rest
Unbelievable: with the blinds shut, I slept 10 hours straight, woke at 9AM thinking it was 6 it was so dark. Mad scramble to get to breakfast before it finishes, and we are now in Florac having coffee.
As we left the hotel we came across an amazing old wine chiller
Have no idea how old it was but what an amazing old appliance.
Quick wander around town before we head to the camping ground to swim, eat, drink, wash and dry filthy clothes etc
And we almost made it out of town - pizza for lunch whilst we await the super market reopening at 3PM
Florac is yet another very old village at the bottom of the gorge
And now its time for the supermarket and head to the campground 2k away - tough day :)
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As we left the hotel we came across an amazing old wine chiller
Have no idea how old it was but what an amazing old appliance.
Quick wander around town before we head to the camping ground to swim, eat, drink, wash and dry filthy clothes etc
And we almost made it out of town - pizza for lunch whilst we await the super market reopening at 3PM
Florac is yet another very old village at the bottom of the gorge
And now its time for the supermarket and head to the campground 2k away - tough day :)
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Even a bad day can be good
But sometimes you have to look hard :)
After breakfast at the campground we started what was to be a mentally difficult and physically very hard ride.
The trip down in to Meyrueis was easy, more of the downhill from yesterday. A quick stop for some shopping, and then follow the Gorges de la Jonte downstream for 25k, hardly peddling or braking the whole way - fantastic stuff.
The gorge we were in was huge, cliffs rising hundreds of metres either side.
This is such an old part of the world
And there are villages everwhere through the gorges
And we finally decided on lunch at Les Vignes
Which was duck confit and chips - in hindsight a bad bad choice, boy did this come back
Why? Because we chose to climb out of the gorge post lunch to get to the Causse Mejean, a plateau to cross over to Florac.
This was 5k of climbing that took over an hour. It was the south face of the Eiger, in the hottest part of the day, on a mountain side with no shade. Each hairpin bend exposed another huge climb, long and steep. As usual Simon beat me to the top by miles but we were both shattered from gaining 800m in 5k - scary stuff.
We saw a sign for a cafe and had to go 1k off our planned course to get there, but it was worth it
Two ice cold Oranginas later and 35k to go, and it's still really hot.
There are some climbs and downs big then we hit a headwind and man its hard work.
Eventually, finally we hit the down hill into Florac, a 6k white knuckle scare fest that landed us a great bed, a great restaurant
In a lovely village. Yes, thats duck two ways and foie gras. We earnt that meal and that bed, like never before.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
After breakfast at the campground we started what was to be a mentally difficult and physically very hard ride.
The trip down in to Meyrueis was easy, more of the downhill from yesterday. A quick stop for some shopping, and then follow the Gorges de la Jonte downstream for 25k, hardly peddling or braking the whole way - fantastic stuff.
The gorge we were in was huge, cliffs rising hundreds of metres either side.
This is such an old part of the world
And there are villages everwhere through the gorges
And we finally decided on lunch at Les Vignes
Which was duck confit and chips - in hindsight a bad bad choice, boy did this come back
Why? Because we chose to climb out of the gorge post lunch to get to the Causse Mejean, a plateau to cross over to Florac.
This was 5k of climbing that took over an hour. It was the south face of the Eiger, in the hottest part of the day, on a mountain side with no shade. Each hairpin bend exposed another huge climb, long and steep. As usual Simon beat me to the top by miles but we were both shattered from gaining 800m in 5k - scary stuff.
We saw a sign for a cafe and had to go 1k off our planned course to get there, but it was worth it
Two ice cold Oranginas later and 35k to go, and it's still really hot.
There are some climbs and downs big then we hit a headwind and man its hard work.
Eventually, finally we hit the down hill into Florac, a 6k white knuckle scare fest that landed us a great bed, a great restaurant
In a lovely village. Yes, thats duck two ways and foie gras. We earnt that meal and that bed, like never before.
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Mountains are quite big aren't they?
Day one of our trip through the Cevennes was always going to be a hard day - 92k and a 1600m mountain to climb - and then descend.
We started with the plan to lunch and rest during the hottest part of the day, 1230 to 330. Even now in late May it's hitting 30 during that time, and the heat from the road and the rocks makes it hotter.
We found our way out of Millau after the bike shop ok, and bowled along through the gorge.
The gorge is lovely and we sat happily on 15kph even though it's uphill.
This 11th century church was close to our turnoff, and about 10k from our lunch stop - these villages are all medieval and still populated
From this point we climbed a small hill and then carried on through another valley to our lunch spot
By the time we had finished lunch, an enormous bowl of gorgeous carbonara
It was time to get out of the sun for a rest
So after a quiet rest in the shade, we started what would be a 3 hour climb up to the summit of Mont Aigoual, at nearly 1600m our biggest climb so far. It was 27k of solid uphill riding from lunch, and there were some very hard bits mentally, that's for sure - so lots of excuses to stop for water and photos
As we got close to the summit, around 7PM, I was feeling a tad emotional and very ready to stop. We had been told there was a Gite on the summit, but it was closed, so we had to descend another 25k to Meyrueis.
So helmet on (taken off 3 hours earlier for the ascent) and down we go.
Almost.
The first bit I took off and was going so fast it tore the velcroed map off my front pannier. Thankfully Simon was behind me and collected it, and off we went again.
This was a huge downhill with only a couple of places where peddling was required - k after k of forest and smooth road, gentle corners for the most part - apart from one I badly overcooked, came in way too hot and thank god my gravel MTB skills are still up there -rear wheel slide into the corner shouting "whoo hoo" at 40kph is only fun after it's been executed :)
Must have hit speeds of 70kph or so but that was the best downhill of my life ever. We arrived at the outskirts of Meyrueis,
And we decided to hit the local campground - it was after 8PM we were both exhausted and had expectations of no food and a blow up mattress - right and wrong
So, tent up let's see what we can scavenge for dinner
This is France - dinner was three courses, home made vegetable soup, lamb curry and a lovely chocolate mousse, washed down with lovely cold beer. Now THATS a camp ground :) oh and the local girls turned up ;)
That was an enormous ride - 90k including 1600m mountain 9 hours ride time. But what a brilliant day, beyond all expectations.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
We started with the plan to lunch and rest during the hottest part of the day, 1230 to 330. Even now in late May it's hitting 30 during that time, and the heat from the road and the rocks makes it hotter.
We found our way out of Millau after the bike shop ok, and bowled along through the gorge.
The gorge is lovely and we sat happily on 15kph even though it's uphill.
This 11th century church was close to our turnoff, and about 10k from our lunch stop - these villages are all medieval and still populated
From this point we climbed a small hill and then carried on through another valley to our lunch spot
By the time we had finished lunch, an enormous bowl of gorgeous carbonara
It was time to get out of the sun for a rest
So after a quiet rest in the shade, we started what would be a 3 hour climb up to the summit of Mont Aigoual, at nearly 1600m our biggest climb so far. It was 27k of solid uphill riding from lunch, and there were some very hard bits mentally, that's for sure - so lots of excuses to stop for water and photos
As we got close to the summit, around 7PM, I was feeling a tad emotional and very ready to stop. We had been told there was a Gite on the summit, but it was closed, so we had to descend another 25k to Meyrueis.
So helmet on (taken off 3 hours earlier for the ascent) and down we go.
Almost.
The first bit I took off and was going so fast it tore the velcroed map off my front pannier. Thankfully Simon was behind me and collected it, and off we went again.
This was a huge downhill with only a couple of places where peddling was required - k after k of forest and smooth road, gentle corners for the most part - apart from one I badly overcooked, came in way too hot and thank god my gravel MTB skills are still up there -rear wheel slide into the corner shouting "whoo hoo" at 40kph is only fun after it's been executed :)
Must have hit speeds of 70kph or so but that was the best downhill of my life ever. We arrived at the outskirts of Meyrueis,
And we decided to hit the local campground - it was after 8PM we were both exhausted and had expectations of no food and a blow up mattress - right and wrong
So, tent up let's see what we can scavenge for dinner
This is France - dinner was three courses, home made vegetable soup, lamb curry and a lovely chocolate mousse, washed down with lovely cold beer. Now THATS a camp ground :) oh and the local girls turned up ;)
That was an enormous ride - 90k including 1600m mountain 9 hours ride time. But what a brilliant day, beyond all expectations.
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