Pontaix

As 'interesting weather' was forecast for this  later today and this evening, I decided to trundle down to Pontaix to see if I could get some good, different drone shots (I was thinking of stills from quite high above the old chateau but taking in the panoramas too). Thanks to the comprehensive 'drone map', I know exactly where it's completely legal here (having also registered my drone on the government website).

In the end, I didn't use it at all, firstly as there were several people up near the chateau, and I didn't want to disturb their enjoyment, and secondly, as the wind was picking up, and my tiny drone doesn't appreciate strong and gusty winds.

So you'll have to make so with some stills. It's still an impressive viewpoint, even from the elevated ground level!!

Col de Rousset

As everything went well at the Crest concert, we were given Saturday morning off, so I suggested that the three of us went to Col de Rousset, make use of the chairlift to get up to the viewpoint, and we extended the effort a but by walking up a bit further to But Sapiau, from where I can see the roof of my house. And impromptu sandwich lunch featuring bread, salad and lots of cheese (of course) was very much enjoyed, as were all the insects that Will seems to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of!

It's really an absolutely stunning little walk, the rewards far outweighing the minimal effort!!

Musical days

I've been somewhat preoccupied with my two musical guests staying and the rehearsals and concerts in Crest and Die, so it's time for a bit of a catch up! There aren't many photos of the musical activities, so I'll put them in one post now.

We rehearsed on Wednesday and Thursday in Die Cathedral – normally we do rehearsals elsewhere, but as the concert featured the organ quite a bit, it was very helpful to rehearse there.

The concert in Crest on Friday went well, but wasn't as well attended as normal, and I've absolutely no idea why, other than perhaps the lack of a major well-known piece as a draw had an effect. It's always very mysterious why (or why not) audiences turn up!

The concert in Die was, as usual, very well attended, and choir and orchestra did a great job. Though of course the brass section was the best bit! 😉

My friends have now left to return to London via Lyon, so time for a bit of P&Q and rest!

Guests arrive and the music commences...

My two young musical guests arrived yesterday in their hire car from Lyon airport, very wisely having taken my advice of coming the scenic way via Pont-en-Royans, Vercors, and Col de Rousset... it would be hard to beat that as a way of arriving!

Today we popped down to the market, had a salad lunch on my balcony, went back down to Die for the afternoon rehearsal with the choir and professional orchestra, had a soak in the Drôme, and finished with a delicious three-course classic French meal at le Rendez-Vous. A splendid day!

The Meyrosse

We are lucky here to have the little river Meyrosse, partially fed by rain run-off, but also by underground aquifers coming from the Vercors Plateau. As it's quite a narrow valley right to its head, it rarely gets very high after torrential downpours, with the result there's not really any floodplain.

After the fairly copious rain we've had over the past couple of days, I wanted to see if there was much evidence of the rain in the Meyrosse, and apart from mild calcium sediment (giving a milky colour rather than the dark 'muddy' water from marnes), it was barely any higher than before the rain, meaning that (thankfully) the water has been absorbed into the soils and can rehydrate vegetation. Still more needed though! Much more!!