February 2015

Apologies for the unimaginative post title, though it "does what it says on the tin": my February half-term getaway, again with my brother. We travelled entirely by train, and though it's still a long day (my preferred choice these days is to fly to Paris Charles de Gaulle, and then train from there), everything was as easy as it could be, with no hitches, and it was both cheaper and easier than driving.

The week was spent with a combination of walking, reading, cycling, and relaxing. The weather started with cold and wet, and finished in glorious blue skies and sun (well, apart from the day of departure: back to rain). Photos below are from our arrival, walks round Vercheny, up the Meyrosse valley, Luc-en-Diois and Le Claps, and a ride to Saoû. In amongst them you'll see a photo of the 'nest' of Processionary Moth Caterpillars (apparently a threat to the pines, but amazing all the same), and a red kite near Luc.

Riding-wise, just a couple of shortish ones: a loop to Recoubeau and back via St Roman (the plan had been to go as far as Luc-en-Diois, but the weather had other plans), and the loop to Saoû, here.

Les Liotards

Lichen gone mad

From Vercheny towards the Roanne Valley

Home for the Processionary Moth Caterpillar

In the Meyrosse valley

A typical 'cloud cap' in the Meyrosse valley

A red kite near Luc-en-Diois

Building blocks near Luc-en-Diois

Geological stuff near Le Claps

Luc-en-Diois

Luc-en-Diois

Saoû

Donjon de Lastic, near Saoû

Les Trois Becs from inside the perched valley near Saoû

The head of the Meyrosse valley, taken from the Col de Romeyer

The Col de Rousset, from the Col de Romeyer

The first ride of 2015

As planned, this week has been focused more on walking, with Chris and Anna. I'll admit that I'm generally of the opinion "Why walk when you can cycle?", but I'll also admit that there are places a road bike can't go, and I know I've been missing out on the walking in these parts, which is spectacular, as you might have seen from previous posts this week.
 
But with a knee niggle from some considerable upping-and-downing on two feet, and a change to milder conditions, today was the day to do my first ride of the year. Nothing adventurous, as I haven't been on a bike for almost two weeks, and some minor roads are still icy, so just an out-and-back ride to Beaurières on the D93.

A few photos (for now of poorer quality from my phone), the first one from my front door this morning, as it was beautiful, though I still can't read the weather here. The other photos are from Luc-en-Diois and Beaurières, but as I came back close to home, the sky had definitely turned an angrier shade - not the "Ciel peu nuageux" forecast by Méteo France, though their guesses are still probably better than mine.

And tomorrow: the drive back to the other reality, and work on Monday. Ho hum.

La nouvelle année: a walk from Châtillon-en-Diois

It was going to be impossible to match yesterday's Pic de Luc walk in terms of panoramic views, so today we plumped for something completely different. So we did a circular walk from Châtillon, with a level walk round the base of the nearby mini-mountain Piémard, up to the Col de Mard, a there-and-back diversion to the top of Piémard, and then the return to Châtillon. (The route is on the 1:25,000 Die Crest IGN map.)

The weather promised "ciel serein", and it was just that, as you'll see in the photos. The scenes were wonderfully varied, from the many vineyards and walnut groves in the early part of the walk, to another snowy wonderland on the path up to the top of Piémard. And, at the end, the sight of Châtillon glowing orange for just a few minutes before the sun disappeared from view. It's a remarkable sight, but blink and you'll miss it. We also had the sight of (I think) a solitary golden eagle riding the thermals above the ridge, but my photographic skills weren't up to the job of getting pictorial evidence. Sorry.

A mighty fine walk: Pic de Luc

Another walk from the François Ribard book, chosen for ease of access to the start by car, and safety of walking. I've previously posted about Le Claps (a massive 15th Century rockfall near Luc-en-Diois), and today's jaunt started with a quick photo-opportunity there, followed by a walk to the top of the mountain that supplied the rockfall. I reckoned that the odds of the lump of mountain we were walking on falling off in similar fashion was low enough to warrant getting the view from the top.

Well, in brief, a very pleasant walk through woods, and around and up the hill to the 1084m pic was rewarded with one of the most amazing panoramas I've ever seen. The views by themselves would have been enough, but there was a glistening winter scene up there straight out of a film-maker's over-the-top imagination, enough to put silly grins on all three of our faces. Apart from one slightly 'airy' bit near the top (which was perfectly safe), there was nothing at all challenging, and would be a superb way for anyone to pass four or so hours ... depending on how long you spend taking photos.

Incidentally, if you do this walk, keep your eyes peeled for the tiny sign on the right taking you off the main track onto the Pic de Luc path (see the fourth photo) - we missed it (which happily led us to the rather interesting rocks pictured), and only backtracked when we decided that the path we were on was going down when it should have been going up the mountain.