Chapter #9

Back to "home base"

for a couple of days

and my plans included a visit to

La Grave.

Tiny little village not far away,

but a must see as far as I was concerned

cos it looked amazing

and I wasn't disappointed.

If you ever go to this part of France,

go visit La Grave if only to see the church.

Small, but perfectly beautiful.

I can,t begin to imagine how many people

have walked on these floor boards

over the centuries!

 The view from the village,

across the other side of the valley...

...and the view down the valley...

Spectacular!

One evening, during this stay in Briancon,

I went for short walk down through the two

tiny settlements on either side of the camp.

Had driven through them enough times,

and there were things

that needed to be photographed :)
Such as this window -
my all time favourite(so far )

So there I was taking the occasional picture,
as you do,

trying not to be too obviously touristy

when a resident came over and said,

''the date is real''.

Above the door was the date - 1818.
We chatted for a while,
and he told me that his "family"
had lived in the house directly opposite
for more than 400 years!!

As I continued my wander
it grew a little darker
and the lamps went on up little side lanes.

It's funny 'cos up until that walk
I had kind of taken these little villages
for granted,
passing through them many times.
It's not until you get out of the car,
and walk,
and look,
that you see so many
everyday things
that are really beautiful.

Okay,
so the next race was in Cervinia.
This is just over the border
into Italy,
past beautiful lakes...

...and over the top of more

very very high 

mountain passes!

Cervinia is nestled 
at the base of the
majestic Matterhorn.

Naturally I managed to squeeze a decent
walk in on the first day
which is just as well
'cos it rained solid
all of the next day -
this was a new experience!!

  

So the rainy day was Jake's first race day,

practice day.

This race started at 2500 mtrs!

On the skifield.

It wasn't snowing at the top,

but it was cold - very cold!

Practice day was pretty good,

considering the weather

and race day dawned bright and sunshiney,

with a fresh coat of snow on the mount!

Morning went good...

afternoon not so good :(

To cut a long story short...
a trip to the closest Italian hosptial
the next day...
 he received incredible attention,
though to this day we still
have absolutely no idea what they told us,
other than it was not broken.
But...
no riding for a couple of weeks!

So...hasty change of plans required...
 rather than sit around waiting for it to heal,
we decided to make the best of the situation
and see a little more of Europe.

Got the map out and decided we would
first head for Luxembourg.
See you there :)
Jenny xx

Chapter #8

Before heading down the road just a little way

to Les Orres,

we had a couple of days back in Briancon.

Always a pleasure coming back here,

feels like I'm nearly a local:)

We were treated to two decent thunderstorms

during that time.

One of them while I was miles up in the hills,

and the other while I was walking back from town.

Awesome timing.

Did not enjoy being caught in either of them,

because you have not heard thunder,

until you have heard French thunder!!!

The first storm I got well and truly caught out.

I decided on a big walk down from the mountain pass,

into Briancon

and all started well.

Near the very start of the track

was this absolutely gorgeous little creek

overflowing with these amazing

purple flowers...

There were a gazillion butterflies

feasting on the flowers,

all the way down the track

(until the rain began that is!)...

...and then the sky started getting a little darker

and I thought,

well it's not going to rain for a while

so I will walk a little faster 

and I was sure I was going to get back to camp

before the first drops fell.

Ha ha ha!!!!

Never seen a storm roll in so quick,

and down she came.

The torrential rain I could deal with,

getting soaked is not a huge issue,

but it was the lightening that 

I really really didn't like.

Hooley dooley - did it crack!!

One clap of thunder I swear was directly above me,

the ground shook,

and so did I!!

Tried to shelter under a tree

but was in two minds about that.

As it turned out it was a complete waste of time

cos the rain was so heavy it just belted through

the branches and leaves

and I just looked pathetic!

So I decided that I had very little choice

but to walk home in the elements

and hope like hell

that one of those cracks was not

destined for me!!!

By the time I got home I was actually almost dry,

the sun was shining

and all was well with the world:)

Note to self:

take a jacket the next time you intend

to walk a marathon as apparently

the weather can change in the blink of an eye!

Les Orres :)

Another delight.

Tiny alpine village, mostly geared towards

the ski season.

We could not find a camping ground

near this race so indulged in a rare treat,

a couple of nights in a hotel.

We had three days there in total

and of course I managed to find a couple

of amazing walks to do.

The first was way up in the mountains

to a tiny but oh so beautiful

little lake...

Lac Marguerite...

...it was a decent climb up to this 

lovely wee lake but worth every step.

The views on the way up and down were stunning...

Made it back down the hill in time

to cheer Jake on for the second half of day one.

Day two of the race was even better 

than the first.

One happy rider :)

Went for a lovely walk that evening,

just wandering along tracks that weren't really tracks

but they looked interesting :)

Something I really enjoyed about Les Orres

was the quiet.

So very very peaceful in the evenings.

My last day in Les Orres and I decided 

to go up a BIG hill.

Sort of happened by default as the track 

I had planned to walk

was closed for some reason.

So along the way I saw the sign to the

top of the moutain

and thought...

why not?

Got about half way up and thought...

why???!!!

But just as well I'm stubborn,

too much effort had been expended getting

half way up

and I decided

onwards and upwards,

just at a slightly slower pace.

WOW!!!

There are no words that will ever describe

the view from the top

or the feeling of being up there,

with not another single soul around

for miles and miles.

The sky was as blue as blue,

not a sound apart from the occasional

bird song,

and perfectly warm.

I sat and ate my lunch on top of the world:)

Loved every minute of Les Orres,
lots of long walks,
steep mountains
and absolutely amazing views.

Back to Briancon for a few days
before the next race...
See you there
Jenny xx