Chapter #20

Today is my final day,
again,
in Dunedin 
and I thought I'd better get cracking
and finish my French blog.

But I sit here today
and in all honesty
tears are slipping down my cheeks
as I think of the people of Paris,
and in fact of humanity in general.
What has become of this world,
what possesses people to act in such 
a senseless horrifically violent manner.
Why!!!
At the risk of sounding incredibly naive
what is so hard about accepting people
for who they are
and what they are...
live and let live.
What breeds such hatred and contempt
for others,
why such intolerance,
the complete and utter disregard for
innocent human lives,
destruction of families,
destruction of trust,
why!!!
I am so very very sad for what has happened,
and cannot begin to imagine the anguish and pain
that countless families must be suffering
right now.
Please please please,
this has to stop.

So...
that being said,
I'm just going to leave you with a few
pictures
of our final couple of days
in France...

...the beauty of autumn...

...pictures do not do justice to the

amazing colours...

...shutters :)...

...utterly charming villages perched on hilltops...

...incredible scenery
from high mountain passes...

...a field of sunshine...

...winding roads and breathtaking views...

...castle ruins...

...walnut groves...

...and the occasional very cute

little french car :)

My journey through France etc
was absolutely the most amazing
adventure yet:)
Just over 39,000 kilometres by air,
16,602 kilometres by car
42 camping grounds...

...10 countries,
1 tent...

...1 car
and countless memories.

Lost count of the number of mountains and hills
 I climbed,
the number of spectacular mountain passes
we drove over,
the rivers and lakes we passed by,
the mountain bike trails that were ridden,
the truly wonderful sunsets...

So many memories of the people we met,
so friendly and charming.
The villages I wandered through,
exploring the narrow alleys and laneways,
and the surprises you would find.
We did not follow the tourist route,
off the beaten track was our choice,
and what treasures we found.

Camping turned out to be much much more fun
than I expected...
though very occasionally there were
not so fun times:)
...like the time that I found a toad
in my side of the tent!!)
Closely followed by the biggest grass hoppery
type of "thing" the next night.
Urgghhh!

We were blessed with the best summer ever,
according to the locals the hottest
they could remember.
We soaked up the warmth and sunshine,
but sure sweated it out profusely
 when riding or walking.
But wow,
what a summer :)

I think I may have taken a gazillion photos
of shutters
and doors,
but why not?
They are fabulous :)

So,
my wonderful french adventure
was everything and more
than I could ever have hoped for.
I will never ever forget my summer in France:)
Thank you for coming along
and sharing the journey...
I truly hope that you find your way
to this most beautiful country
and discover the mountains and valleys,
the villages and beaches
like we did.

And one more thing I would like to say...
thanks Jake for wanting to travel with your Mum.
I loved every moment of our time on the road together,
and loved being your support crew :)
We have some pretty awesome memories:)

So there endeth the journey and
the adventure.
But,
the next is about to start:)
See you in a couple of weeks,
north of Dunedin :)

Jenny xx

Chapter #19

So...

this is the second last chapter,

and it's a long one,

so maybe go get a cuppa:)

We were heading for Spain...

Ainsa to be precise.

Only 50 or so miles from the French border,

but incredibly so

completely different scenery.

Sunset on the first day set the scene -

this was a world series race

for Jake

so I was in full

support crew mode :)

Of course I can always find a few hours

here and there to explore...

...and the olde town did not disappoint.

As if it ever would :)

...now that is some door -

isn't that incredible :)

This is the view

out over the valley where we were camping.

Off in the distance,

did a little bit of walking around

that great big hill,

but I have to confess,

mostly around the bottom of it!!

Early start to the first day of practice,

but with views like these,

it didn't both me in the least...

...and throughout the next two days,

as I shuttled Jake around the stages for practice

I was in awe of the scenery...

...again,

touches of autumn creeping in...

We both arrived in Ainsa with absolutely

no idea

of what to expect...

and I have to say that this place left me

with the most amazing memories,

in all regards.

The countryside was breathtaking,

the olde historic village was beautiful,

and the organisation of the event was

absolutely far and away the best

of all the races we attended...

it was fun and lively,

great atmosphere,

and at the end of day one of racing

they even managed to produce the most spectacular

downpour of rain that I have ever seen

 in all my life:)

Thankfully Jake had finished for the day 

and we were actually back at camp when 

the heavens opened and it down it came...

phenomenal...

within two minutes, maybe,

the driveways were flowing with water,

like mini creeks.

Turned out that the last stage

of the race had to be cancelled as some of the riders

were unable to finish it

due to the fact that the tracks became rivers

with water flowing up to two feet deep!!

The storm didn't last long,

but crikey it came down!

Our stay in Ainsa was too short,

this is definitely a place on my list of 

"going back to" :)

From there we had to make tracks quickly

as the following weekend was the final race,

another important world series one,

and it was in Italy!!

Two long days of driving,

stopping off at Loupian for the night.

Yes,

of course I managed to squeeze in a quick

walk around the wee village...

...is this not the most gorgeous

gates of entry to a village?

 

...it was getting late,

but it did look so lovely with the lamps lit.

On the road early next morning,

to get a good start,

and even so we pulled into Finale Ligure

just on dark,

with no reservations,

and no vacancies!!

Ooops!

Finally found something for the night,

but the following morning

we looked a little further afield

and found our villa on the Italian coast.

Just delightful,

in the next township of Varigotti.

I love Varigotti:)

...the view from our balcony,

one which I could definitely get used to :)

...late in the afternoon,

nobody left on the beach,

had it all to myself.

..wandering through the lanes of the village,

and in fact the photos do not quite do

justice to the colours...

...the houses were vibrant sunny colours,

matching the day :)

Again Jake had practice days 

before the race days,

so no time to explore on those days,

but come race day,

he was away for hours on end,

so it was my turn to wander as well :)

The little village of Finalborgo

was my first port of call...

...wasn't hard to fill in a few hours here:)

...thought this looked like the perfect little

spot to enjoy a coffee...

...a walk up the hill behind the village took me through

orchards of fruits I had never seen,

and olive groves by the dozen...

...absolutely could not resist this

gorgeous fabulous green door:)

The next day I headed up into the hills behind

our villa.

So beautiful...

this is looking down on the village

of Varigotti...

...and looking the other direction

toward Finale Ligure...

...a tiny little village perched on the top

of a hill...

...peeking through the trees I spied

this chair,

thought it just looked like

the most perfect place to sit

and ponder :)

We had the most glorious time in Italy,

even the storms were impressive...

Jake's final race was massive,

again one stage got cancelled due to high winds

and rain,

but both bike and body made it to the end

in one piece so that's always a good thing:)

We stayed on for a couple of days in Varigotti,

not really wanting to leave,

but sadly we could not put the inevitable off.

Another beautiful gem to be stored in the 

memory box.

Loved every moment of our week on the Italian coast,

but it was time to head back to France...

...a parting sunset from Varigotti...

See you back in France

for the final part of the most 

wonderful journey :)

Jenny xx

p.s. I would just like to say thank you to those

that left such lovely comments on my last post...

you are so very very kind...

thank you for coming along and sharing

this adventure with me.

Um...I am a little lost for words,

cos of your kindness :)

I hope that one day you find yourself

in some of these wonderful amazing places

that I have been lucky enough to see.

You will love them too:)

Thankyou xxx

Chapter #18

Well, I never quite got to 

finish this diary of my adventure
 while I was away.

The last few weeks flew by so fast 

and before I knew it,

we were home again.

But for the sake of completion,

I will finish the last

couple of chapters...

The last time I posted,
we were heading for Andorra.

Stayed in the same place as we did

at the beginning of the trip,

but this time

no accidents, broken bikes or body parts

... always a bonus :)

The racing was good,

weather was amazing,

and the mountain hiking incredible.

Andorra is a must see if you are ever

in that part of the world,

especially if you love the mountains.

It is a hikers paradise :)

It never fails to impress

with sheer majestic beauty.

I'm sure it wouldn't matter how many times

you visited,

you would never run out of

mountains to climb.

I must admit, though, to feeling a smidgen nervous

on one of my walks...

half way up the mountain a guy dressed in

hunter's camo gear emerged from behind a bush

and asked me if I could please proceed quietly,

because they were hunting!!!

Um...

well yes...

I promised I would be as quiet as possible,

but what the heck!!!

The seasons were changing,

of course,

as it was almost three months since our

first visit.

Mushrooms and toadstools

of every colour and shape...

...wildflowers,

still,

in abundance,

but different ones to the first visit...

...and the trees were taking on their 

autumn tones...

I squeezed in as many walks

as possible...

...it's not hard to see why,

with views like these :)

We stayed a couple of extra days in Andorra

after the race was over,

and then headed west.

The next race was just across the border

in Spain,

but we had a few days in between,

and not quite knowing where to pitch camp

for those few days,

we almost randomly picked

a little town called 

Luchon.

What a find!

The most stunning scenery,

mountains and forests!

This walk took me high up into the mountains,

to a small lake at the top.

The waterfalls along the way

were out of this world :)

...I adore these exquisite little flowers,
which seem to be so delicate
you wonder how they survive even
a ripple of wind...

The town of Luchon is nestled in

this valley,

surrounded by mountains

and I can only imagine how

beautiful it must look in winter...

Another walk took me around the hills
and up into the back country..

...it was a magnificent walk,

but I do have to giggle a little

over the signage.

It indicated a time of three and a half hours

to complete the circuit,

and in the normal course of events,

this would be a generous amount of time.

So I set off with very little in the way of supplies,

thinking it would be an easy morning walk,

and I had another one planned for the afternoon.

Three and a half hours into the walk I was pretty sure

that I was,

in fact,

still heading away from the beginning of the track!!

I did eventually get back to the starting point

some six hours after beginning!

Do feel that perhaps they may have got that one

just a little bit wrong :)

It didn't really bother me that much

as I'm pretty happy to wander for hours over the hills

but at one point I did wonder

quite how far I had gone,

and quite how far I had to get back

to the car :)

Here's my favourite wee flowers again...

The village of Luchon was a delight,

and I was glad of a whole day to wander and explore...

...this is quite possibly the biggest house
I've ever seen!!

...gorgeous little winding streets...

...and again, touches of autumn

turning leaves to gold...

Luchon was lovely

in every sense.

I hope one day to return to 

walk some more of the dozens of tracks

that wound around the mountains.

From here it was a short trip over the mountains

to Spain.

See you there..

Jenny xx