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Rain puddle in front of the bar
After a rather bizarre start to the day with a dog trying to serve us coffee in a local cafe, we arrived at HQ just before 9.30am to find Brian the Scorer, Nick the Meethead and Rebekah the Weather, all huddled together under an umbrella. A pretty clear sign that there was a strong likelihood that the day was going to be canned.
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| Brian, Nick and Rebekah |
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At briefing, Rebekah gave us a rather pessimistic view on not only todays weather, but the next few days, As soon as the day was canned, contingency plans were already being made amongst huddles of pilots: cycling, swimming in the lakes or the gorge, diving, mountain walking, shopping in Sisteron.... Luckily, there is a lot to do around here on non-flyable days. One thing is for certain though, there is a French group of friends who will always find something radical or different to do, and I found out later today was no exception.
I, on the other hand, opted for the rather more "sedantry"pursuit of mountain walking. Teaming up with my travelling companion Richard Hunt and a few other pilots including "H" from the Netherlands. During the drive along to St Genis, North of Laragne, we could clearly see the clouds hugging the mountain tops, but the sun was starting to heat things up nicely. After a brief drive to the foot of the volcano, we parked up near an ancient church and started walking....
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| Richard (left) and "H" (centre) with our walking crew |
And did we walk! Some two and a half hours later we reached the "Col de Lazer", a south facing peak on the range with amazing views across to Laragne and Sisteron. We were all admitting to some tightening of the muscles after th continual climb and
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| Chabre from Col de Lazer |
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| Which way? |
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| Vista south east from Col de Lazer |
After a brief snack and water stop, it was a quick step march to get back down the mountain again. Tonight was going to be the Championship party night at the "Salon des Fetes" - we all wanted the chance to rest our weary limbs before a night of fine food, wine and dancing. Returning back to the campsite I bumped in to Lou Belin and Laurent Thevenot (of the previously mentioned French group) - they had managed to find a lake that had one of those large bouncy balls that someone sits on, and then two people jump on to catapult them in to the air for a big fall in to the lake. Such a "joie de vivre"! I know where I will be headed on the next non-flying day...
The evening did not disappoint. The French organisers had sourced a fantastic band called "Wanted Soul" who managed to get more pilots up and dancing than I have seen before - no mean feat when the average age is rather older than we would like to admit. In amongst renditions of old favourites from the likes of James Brown, Stevie Wonder and The Commitments, food for the gathering of nearly two hundred people (that had been prepared and cooked by volunteers) was served up. Music. Food. Music. Food. Music. Food... accompanied by free flowing wine. A fantastic effort by the local community.
The food, wine, company, ambience and music was superb. Thank you Laragne for embracing the flying community and for putting on such a great night. I think some pilots will be grateful if its not flyable tomorrow!
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| "Wanted Soul" in full swing |
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