Bonjour everybody.
Well we've arrived at Friday evening and we're due to set off back to sunny Britain tomorrow so this is an update on the last couple of days.
The weather has turned hot and sunny here - very nice when sitting around at the shed....I mean the chalet...but not as nice if driving around or walking/cycling. But I guess we'll suffer in order to bring you this blog ;o)
Yesterday (Thursday) was a quiet, lazy day spent mooching around the site and picking up a bit of food shopping here and there. Martin made a second attempt at cycling up Alpe d'Huez but, as mentioned earlier, it was much hotter today than last time. Mart managed the climb in 1h 36mins...a 3 minute improvement on his last attempt - phew! (and a fairly reasonable average time for a keen amateur). The climb actually goes around 21 hairpin bends - as seen in many Tour de France races although they aren't climbing the alp this year. I've attached a pic to show the views from about half way up the alp - that's the town of Bourg d'Oisans right in the bottom of the valley....a LONG way down!. The Tour de France cyclists are amazing and the fastest of them have managed this climb in around 37 minutes! It takes us almost that long to drive up to the top!! Anyway, once at the top Martin was adopted by a group of Belgians who wanted to feed him a ham baguette and coffee - very nice and friendly but not really what you want just after extreme exertions in 28 degrees of heat! Still...it was a kind thought.
We BBQ.d for our evening meal and spent a fortune logging on to the net via my mobile phone (there are no wifi spots anywhere near the site - I'm typing this from a cafe in the town nearby). Caught up on the news that Ronaldo has been sold to Real Madrid - ha! that means Liverpool will DEFINITELY win the Premiership next season - I can't wait!!
Anyway, now to today (Friday). I'd seen some posters earlier in the week promoting a classic car rally which came to town and actually climbed Alpe D'Huez (our mountain of the moment). After a bit of research by our daughter we managed to work out when the cars were due to arrive on the alp and got ourselves up there, in a shady bar with a brilliant view of the cars as they came in to the checkpoint at the top of the mountain - fantastic! I've attached some photos but they probably won't do justice to the event - the cars, the scenery, the weather, the cognac...I guess it helps to be there when this sort of thing happens. I really liked the poster the organisers were using to promote this event and, it just so happened that I'd seen one pinned up outside a shop which was closed (the main holiday season hasn't quite started here just yet). So...I thought I'd help them tidy up the area by relieving the shopfront of the poster...then I ran back to the car and stashed my haul! Well, I tried to tell myself that no-one would miss the poster as the event had now already happened....and it would only end up in the rubbish bin, probably wouldn't even be recycled....and the shopfront did indeed look tidier once I'd legged it with the poster - but it still doesn't change the fact that I stole something so I'm drinking cognac (again!) in attempt to forget my wicked deed (and it seems to be working!).
We treated ourselves to a meal in Bourg d'Oisans tonight. It was lovely and a real treat - no washing up tonight! We'd forgotten all about proper washing up after having a dishwasher at home - it was a bit of a shock to our systems but we managed ok ;o) (although I wish I hadn't burned the scrambled eggs onto the pan this morning....)
Once I've finished typing this we'll stroll back to the site (just over a mile away) and finish off our packing ready for an early-ish start tomorrow. The weather forecast is for hot and sunny again here - I suspect it won't be the same at home in Bolton.
Will try to update this blog en route as and when we find wifi spots but, for now, it's au revoir and we'll speak soon!
Take care
D&M
xx
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