It’s about time for a quick post. We have had several weeks — maybe the whole March if not already in February — of warm and sunny weather, with daytime temperatures as high as +20°C. And now it is cold again and it is snowing, and it is going to […]
While the 2021 ended with the worst weather ever, the 2022 started with the best possible; for he whole January it was mostly sunny with nice winter-like temperatures. We rushed to book our week-long winter/skiing vacation in Serre Chevalier valley in Hautes-Alpes before the school vacations started, and we were […]
We have had (again) a long anticyclonic period that has caused inversion: a low hanging thick layer of clouds blocks cold and humid air near the ground, whereas the air above the clouds is warm and dry. This is very common in this valley at this time of the year. […]
For more than a week now we have been living in the fog, or covered in the clouds hanging as low as 700 meters, or both — it is hard to tell the difference really. Most days the visibility has been barely one hundred meters. Just in last two days […]
Those who know wines, especially French wines, likely are familiar with the wine growing regions such as Bourgogne, Côtes-du-Rhône, or Loire valley, but may not know that grapes are grown and wine produced also here in the Alps in Savoie and Isère departments. The nearest vineyards are less than half […]
This was a very easy hike (10.6K in 3h, D+/D- 391m), with nice views. The wind was chilly, but it got quite warm when the sun came out. Usually we start vacations like this with easier hikes and then move on to more challenging ones. This time it was nice […]
The last but one hike (14.2K in 4h 55mins, D+/D- 695m) on this vacation took us to above and below the caves of Jaubernie. These fortified caves were used as a hiding place by people who were persecuted for their religious beliefs during the religious wars in the 17th and […]
From Aurillac to Pont-Saint-Esprit After we had already extended our stay in Aurilliac by two days, if was time to move on and start driving home — kind of. We had booked the first two nights in Pont-Saint-Esprit, a small town by the river Rhône in the department of Gard. […]
We wrap up the first vacation week with two scenic hikes; the first (10.6K in 3h 53mins, D+/D- 540m) from Col du Pertus (1309m) down to Mandailles (837m) in the valley of river Jordanne (the same river that flows through Aurillac), and back up, and the second (10.25K in 3h […]