Passed this giant Sequoia on the walk into town. Don’t see one of them every day
It’s almost 9am as I walk outside the campsite. There is an old couple sat at the bus stop right next to the entrance. I recognised them as resident here. “Do you know where I can buy bread?” I asked. I picked out the words “.... ville.... cinque minuit....”. Hmmm.. I was hoping there would be somewhere closer. Maybe a shop on site somewhere. Anyway I start walking. About 30 seconds later the old couple start shouting at me and pointing excitedly. They appear to be pointing to a van coming my way... beeping its horn all the time!! The bread lorry!!! Of course! As it went past I clearly picked out the caricature of a baguette and the word “pain” (that’s French for bread).
I chased it back into the campsite I had just come from. It drove around slowly beeping its horn all the way. ‘A bit rich’ I thought for a campsite full of people on holiday at 9 in the morning, but let’s face it, it’s either that or break your teeth on the old bit of concrete left over from yesterday... it is indeed a serious business.
Quatre vingt
The other side of the lorry, hidden from me until now is an open counter displaying all sorts of fresh bread. I took my French rustic baguette ‘du campagne’ and asked how much. “Quatre vingt deux” he says. Bimey! I picked out the ‘quatre’ bit... ‘4 euros and something...?’ thats 4 times the price it is normally. I guess thats the price you pay to have it delivered to your doorstep. I had 3 euro something and a twenty. I gave him the twenty. “Ooo la la” he says and looks at me a bit odd. Now this always gets me... the baguette is 82 cents! To say 82 in French you say “four twentys and two”. To say 92 you say “four twentys and twelve”. Isn’t this a bit like shillings and sixpence??
My proposal
In the interests of brevity I’d like to make a suggestion to the French people. Since you say ‘huit’ (pronounced ‘weet’) for 8, why don’t we simply make 80; huit-y (pronounced ‘weety’). Then 90 will be ‘nuefy’ and 92 will be ‘nuefy deux’. Simple!
The telecabin drops you off here
This morning I did some work, and as usual by midday there is no shade anywhere for at least two hours. So I decided to get the cable car up to the top of the mountain for a walk. The cable car costs 8 euros for a single return journey from the centre of town and takes about 20 minutes to get you to the top. From there you have a short walk to the other side of the mountain where it drops steeply into the next valley. The mountain rising from the other side is the really high 3500m one with the snow caps, and you can see it in its entirety, from its base where the road is and where there are tiny little dots for houses. Up to where the trees stop and then a little higher where the snow starts. These are the biggest mountains I’ve seen on this trip and they’re right there in front of me. The slope on my side starts between my bum which is on the flat bit and my feet which are on the slope. If I fell forward I probably wouldn’t stop rolling for an hour or so until I was at the bottom.
It’s much cooler up here. About fridge temperature; between 5 and 7 degrees. The sun is hot and is burning my skin but the wind is cold and any bits sheltered from the sun feel the cold. I sat there for about 3 quarters of an hour watching the large mountain birds rise on the thermals. I’m trying to figure out how large they are. Wingspan much longer than a man for sure. I’ve seen Condors doing this in the Colca canyon in Peru. I don’t know if these birds are Condors or Eagles or something else but in no time they have risen from 500m below me to 500m above me. What a life!!
Here I’ve zoomed into the valley of the previous picture. To give you an idea of scale, you can just about make out the road and some buildings right down the bottom
Eventually I pulled myself away from the view and went back down, passing 3 gliders on the way (we don’t do it as well as the birds). Later that evening I managed to get some more work done.
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