Where's Mike?

Section three: The French Alps

Click here to see Section Two: Scandinavia to the Alps.

Wednesday August 3rd

Argentiere, France: So I am once again in the Alps and enjoying the magnificent views of the heavily glaciated Mt Blanc massif, albeit just the lower reaches, on account of the cloud layer and intermittent sprinkles.

This morning I broke camp and wandered around Heidelberg...one of the few cities in Germany spared the destruction of WWII. These old churches and buildings have not been renovated. They are original. Heidelberg is supposedly also the oldest university town in Germany, dating from the late 1300's. It is quite nice just to stroll around, if you don't mind a ton of tourists like me!

It was a beautifully clear and windy afternoon, as I began a fast drive to Switzerland, where I ran into rain again. Saw no one in the air as I drove past tons of flying sites. Wind and rain seem to be plaguing Europe well into the summer, but I don't mind. The occasional glances of high mountain peaks are enough to keep me happy.

With the weather as it was, I decided to just keep going until I got to Chamonix. May as well be in the heart of it all, I figured. I set up camp several clicks upstream of Chamonix. With all the cloud cover, it is at least fairly warm. The rain is turning to drizzle and I am off to get some sleep.

Thursday August 4th

Lac d'Annecy, France: I nearly froze to death last night here in Argentiere. Woke up this morning, around 10am, and found I was in the shade, very effective shade, of a huge maple tree. My God I am cold! I struggle to the light and, as I begin warming enough to see, I notice others sunning themselves. Everyone is in a daze...and moving slowly.

Shortly after I got up, the wind started blowing. Does not look like a good day for flying, but there are GORGEOUS views of Agui de Midi and Mt Blanc from my campsite. This is way different than the last time I was here in 1994 with friends. It was Spring, just as cold, but cloudy and windy...hmmm, I guess the only difference would be the clouds! Anyway, there is no way I am staying at that sloping, shaded campsite again, so I pack up and head down the valley to Chamonix, fight my way through the traffic, and keep heading toward Annecy. No pilots to be seen. Wind picking up even more. I took a short cut to Annecy, over the mountains, and through several small villages, that neatly avoided the tolls of the French highway system, but added a few mellow, and happy, hours to my trip. I didn't care. I stopped at an open-air market on the way and now have four types of cheeses and salamis stalking my cooler...in addition to a HUGE head of butter lettuce, vine ripened tomatoes, colorful sweet bell peppers, scallions, and more. Rich, my Scandinavian salad maker, would be proud. When I finally did arrive in Annecy, I stopped by a blown out LZ to watch a few people reverse inflate, get a forecast of strong wind tomorrow afternoon (better make it early if you want to fly), and then headed on to see Francois and talk to him about his Aerodyne paragliders. We BS'ed for too long, and I had a hard time finding space in a campsite so late. Finally did find a space at Le Verger Fleuri near Dossand at the South end of the lake and set up my camp.

I was starting up the grill for dinner, when a French couple showed up to make camp next to me. There was a lot of struggling with their three room, palatial, tent. Things were not going well. Some of the French he was using, even I could understand! :-) He was jamming poles into the dirt to try and set it up, instead of using the tag inserts on the tent. What could I say? I had never seen that tent before, don't speak the language, and it really is none of my business. However, after about 20 min of this, I could take it no longer, and, in my best  French excused myself asked if they understood English. A little. I asked if I could show him an alternate method of how the tags on the tent get inserted into the pole end...this was difficult to do now that the pole ends were thoroughly jammed with dirt. As I took out the awl on my Swiss army knife to start digging dirt, another neighbor, who was going through the same dilemma of, help, or not to help, came over as well. 15 minutes later, we had a HUGE tent, in perfect working order, and some relieved new campers.

Again, kids running around all over the place, and really enjoying the Supa Bounce. I did up a mixed grill of steak, sausage, and chicken...saving the left overs for lunch the next day. So far I have found that beef in Europe SUCKS. Go with Chicken, lamb, pork, sausage, or one of their marinated mystery meats, but skip the "steak". There is no way, that I have found so far, to obtain a nice rib steak, but if I do, I am going to buy a three centimeter one...bone in, lip on, and nicely marbled. Yum

Friday August 5th

Lac D'Annecy, France: What a spectacular day....After hearing yesterday afternoon's WX report of strong wind in the afternoon, I choose to show up for the first shuttle for free flyers. Ten in the morning. Breakfast was the last of Rich's Wheat Flakes from Norway, splashed with what milk I had left, some stale bread, and a double shot of Coke Light--Lemon. I know, it sounds too good to be true! :-)

Showed up at 09:30 and students were already in the air.

I ask the instructor that just arrived with a rig if he has room. Turns out he is fully loaded with students and tandems. OK, I wait for the next one, and place my gear by the loading spot. I am first in line. A short while later, another pilot looking for a ride joins me, and we ask the next shuttle driver if there is space. Perhaps there it, we just need to wait for a few minutes until he gets it loaded. While that is taking place another pilot, Jan from the Czech Republic, shows up and joins the queue. Sorry, no room in this shuttle either. Drat.

Everyone got the same forecast of strong N wind for the afternoon, and wanted to get an early flight in at Col de la Forclaz, verses the other launch areas. This was creating a larger morning crowd than is the norm.

As the 2nd shuttle was driving away, the first pilot to join me, Alberto from Portugal, threatens to drive up on his own. He then makes good on the threat. I ask if I can snag a ride, and pitch in for gas. Of course I can get a ride, but he wont let me pay anything because that is not the way they do it in Portugal.

He then asks Jan if he too wants a lift. Of course he does, and, as we are driving out of the parking lot I notice another pilot getting his gear together and suggest we take him as well. We all try to chip in one more time, but Alberto will have nothing to do with that.

The SUV is a babble of English, German, Spanish, French, and, Czech. Alberto, who speaks Portuguese, Spanish, French, and English, did most of the translating and barely uttered any of his native tongue. Lots of sign language, and grunts, as we try to get our points across, and we are all chuckling about a Portuguese, American, Czech, and German pilot, who met minutes ago, driving the back roads in France to get to, what can only be characterized as, an international launch. We stop half way up the road and pick up a French pilot who was walking to launch. It was just a great feeling, that I am unable to describe, but we all had huge grins on our faces. Dominique joined the laughter when he found out where we were all from.

The five of us hiked the last 15 min from where private cars must stop, although the commercial guys can go the last 150 vertical meters, and then we para-waited for a while to check out the conditions. The wind was light, and slightly from the right.

Dominique launched first, followed quickly by Alberto, for a sledder. I wanted to blast off, with the plan of coming back up for another, when Jan took my arm and, in Czech, explained that I should wait for another hour for the sun to get higher and hit the face of this west facing launch. He gave me quite a lesson on micro-meteorology, one that I have never heard in Czech before. I had to smile. We waited for another 90 min or so, with Jan explaining that there is a nice two hour hike to a higher launch (that he pointed out, and Denton and I saw people using in 2004), and saying we should go hike it in the morning. He also gave me great directions to the east-facing site, Denton and I were unable to find last year, on the other side of the valley.

In time, a few people started maintaining, and that was my sign to get out there...besides that, I was hungry by one in the afternoon, after a less than satisfying breakfast. I totally prepped off to the side, and waited for a clearing on launch. As it would happen, that up cycle was short-lived and most pilots where heading toward the LZ. The launch was wide open, it is huge, and only one pilot was in the air. He was scratching, so I was not enthused about going out and screwing up his deal...and quite possibly making us both sink out. Eventually, he did loose it, but I was all dressed up, and knew where I was going to go. LUNCH! I took a perfect cycle of about 6mph straight in, was inflated, turned (the first reverse of the day) and moving toward the edge in no time at all. A pass off to the right brought me about 20 feet above launch...the highest of the day. Another pass and I am 30 feet over. After about ten minutes of bouncing between 50 down, and 30 up, another pilot decides to join me. Darn it bud, there is barely enough room in this thermal for one, let alone two. He kicks me out of the small thermal I was working, so I go over to the left of launch where I am now a few hundred feet below launch level. This yellow glider with winglets comes over and tries to knock me out of this thermal as well, but this time he is a bit lower, so I fly over him with 20 feet to spare. I head out a bit and manage to catch an OK thermal, that is a bit broken up from the wind, and early start to the day. It does get me a few hundred feet over launch, but still, no other pilots come out to join me. They are still waiting for the good stuff. Another 30 minutes of bouncing around launch, and I decide to head out for lunch. An hour flight, after not getting much of anything in the past month, sure was satisfying.

I landed in the strong north wind, that was forecast, and was happy with my second European flight of 2005. A few other pilots were airborne by now, but I head the few clicks to my camp for lunch of salami, cheese, Baggett, tomato, grapes, and some cool water to wash it all down.

I had forgotten just how good a French Baggett can taste. They are cheap, filling, and incredibly tasty, either on their own, or dressed with butter, cheese, mustards, meat, or veggies of any kind. Fresh unsalted  butter is my favorite! The one other thing to note on French breads is that they barely last until you can get them home from the bakery. They go stale FAST. You can get a great lunch from one, a quite tolerable dinner with what is left, you may be able to deal with it the next morning, before your taste buds are awake, but not even the strongest jaw, or stomach, can handle French bread beyond that. Quite a different shelf life from bread in other parts of Europe, and the World, for that matter. Quite a different satisfaction level, when fresh, as well.

After lunch I went to explore the East facing launch site Jan gave me directions to, found it with ease, hiked out to a windy bluff, and then took an afternoon swim.

Back to the campground for another BBQ and a great chat with the French couple (you may be able to barely make them out, having dinner, in this view of the mountains from my campsite) I had helped with the tent the night before. We talked of various things but they seemed most interested in how many times I have visited France...in addition to what I liked and did not like about it. This is my fourth time ('94, 2000, '04, and '05), I love it, really enjoy the Alps, but the Pyrenees may be my favorite. They live in Nimes in Provence, are on a camping vacation here for a few days, and then off to see his grandmother in the north mountain range of of France. I mentioned I visited Aix last summer with Denton, Jessica, Joyce, and Meg...and we all agreed it is a beautiful area. They told me of a serious firework display and celebration called Fete du lac (Celebration of the Lake) in Annecy tomorrow night. I may have to check that out.

Some fireworks are starting early, from the sounds of it. Kids are playing, parents are barbequing, most are enjoying a cool glass of Rose...

Monday August 8th

Lac D'Annecy, France: Saturday  (Aug 6th) was another incredible day of flying for me. I had a better breakfast, in addition to packing a bit of fruit in my glider bag, so was able to be much more patient than the day before. I watched as people started bouncing around above launch, and finally decide to launch around 2pm. The clouds are starting to pop, some are even getting a touch too dark on the bottom, and pilots are now several hundred feet above launch.

A nice reverse inflation, on a nearly empty launch area, and I head to the right (north) for a few passes through the house thermal. The edges were fairly smooth, but the lift was still strong, and, not having had much flying in the recent past, am being fairly conservative on my XiX Form 3. After about 20 min, or so, I am near the top of the stack, but still having to fight the crowds and really watch out for other pilots. I decide I have had enough, so head down wind to the south, with a plan of landing. On the way, I bump into a sharp edged thermal that almost knocked me out of my boots. I wasn't thrilled about seeing the other side of it, so decide a few turns are in order. No other pilots around, as I climb 2400 feet to cloudbase. Things are getting a bit rough, but I am feeling way better with all this altitude and non-existent traffic. There are about 50 pilots a couple thousand feet below me and there are about a half a dozen approaching my altitude, but widely spaced. I head NNE to a nice rock face and see a bunch of pilots working their way up on the NW facing slope. They may have come from my launch at Forclaz, or the other one above Tallories, but it doesn't matter. Lots of lift gave us all lots of space. As I pass farther north over, and beyond, the other launch, I am on speed bar, and occasionally big ears, as the haze from cloud base, which ranged from about 2200 to 2600 over launch, periodically thickens around me. There are three plus other pilots about my same level within a click. One in front and two behind. Despite the head wind, we are all really moving fast toward Annecy.

I had heard about the classic XC flight around the lake, but as the clouds thinned over town, my lead guy sank out to a landing near the lake, and the ones that had been behind me had long ago made a turn to the East for the back rock range with cloud-hidden tops. Since I don't really know where the next house thermal is, I am starting to loose altitude, and none of the locals are this far north, I make a turn to the SE, about a mile shy of Annecy, to go join the group on the back range. On my way, I manage to climb back to cloud base, and pass one HG and one PG on their way to where I just was. The hang pilot was several hundred feet below, and our relative speed was massive. The PG was about 100 feet above me, convincing me that I was keeping a safe enough distance from the clouds. At least then.

As I worked east to the shrouded rock face, things became quite bumpy from the lower ridges up-wind. Unfortunately, I could not really climb out of it on account of the low cloud base. A couple of rough passes, a bit of a foggy situation, and I headed west, back to Forclaz, through some incredible sink. I was not even sure I would make it, and was considering a landing back at a local ski area, but wound up catching a bit of lift, and easily making it around to the face, climbed out again, headed west and crossed the lake to the East launch, crossed the lake, again, back to the hang launch at Forclaz-proper, and then, exhausted, headed out to burn up a couple thousand feet of altitude. Dizzy from the spirals, hands numb from the cold, body sweaty from the shell at low levels, and tired from three hours & six minutes in a rowdy harness, I packed up and headed for the showers.

I was satiated for the day, and considering just barbequing and going to bed, but, all the talk of the Fete du lac had me heading into town. I caught a bus from near the campground and did the 20 clicks in no-time. Had dinner away from the lake, to avoid the crowds, and wound up running into Heinz, Stephanie, and Crystal, two Germans traveling together, and a Brit, on holidays. After dinner and drinks we headed over to get tickets for the show, and enjoyed the most amazing two hour fire works display I have ever seen. The choir and orchestra that built up to the fall of darkness, were not really my taste, but the fireworks display, synchronized to various tunes, old & new, was spectacular, and must have been incredibly expensive. They had eight to 12 moored/anchored barges in the lake to create the show with curtains of fire, high and low, a variety of levels of roman candles, reverberating to the music, big stars, little stars, double shots, weeping willows, crackling willows, sparklers, and everything else you can imagine...and in every color. It was great and lasted till after midnight.

I said my goodbyes to the people I met and began walking to the edge of town to catch a bus home. A few clicks later, the traffic and people had thinned out a bit, so I checked at a bus stop to see when the next one would be coming along. The last one was at 23:30. Damn. I missed it by an hour. Another hour of walking and it just starts to drizzle, but luckily I get a ride by a nice mademoiselle living in Dossard, where I am camping. I was exhausted.

Lac D'Annecy, France: Sun morning (Aug 7th) the clouds were fairly thick when I woke up around eleven am. Looks as if it rained last night, but, after a long flight, a long walk, and a late night, I was dead to the world, and did not notice it. Greg, one half of the French couple, came over to say hello, and goodbye. They had initially planned on staying another night, but with the clouds they decided to head out early, and had just broken down their camp. That was too bad, since yesterday I spoke with the launch regulator about me doing non-commercial tandem flights with my friends, and he said it was no problem. Greg and Nelly did not ask about a flight, but I knew they were very interested in doing one. I mentioned this to Greg and, after some consultation with Nelly, they decided to take me up on my offer (if I thought it would be flyable) and make the drive to grandma's house afterward.

Great, they could finish packing, while I finished my brunch, scrapped the fangs, and did some dishes.

We took both cars to the LZ, shuffled my tandem gear into their car, and their camping gear into my car, Greg drove up to the end of the road, and all walked the last 15 min to the launch. There were thick clouds, the wind was light, and very cross. With these conditions, I decide to take Nelly first. Plus she is a bit more nervous about the flight, and going second typically increases the angst. I gave her a quick briefing, clipped us both in, counted to three in French, and we were off. With only a 48Kg payload, we managed to slowly get above launch for a couple of passes, and I then turned the controls over to Nelly for a while. She did great, and our communication (my French, her English) really improved when we needed it to. To make it interesting, we did a few mild spirals, wing overs, and some surging, all accompanied by screams of terror and/or delight, toward the end of our 20 minutes.

Greg was next, same plan, but with Nelly as the driver. The flight was shorter, only about 15 minutes, but we really cranked in on the spiral dives, etc., since he was keen on it, and is in the French Air Force as an air traffic controller. When we landed, it was way too late for them to still make Grandma's house before she went to bed, so I suggested another flight for Greg. He was absolutely up for it, but first had to eat something.

There is a little snack stand on the edge of the LZ selling various drinks, sandwiches, salads, and your typical junk food as well. I had a big brunch, so all I wanted was a salad, but Greg was buying, and was really pushing for me to try a French hamburger. They did look pretty darn good, so while I packed the gear in for another round, Greg got some food. Turns out they were out of bread, so I got my salad anyway. It was very good...tuna, egg, corn, fresh tomatoes, etc. The best salad I have ever seen come out of a shack that small.

On our second round the conditions were better, and we managed to get a few hundred feet over launch, and above several other pilots out trying to make the best of a marginal day. Greg snapped a bunch of photos, got to fly the glider a bit more, and, once we lost the lift, we headed out over the lake for some REALLY tight spirals and such. Greg loved the G-force and took it all with a smile.

After that last flight, Greg mentioned we was too tired to hike back up the hill again...I was still beat from last night and the day before...and besides, it was getting late. We headed back to the campground and they find that their spot had not been taken. While I hit the showers (one of the few campgrounds I have stayed at where you are not charged extra for hot water), they set up their tent, without help, in record time! :-) It helps to have done it once before. They then insist on taking me out for dinner as a thanks for the tandem flights so we go find this great place on the lake and enjoy a spectacular lakeside evening.

As we pondered the menu, Greg ordered us all a  Martini. A Martini you get in Europe is not a normal gin (yuck) or vodka (yum) martini you would get in the States. A Martini here is simply Martini (the stuff you would mist your martini glass with in the US) on ice. A bit sweet, sort of refreshing, and something one may try again. Martini and Rossi, on the rocks...say yes.

Anyway, after pondering the menu for a while I asked Greg and Nelly to just pick me out some good local dish. Anything, as long as it had a bit of salad with it. We wound up with a tartiflette for three, which also came with a small salad of red lettuce dressed with vinegar. A tartiflette, is an incredible amount of cheese (not too stinky), mixed with a few small chunks of potato and grilled lardons...sort of a cross between ham and bacon...all baked in a thick earthenware dish about three inches deep, and ten inches in diameter. It is a very heavy dish, typically eaten in the winter while it is cold out, and there was no way I was going to eat my fair share. Greg tried his best to cover for me, but in the end, we wound up leaving a bit as we headed back to camp. Exhausted again.

Lac D'Anncey, France: During dinner the night before, we had talked about getting Nelly another Tandem flight today (Mon Aug 8th), so we were up a bit earlier and head out directly from the campsite to launch. We lazily set up, as again conditions are light.  Finally we launch into about an eight mile per hour cycle once we see some of the commercial tandems almost maintaining. Make the normal right hand turn and find nothing. Head back to the south, staying on top of the ridge, and start to get a few bumps right over the saddle where we park the car. Climbed out several hundred feet, and well above the other pilots out there. A bunch of other lemmings jump into the air, and we now have a gaggle of about a dozen pilots, with us on top of the stack! It sure helped to have a light passenger, and our speed was just fine for these light conditions. When I topped out at about 600 feet over launch, I decided to go exploring. Not really enough altitude to head to the back ridge, but I try it anyway. Actually made it, but now am in nothing but sink and have to sneak out the gully to the north of launch in order to escape, eek my way around, and below, launch, to get back to our original parking lot thermal. It was great seeing all the same gliders there, as we climbed through to the top of the stack, again! :-) Finally headed out over the lake and wilderness preserve for some MUCH more energetic maneuvers than Nelly had last time. Again she loved them, and the 46 minute morning flight.

After that, they really did need to go to grandma's house, and I really needed to grab some lunch, take a swim, and relax for the rest of the day!

Oh, one of my foodie friends asked if I was starving, and how the cooking gear (and the assorted utensils, stoves, etc.) was all working out for me. Definitely not starving. After last night's massive tartiflette, one of my few dinners out so far, I thought I would never eat again. However, by dinner tonight, I was in the mood for another grill. Here is a shot (service for one) of some bow-tie pasta, a bit of baguette, two types of grilled sausages, a salad, and a nice huckleberry (Not exactly NW huckleberries, but the closest I have seen) tart purchased from the bakery. The tart, at ~1.7 euro was the most expensive part of the meal, being less than a half bottle of 2003 Bordeaux I picked up for ~2.5 euro. Food & wine in France are incredibly cheap, and I think I could spend some serious time here, for a small amount of money, it it were not for the road tolls and high gas prices.

No, I am not starving, and all the cooking gear I brought is working out very well. The TopShelf table I got at REI is my most amazing piece of gear. Folds small, is stable, strong, heat/stain resistant, and has been invaluable to me everyday. When I pull into a new camp, that is the first thing I set up! Other than the table....the BluGaz stove works/simmers well, but fuel is expensive and it takes a lot of it. My MSR Whisperlite is GREAT. Very efficient, boils FAST, and, with the heat diffuser I brought along, simmers as well as the Gaz stove. Of course the BluGaz is less hassle to operate. My two, two piece, Lexan, wine/water/soda/drink glasses are also great. After I finished dinner tonight, another neighbor (can't remember his name, but he, and his wife, were always very friendly) dropped in, and we finished up the last half of the '03 Bordeaux. It was nice to have an extra glass for a visitor. I probably could/should have left the Riedel at home...where ever that is.

Tuesday August 9th

Lac D'Annecy, France: After so much fun and adventure the past few days, I was off to a lazy start. It was a cloudless, high pressure, day so I was not expecting any spectacular, or smooth, flying. I headed over to Aerodyne and Francois tries to arrange a test flight of their DHV 1-2 glider. Unfortunately the shop is all out, so I grab the Dune instead. The Dune is supposedly a DHV 2 glider, but there is no record of certification on the DHV web site. Perhaps on account of the new certification body about to be born, or perhaps for other reasons?

The day was VERY sporty, as was the Dune. High pressure bullets that were difficult to get, and stay, in were the norm. I took my first full frontal deflation I have had since I can't remember when. I decided to bail on this crap and head over the lake to check out the glider in smoother conditions. Again, very dynamic glider, great for acro, fast, faster yet on entering a spiral, and it also had an interesting speed system that initially engaged the B and C risers, more than I have ever seen before, prior to pulling the A risers. Great quality, made in their own factory on some island off the coast of Africa (Indian Ocean side). I never had the chance to release the controls during flight for a pic, but did get one shot of it laid out on launch.

After about an hour of rough airtime and a really good French hamburger from the LZ Kiosk, I decided to take the rest of the afternoon off. I drive into Annecy, pick up a hitchhiker near where I got a ride a few nights earlier, get slowed down in horrific traffic, but, since my passenger speaks great English, she keeps a running commentary going. Once I drop her off, I continue around the lake to Tallories, where I return the borrowed glider, and finish up my loop drive of the lake. It is very crowded here in August, but also very beautiful. A must see/do for anyone with the traveling bug.

Wednesday August 10th

Chamonix, France: Last night was a bit different around camp...they had deflated the Supa Bounce and the campground owner was running a drinking version of Name that Tune. He would put on a song (there was an incredible mixture of polkas, French tunes, pop, country, classical, and more) until a hand, or quite often, several, in the crowd would shoot up. Off goes the music and, if the person named the tune correctly, they got a drink of some sort of red punch. There were two versions of said red, and winners that looked like they were still in their early teens, got one of them, while everyone else seemed quite happy with the other. Good fun! And what a way to encourage happy campers to mingle with each other. Again, definitely different than camping on North America.

So, this morning decide it is time to move on. It looks like an ok flying day, and there are already a few pilots up, but I have a lot to see before my time runs out. I packed up, paid my 108 euro for my six nights at Le Verger Fleuri, and start to wander back toward Chamonix.

I stopped along the way for a mid afternoon lunch and some nice views of Mt Blanc & the surrounding area. The weather is looking pretty great right now, other than the strongish wind, but there are some high cirrus clouds moving in, and a bit of wind blown snow & ice coming off the peaks. Maybe something will be blowing through in the next day or two? Having not seen TV or a newspaper for the past two months I really have no idea what is going on with the weather, or the world, for that matter.

I continue my drive into the valley of Chamonix-Mt Blanc, but this time I chose a campground just two to three clicks up stream of Chamonix, to facilitate an easy walk into town. I set up camp in the overflow section, the yard behind reception, next to a yellow North Face tent. Looks like a great two-man, four-season, mountaineering tent, and the only other US designed tent I have seen on my trip so far. The campground host said that this guy did not have a car, so I can squeeze mine in front of both our tents in order to leave room for the other five tents & cars crowded into the back yard. I take a walk into town.

On my walk in, I see a couple of hang pilots parked at the designated HG LZ. We chat a bit in a mixture of English and Spanish, they give me a map to all the sites, and I continue my trip until I touch base with a PG school. At the PG LZ (Bois Du Bouchet) I chat with a couple of Brits taking a week long course. Their instructor is also very friendly, and he says it should be great weather for flying tomorrow. He plans on catching the first gondola at 08:00, and I plan on joining them.

Sunday August 14th

Argenteire, France: As luck would have it, it rained all night long the night of the 10th...and well into the morning of Thursday the 11th. So much for an accurate WX report. I got up around 07:30, in order to be ready for a big day of flying, took a shot of my soggy camp, and crawled back into bed. By late morning the rain had turned into a drizzle, and, since I was REALLY wanting to get a flight in Chamonix, decided to drive to the LZ for a look. Once there, I found a few wet commercial tandems and student pilots in the process of landing, recognized the Brits from the day before, and we start talking. Yep, it was too rainy for the early morning flight, but they got this one, and hope to do another now. The drizzle was thick. You could almost call it rain, but the colorful swath of a glider in front of the glacial ice made me want to be there. Be them. They were going up for another one, the school had room to shuttle me to the gondola, and welcomed me along. Nine euros for a trip up the gondola in the rain. After not flying for a whole day, and just for the cloud-textured views, it seemed pretty reasonable.

At the top of the Gondola we head for the Plan Praz launch area, a couple hundred feet higher, and a ten minute walk, from the top station. It is sprinkling, but I want to fly. We get to a large launch area, and I waste no time getting my gear on. I lay out high and to the far right side, so I will be able to sneak past some of the students if they take their time for any reason. Conditions are marginal, at best, but I don't plan on a gondola ride down. The sprinkles stop for a moment, the sun breaks through, and then the clouds win out again.

First off is a tandem , then Danny, one of the Brits, and then it is my turn. All of them were no winders, but with conditions as they are, that was fine with everyone. The launch run at this altitude (2000 meters) was significantly longer, so, even though the inflation was good, I use up almost half of the runway prior to getting airborne.

The air was butter smooth...not a single peep from my vario. There were a few low, thin, clouds hugging the hillsides, and I made a pass through one or two of them prior to heading out over the valley for a few photos and a landing approach. Part way through my flight, the rain started in earnest, but it stopped again by the time I landed. I will have to fly again soon in order to dry it out. After three times to Chamonix, '94 and twice in '05, I finally find the right (?) weather to get a flight.

I land and am just finishing packing when the rain turns into sheets of rain. The instructor calls the day, of course, and forecasts much better weather for tomorrow. Hmmmm....this is the same guy that forecasted great things for today, right? :-)

After a quick trip to Primo (the local grocery store) for both dead animals for the grill, in hopes the rain will stop, and also some fixin's for pasta, if it continues to pour like this, and I am off to camp where the weather is looking more promising.

I head back to camp and find my next door neighbor, Craig from Australia hanging out in a spot of sun. He had done a solo climb up the Mt Blanc tourist route the past 1.5 days and had been in his tent sleeping from yesterday afternoon, when I arrived, till late this morning, when I took off for flying. When I got back from the showers, the rain had forced Craig, and three German bikers staying in a two-man tent, to take refuge under the eves of reception. I joined them all for a some conversation and a glass of good German Riesling. The bikers are here on holidays for mountain biking at the ski areas. Just some good, fun, fast downhill entertainment, and then they catch another gondola to the top. Craig, was here for climbing and really enjoyed getting up Mt Blanc. Mt Blanc is a classic, but the route he took was sort of like the DC (Disappointment Cleaver) route on Rainier, from his description. A slog up a trail with a bunch of rope-a-dopes. That being the case, Craig could leave his ropes & tent at home and do it as a fast solo. Lots of people to pull him out if he did happen to fall into a crevasse.

An interesting side note is that the record up and back, from Chamonix, NOT the typical high start from some gondola, was set by a guy in his 50's. It is less than five hours! Took Craig 1.5 days from a high start. Would probably take me a full two days from the high start. Two young climbers in their 20's tried to beat the record by climbing up fast, and skiing down faster, but were long by several minutes!

The skies started to clear just as it was getting dark, so we spent the rest of the evening bull shitting about climbing, flying, biking, travel, gear, mobile refrigerators, toys, life, and other cool stuff. Barbeques, camp stoves, and cork screws working overtime into the wee hours.

Argentiere, France: Another very nice day (Friday the 12th of Aug) to wake up to in Chamonix. Fresh snow on the mountains, crisp blue sky, and just chilly enough to get the blood flowing...I think it will be very hot today, and decide to dedicate the day to getting a bit of exercise and flying.

I pack up my gear, toss it on my back, and walk the three clicks into town. When I get to the LZ, everyone is talking about some sort of problem with the gondola. It was closed, but now we can see it is operating. The school decides to drive to another site to ensure flying, but since I did not bring my car, could not follow them. I walk another 20 minutes over, and up, to the gondola that is obviously running just to find out they were only downloading those on top. There is something wrong, and it will be closed for the rest of the day. Damn! I look up and see ten gliders, lucky enough to have made the trip prior to closure, soaring above the the peaks, and start a 45 minute hike back to camp.

The day is still fairly young, but the afternoon valley wind is starting to pick up. I look up and see someone flying off Aiguille des Grands Montets to the east of Chamonix and my camp site, a 2100 meter vertical flight from a glacial launch at 3100 meters above sea level. Craig and I jump in my car to go check it out, but by the time we get up to the gondola in Argentiere, the wind has really increased, and, if for any reason I could not do the flight, I would miss the last cable car back down.

Sheesh, a great flying day spent messing around and accomplishing little. Such is recon.

On our way back down to Chamonix, I let Craig know about an invitation I got to a wine tasting. He is up for it as well, so we walk into town and meet up with Danny and John (the two Brit student pilots who invited me) at a British Pub. There are about 15 in our group, and we all have a great time till it gets dark and we get hungry. Some Brit woman (Marel? Murial?) suggests a BBQ place and leads most of us there on her bike. It was ten euro for a mixed grill, in addition to all the green, and potato, salad you could manage. Another British pub afterward, for Craig, Danny, John, and I, where we meet up with a half dozen Kiwi women, then some of us take off for a Canadian Brew pub on the other side of town. I am happy with this since it is closer to home.

Craig and I wind up walking/jogging/running the two to three clicks home in the dark. No headlamps, back roads & trails, no jacket for me, and at God only know what hour....

Argentiere, France: Ok, so I could not find my wallet the morning of Saturday August 13th. Hmmm. Lost? Stolen? I tore apart the tent and my car searching. Nothing. Could have been a pickpocket...as they are common in tourist locations, or I may have just lost it somehow? That seems less likely since it was always kept in my fanny pack. Oh well, I pack up, give Craig a ride into town, check at the grocery store, the last place I can remember having it out, and then go to the police station. They are normally closed from 12:00 to 14:30 for lunch... but today they wont open at all in the afternoon, since Monday is a holiday. Nice. The police station is closed from Sat at 12:00 until Tuesday at 09:00. I considered robbing a bank or stealing a car, since I have a couple cop-free days, but wisely resisted. I decide instead to head up to Argentiere where there is a nice WiFi location I had used in the past. Free WiFi for the asking...I got lunch there a few days ago, and typed till my battery died...about 75 minutes at the max. I can make phone calls from my computer there.

On the way out of town I see a police woman on the streets, stop and ask her about Lost and Found, and/or reporting my wallet (cash, ATM, Visa, License) missing, and she directs me to the Gendarmerie that WILL be open today. Lucky I chose to skip the life of crime. I go there, hit their intercom, and someone tells me to come back at 15:00. Lunch time, ya know! I waited around till three to find that they would not take a report because I was not sure it was stolen. Fine, can you just tell me if something was turned in? Yes, of course. No. Ya really have to love the French lifestyle...no sense working too hard! :-)

I hit the WiFi location in Argentiere, make some calls to Visa, they said they can have me cash and a temporary card in two to four hours! Now THAT'S service! It would have been even better, had it been true. I inventoried my cash and saw I had about 50 euro left. Enough for a campsite, and a bit of gas to get me someplace. Happy that Craig gave me his bag of pasta before he jumped on his train to London.

I go to the Argentiere campground I said I would never go to again...the sloping, shaded, freezing one! They are full, and I am very late. I explain to them that I lost my wallet, and that Visa was going to call here for replacement info by 23:00. Ok, they can squeeze me in for one night. My site is nice, level, and in the open so as to catch the morning sun...I got to sleep by 24:00, after getting no calls.

Argentiere, France: Early this morning, Sunday, I head back to the WiFi zone after still not getting contact from Visa. By 10:00 I finally get someone on the phone (after hours and days of being transferred) who assures me they can solve the problem, and will call me at the campsite by noon with an address to where I can go pick up the money. I spend the morning typing up the past few days adventure, but it is now 14:30, starting to rain, and I still have not gotten a call. Off to the WiFi zone to see what Chase Visa is doing.

More to come????

Click here to see Section Four: The Swiss Alps