Mom here!

And she got a big Zoe welcome at the airport

Fair!

I managed to pick up some kind of stomach illness today, so I missed out on the fair. Chloe met Simon, Vanessa and the girls in St. Egreve, and a few hours later a very excited Zoe came running up the stairs with a green bag. After surmounting the final step of the staircase, I realized that she was beyond the normal states of Zoe excitement, and in the hyperexcited mode which only key words are expressed. In this case: "FISH!" "MY CAUGHT IT!" "DINNER" and "DESSERT"! It soon came out that there was also a donkey ride. I was of course, very jealous.







(photos by Simon and Vanessa)
Here is Zoe at home, right before the gutting and cooking of the fish. Zoe asked why the fish wasn't bouging (moving) anymore, but was perfectly happy to eat it. It was not the best fish I have eaten, and even Zoe soon gave up in favor of the excellent Salmon from the fish guy at the Fontanil market.

Chloe's race, energy bars

Chloe ran a ~half marathon with 1100 vertical meters of elevation gain today. Woo!

I was at home, getting tortured by the kids and decided to try to make energy bars again. I did this a few weeks ago from a recipe in Outside magazine, and they turned out pretty well. Full of energy bar hubris, I decided to try to make my own recipe. I wanted to achieve the following characteristics:

1)A good mix of high and low glycemic index components
2)Not too sticky or flaky: suitable for a cycling jersey pocket
3)Reasonable shelf life, or the ability to freeze the bars
4)Not be totally disgusting

High GI components are easy:
brown sugar
maple syrup (Actually, GI of only 55)
Lavender honey

Low GI components:
A big scoop of peanut butter (GI 23)
Dried apple
Dried Banana
Rolled oats (GI 50)

The bar relies heavily on the low GI rolled oats and high GI brown sugar, which are the major ingredients. I just added things to taste for the first try, but if anyone is interested I could weight out portions next time.

I mixed all the dry components in a bowl, with a little salt and cinnamon to taste, then heated up the brown sugar, honey and maple syrup until they formed a uniform syrup, then added the peanut butter. I then poured this mixture onto the dry mix, stirred, and put it all into a baking pan that I had lined with wax paper and dusted with more rolled oats. Next came more rolled oats to dust (the idea of the dusting is to make the outside faces of the bar less sticky and thus more easily stored in a jersey pocket without creating a giant mess) and a second piece of wax paper. Then I pressed it into as dense of a sheet as I could, let it cool and cut it into bars. They taste pretty good. We'll see about longevity, ease of handling etc.

Rain

I was planning on doing the Col du Coq today, but was feeling bad along the entire flat ride to the base, and then quickly ran out of gas on the climb. I've been feeling run down lately, and also made the mistake of taking an antihistamine, which I think conspired to put me into a perfect storm of weakness. About a third of the way up, I realized that it probably wasn't going to happen. And speaking of storms, I saw some menacing looking clouds off on the horizon. The clouds soon turned very dark indeed, and I found myself in the by now familiar situation of getting water kicked up in my face and getting compleyely soaked. It isn't really that big of a deal when you are on the valley floor, where it is warm and not very much braking is required. Still, it got a little miserable toward the end

Granier

A wonderful ride through the region around Granier, including three cols.

Corbel

I went for a wonderful ride with a co-worker to the col de Granier from St. Laurent du Pont this morning. It was some of the most beautiful scenery I had seen in the Chartreuse, so after returning, Chloe and I gathered up the rug rats and drove out there. Along the way, we stopped at a fromagerie to buy cheese and confiture


and met Simon, Vanessa and the girls at what for me was one of the highlights of the ride: Corbel. Corbel is a tiny mountain down perched above (another) breathtaking Chartreuse valley. It doesn't have much, but if does have a Café with unbeatable views.


Here is a panorama of Corbel:

And some photos

In town for ice cream

We also took a walk along the antiques street

Ride

I forgot to mention that I also got the dreaded gastro on friday night, although to a much lesser extent than Chloe (We're pretty sure it's the same thing that caused Alex to projectile vomit in the Tarn, and it is working its way through the family). As a result, I've been quite tired for the last couple of days! Both chloe and I have been on a diet of white bread and coke, as it's all we can seem to keep down -- woo! Actually, we had never bought a "normal" loaf of bread from the boulangerie, because we just assumed that it would be like US supermarket bread. It was a very pleasant surprise to discover that the pain de mie is actually excellent, with a dense moist crumb. It's a nice change from the baguettes in any case (never thought I would say that! We are a little spoiled, I think). In any case, after lunch I felt mildly OK, and I really, really wanted to get on my bike, so I set out for Proveysieux. I set my target power a little too high and was burning out around 80% of the way up. It wasn't terribly slow, but I really suffered; it was probably the worst I have ever felt on it, AND I had forgotten my water bottle.

Zoe's first real haircut

Zoe had her first real haircut today (not just the bangs). She was very proud to be having it cut, and was incredibly well behaved. Our little girl!




Chloe had some pretty nasty food poisoning which has not completely left her system today. I brought the kids to a BBQ,

at a co-worker's place up at col de la Placette to give CZ a little time to recuperate. We were supposed to have friends over for dinner, but the gastro took hold again, and we had to cancel. Oof.

The road home, climbing

Chloe and Vanessa went for a morning session at Shadocks while Simon and I herded kids and packed up. After tractoring the stuff to the skip

it was time for goodbyes to Hauterives, and more importantly: Lunch! We all drove to Sainte Enimie, where we had a nice meal at La Tendelle.

The only issue with this place is to not go there if you are in a hurry, as it is rather slow. In fact, we all had to take the kids for little walks outside to keep them happy. Happily, Saint Enimie is a beautiful town!

Next came the drive home. When we were living in the states, a four and a half hour drive was no big thing, but I have gotten soft and spoiled and it now seems kind of painful. It's a bit more demanding to drive on winding roads with lots of intersections, rather than I-5 through the central valley, but still. We arrived home, fed the kids and collapsed.

Hauterives, climbing

We took turns climbing and taking care of children today. The crags were mobbed, but we found a nice sector that we had not been to before: Shadocks. There are many nice climbs, but literally every single route was taken or had draws and/or a rope left on it. I think I want to avoid climbing on big holiday weekends in the future, as the crowds really diminish the experience. I had a bit of a scare when I asked to take and looked down to see flakes of rope on the ground in between myself and my belayer, but it was sorted out without hitting the deck.

Later on, Chloe and Vanessa had a bit of an epic trying to find the same crag, and returned to hauterives looking like wet cats; the rain clouds had rolled in and soaked both of them during their bushwhacking. In the mean time, Simon and I had taken the kids down to the water again, which was fun. The kids also enjoyed terrorizing the local cats and dogs:





The only problem with bringing the kids to the water is the subsequent kid-cleanup!

Later, we used the Plancha to grill sausages and shish-kabobs for dinner, and it was eventually time to turn in. Right before putting Alex down, he projectile vomited and it took some time to comfort him (and to clean up the mess). If I hadn't mentioned it, Hauterives is fantastic, but a little like camping in the sense that you are supposed to keep consumption of things like water and paper products to a minimum while reducing waste. It's not terribly onerous, but adds to the work.

Hauterives

Our plan was to go to Annot for the Easter weekend, but after checking the forecast every six hours or so and seeing rain (and snow!) in the forecast, we decided that it would be better to find someplace else. Unfortunately, many of the climbing areas in France had the same forecast: the dreaded "Sunny Rain": An icon of a Sun with little rain drops falling out of it on the Meteo France website. We assumed that it meant that the forecasters had no idea what was coming, but it turned out to be on the money. You would be walking along under a bright South of France Sunny Day, when suddenly raindrops would come out of nowhere! In any case, after waiting a bit too long to make reservations, we agreed upon the Hauterives gite in the Gorges du Tarn. It is a little bit of paradise along the Tarn river that we had spent a few nights at last year with Jon, Sue, Ian and Susan (and loved it). We drove via a new route to the Tarn, avoiding the ugly sprawl leading from Lyon to le Puy, and went instead via Privas and Aubenas. The roads are all quite good, and you pass some impressive cols and towns along the way. Aubenas, in particular looks like it would be a fun place to explore. From Aubenas, we drove more or less the usual way and arrived at the motorized skip that is used to send your things to the village above the river. I called Emmanuelle, who sent the skip over, and we loaded it up and sent it over. Soon after, Chloe ,Vanessa and the other kids showed up looking a little harried after being Garmin Nüvi-ified into going over small passes on departmental roads. After fully unloading, Vanessa and I took the cars to Malene to begin the forty minute walk back along the river to the village. By the time we got to the village,



the kids had already been in and out of the water, and had the by now familiar look of sunscreen battered in sand. It would be great to have some kind of outdoor shower there! Next came an easter egg hunt, in which the chocolate eggs were quickly discovered and dispatched in situ