Mens

We took a little trip to Mens, in the Trieves today where we met Vanessa and the girls. The area and roads approaching the town are stunning, with soaring snow capped mountains to the West and East over freshly planted fields. Along the way you get a very cool perspective on the Mont Aiguille from it's thinnest aspect, which makes it look… like a needle.

As we passed over the col du Fau all I could think about was how cool it would be on a bike; must make it back there sometime soon en velo. My first impression of Mens from the outskirts was not favorable -- it looked like any number of smallish villages. However, after parking and walking around it became clear that it was actually a very beautiful little town. The Aussies soon arrived and we commenced our anglophone invasion of the town.





There were bits of detritus everywhere from the intense winds we have been having, and there was even a fire truck pulling loose roof tiles out of gutters.
(taken later on, when we about to leave)
I guess that's the down side of picturesque roofs! I saw the contents of a planter in one of the alleyways too. Getting planter-ed in the head would be an inglorious way to die, I think. Anyway, we went to the Cafe des Arts, which was pleasant and very pretty on the inside. Even better: the kids were at a separate table! I had the deep fried ravioli salad, which was excellent, and perfect comfort food after yesterdays epic ride. From the cafe, we went to the museum (also well worth a stop) and on to the small church. The churchyard had one critical feature, which was a lawn carpeted with dandelions, which are utterly irresistible to kids. Indeed, we spend the next half an hour cultivating them and at Chloe's initiative, weaving them into primitive pollen bombing necklaces.


Unfortunately, Erin had a close encounter of the Stinging Nettle kind, which are pretty painful for adults, let alone a little girl. After a little mommie time and some cool fountain water, she was okay though.



Soon after, we all headed back home and Chloe, Lolo and I did a Mont Saint Martin session. I was on my mountain bike and they were on foot. The trail descent utterly kicked my ass, as neither my brakes nor my shock was working very well, so my palms were bruised by the end of it.

Epic ride

I did an Epic (for me) ride today… Bike path to Cognin, up Mont Noir (had to turn around short of the col because of snow), down past Presles, back through the gorges and then to the plateau and home. There was brutal wind for most of it and I was really suffering and dehydrated by the end. So dehydrated, in fact that I had some of the worst hamstring and quad cramps of my life afterwards! Gotta look into some post ride nutrient mixes, I guess. 122 km, 1970 vert meters, 5:22 in the saddle

Sarcenas

Proveysieux, Gua, Sarcenas, Quaix




Still slow, but faster on Sarcenas and Quaix! The descent was cooold and a little wet.

Ride

the road to Charmette is *almost* clear

Laiterie Bayard

cool

Aix

In all our time in France, over two sejours, we had still somehow never made it to Aix-les-Bains. We figured with Stephanie here, it would be a nice chance for us to all see something new, so we packed everyone up and did some autoroute time. When we got to town, we saw barriers and banners up, as if they were setting up for a bike race! I also noticed a lot of guys puttering around on high zoot race bikes with fancy carbon wheels. Since it was almost lunchtime, we found a pizzeria and installed ourself on the patio, even though it was a bit cold. I asked the proprietor what was going on and it turned out that there was indeed about to be a race: a very old criterium: technical, short and lots of laps. In my very brief college racing experience, the crit was probably my most unfavorite discipline. However, it is pretty fun to watch. This one was called the GP de Paques (Easter) and was in its 108th edition. We watched a few laps go by, which was entertaining, but my favorite part was how a few of the riders brought their families. As they passed by, you could see the suffering faces light up slightly at the chorus of "A-LLEZ paPA A-LLEZ-paPA!". It's almost worth trying to race again just for that.

Clmbin!

St Egreve + the newish crag above Petit desert (Chez Roger). Was not so excited about the latter.

Circus

It was circus time again in our little town, which meant that the kids would be going to the circus, whether we liked it or not! I was somewhat underwhelmed by the last circus to visit, and to be perfectly honest was not really looking forward to this one, but such are the duties of a parent. This time, however, Chloe agreed to come with me, which was appreciated. I picked the kids up from the nanny's and quietly whispered into both of the kids ears: "who wants to go to the circus?". I was whispering because I didn't know if the other kids would be going, and I didn't want their parents to hate us after they were dragged to the circus by their kids. Anyway, my plan backfired badly and both kids started joyously prancing around and yelling "Yaaaaaaay Circus! CIRCUS! CIRCUS!" in front of the wide eyes of the other kids. We walked to the circus, which was set up in the small local park, paid for tickets, and entered the tent. Unfortunately there were not many seats left, and the remaining seats (actually all of them were like this) were gymnasium style wooden benches with no back support. Not a big deal, except there was no place to put your feet either! The result was a somewhat painful sitting experience, made more difficult by the fact that I had to hold onto both kids to prevent them from falling into the holes between the benches. Chloe eventually showed up, and the show started amidst the usual fanfare. The circus was better than the previous one that I had been to, and the kids loved it. Zoe in particular had a look of pure delight and excitement the entire time. It started with the introduction of the first of two horses: a somewhat stunted and perhaps optimistically named "Prince" who ran around the ring in circles and would occasionally put a hoof up on the ring. Then there was a bigger horse, a pony, a dromedary and then a camel. Even I thought the camel was cool, albeit a bit malodorous. Next there were various circus-y things like unicycling, swinging from a rope, and Zoe's favorite: the clown. The best part of the clown show, judging from the roar of the children, were the simulated farts. Indeed, it was all she could talk about on the walk home.