Pont de Barret

I went climbing with Denis today, at Pont-de-Barret.  everything was going great until I pulled off a big block on a 6c.  Denis was on point and jumped out of the way, thus avoiding getting killed by the death block, and I took a big ride




There was a small crater near where he was belaying. Definiteley the closest call ever.

Hiking to the Obiou

I went on a really cool hike with Rachel, who has been working with me for the past year.  We got a late start and headed south to the Obiou, in a stunningly beautiful area in the Trieves (just South of Grenoble) .  I had happened to find a guide book for the area while milling about Vieux Campeur, and decided that a hike was in order.  The peak was shrouded in clouds for most of our hike, but we made it to our objective: a cave with a huge pillar of ice:












 

New rope!

tdf start with mom+kids!

Tour de France!

Regardless of what you think of the state of cycling, the tour de france is a spectacle worth seeing.  So when they announced that the route would come right by our house and ride up some of my lunchtime ride territory, I knew I had to go watch it.  I started planning a long time ago and formulated a way that I could watch them twice!  The first would be on the climb out of Quiax, and then on the descent from Sarcenas.  After dropping Gail and the kids off in la Monta so that they could watch the caravan go by, I cycled up via Narbonne and chose a grassy berm from which we could watch them.  A few minutes later, none other than Jeannie Longo and her doper husband showed up and parked just in front of us!

Soon enough, de Marchi flew by, followed by Kadri and some other dude, then the peloton and the grupetto

We watched everyone, and then hopped on our bikes and zoomed up to the col de Vence and watched them go by again.  So cool.

Back to Grenoble

A longish drive... nothing much happened.

Ampolla 2

More beach time

and then another fabulous dinner at El Pescador.  Mom sprung for the mega seafood dish, complete with a whole lobster, split in two and grilled.  I shared it with her and it was wonderful:  simple and just perfectly cooked

Unfortunately, little did we know what we were in store of.  We had an inkling of it because they had been setting up for a concert for most of the day, and sounds checking obnoxiously during our dinner.  However, what we did not know was that they would be starting at midnight!  Starting!  I had earplugs deployed as far into my ears as they could go and I could still hear them as if they were right next to me.  It was really terrible music too.  Medleys of Guns-N-Roses, Bulldog etc etc.  When they finally shut down around 6 AM, the market started setting up.  So none of us got any sleep.  This was not ideal, since we had to clean the apartment and drive all the way to grenoble the next day -- an eight or so hour trip.

Ampolla

Today we packed and cleaned up the house and headed to Ampolla, next to the Ebro river Delta.  Mel and Leta very generously drove all the way out there to open up the apartment for us.  The building it brand new and is pretty fantastic -- small enough so that there aren't people constantly coming and going, but right on the water.

After we said our goodbyes to Mel and Leta

 

and they headed out.

 Mel stopped a half block away, turned around and waved to us with this unique and wonderful smile that he does.  What a great guy.

We were all famished, so we headed out to find some paella for lunch.  The place we found had an immense lunch menu, but the Paella was a little lacking.  Next, it was beach time

the beach:  I will admit that I am really not a beach person at all and in fact find it a bit torturous.  Nevertheless, the kids adore it, and go into a state of elation that is impossible to deny.  At one point while paddling around in the water, Zoe looked at Chloe and said "I am SO, SO HAPPY!".  I built sand castles with alex, and did not go in the water since I had somehow forgotten my swimsuit.  After much beach time (FREE INTERNET ON THE BEACH!) we went back to the apartment to wash off the disgusting mix of sunscreen and sand that was by now adhered to us.  Chloe and I went out to try to find a restaurant when we noticed that people were congregating at some stands at the end of a pier.  We didn't think much of it until we realized that there was a bull!  It was a bull fight!  The crazy thing is that the bull would get taunted into jumping into the water.  Then a bunch of them would pile into a motorboat and pull the bull back to a boat landing by the horns.  The thing is, some of these bulls were really fast swimmers and could make it almost all of the way across the harbor before the motorboat could get there.  I can only imagine what kind of mayhem would be unleashed by an enraged bull running out of the water onto the beach. 

Anyway, we were looking for a place called El Pescador, which was as usual nowhere near where Tripadvisor thought it was.  We eventually found it though and had an awesome meal of squid ink paella (mom and I shared this) and grilled langoustines

Despite spending a lot of time out on the pier I did not manage to get any photos of the bull jumping into the water.  Alex came to help though

Siurana again

Chloe and I went to Siruana again (thanks mom!) and got similarly shut down on climbs again, but it was still pretty cool.

Driving through the streets of Horta was a little less cool

That wall on the right apparently used to be ~20 cm/8 inches further into the street, if you can believe it.    Mel had the whole wall moved as part of the installation of a garage, and if his neighbors didn't love him before, they certainly do now!  I think our car would not have been able to make it.

I went on a beautiful ride up into the Park Natural Els Ports -- as far as the paved road would take me.  It passes shady brooks with kids splashing around and giant cliff faces.  If we ever go back, we need to take the kids up there.

I also found the "Via Verda":  A former train line that had been converted to a bike path!  This was *fantastic*

And goes for 100 km I think.  In fact, there is a local tour company that will rent you a bike and will meet you at one of the old train stations to pick you up and feed you lunch.  Maybe I can convince the kids to do that next time.  Here's some video

Sightseeing in Valderrobes and Morella

Our first stop of the day was Valderrobes, and it's castle overlooking the old town and village

But not before driving our car through some more tiny streets!

After visiting the castle, we headed into town for lunch, in the small main square just past the gate.  I was amazed to see car after car negotiate a 90 degree bend in a tiny road to exit the village.  I think I would have removed the side of our car if I had tried.

Next, a short drive to Morella, a somewhat more touristy town with a hilltop fortification.  The kids, and Alex in particular impressed me by walking all the way up without any grumbling or carrying!  Okay, there was a small bribe involved, but still.

Along the way, there was a very extensive and dismaying array of medieval torture devices

The depth of savagery that humans are capable never ceases to surprise me.

After our adventure to the citadel, it was snack time.  We had passed a place from which delicious grilling smells had been emanating on the way up, and decided that would be a good place to stop.  The guy was ridiculously nice and it was a pleasant respite from the heat and mounting child unrest

After a little window shopping where chloe sampled many honeys and Alex had a full meltdown, we headed back.  I stopped in valderrobes because I had somehow not brought *any* jackets or hats.  I bought a ridiculous hat and sweater.

And then ... back to Horta!

Dinner was pretty grim.  It was a new pizza place, and they started by serving us the most lamentable plonk you can imagine.  For a wine producing region, I don't understand how they could possibly think that wine was even drinkable!  I took about one sip and gave up, not wanting to wake up in the middle of a the night with a headache.  The pizza was square, and mostly salt.  It made up for the over-saltedness by having a limp and soggy crust.  I've had better pizza out of a bag.

The wind continued to howl through Horta all night, slamming things around and whistling through the shutters.