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A somewhat thwarted start to the summer holidays…
After taking VivaLaVida out of its winter quarters by carrying out a major service, replacing the steering ball joints and some other maintenance work, Emile and I set off again on board for a three-week holiday heading to Galicia, which we hadn’t discovered last year. But after barely a few hundred miles, a big BAM stop us dead in our way!
1. One of the rear tires decided to suddenly give out on us.
2. It takes me an hour under a blazing sun to change the wheel before getting back on the road.
3. We find a cool spot to sleep, on the edge of a beautiful forest.
No question of continuing the journey without a spare wheel. I decide to change the 4 tires that have more than 70,000 miles and are soon worn out. Going toward Saint-Etienne, the nearest town, to find 4 new socks to VivaLaVida. But it’s not an easy task: we go to three tire specialists who cannot order the required size not common in Europe. Finally, one gives us the contact details of an American vehicle seller, Presticar Automobiles in Grand-Croix, which imports Dodge pick-ups we find him late Monday morning.
After two hours of searching and multiple phone calls, he finally finds 4 tires in the right size and I confirm the order. But the delivery won’t take place until Thursday at best. So we decide to pass the time by discovering the surroundings, starting with the Pilat, a local summit which overlooks the Loire to the Northwest, the Ardèche to the South and the Lyonnais to the Northeast.
4. View of the Lyonnais from the Pilat summit.
5. We find a nice boondocking spot at almost 4,300 feet elevation where we spend 3 nights.
6. There is a stream that runs right next to our camp and Emile likes to play in it.
7. We buid a dam.
8. We also visit the surrounding area, in particular this “giant fir tree” which reaches 150 ft in height!
So it’s only on Thursday mid-afternoon that VivaLaVida, wearing her new shoes, resumed her route towards the West. Three hours later, we find a nice boondocking place on the banks of Lake Naussac while a storm threatened.
9. After the first thunderstorm. Three more will follow during the night which will still be restful.
10. The next day we cross the gorgeous Aubrac plateau. Our spot for lunch!
After a night in a camping between Montauban and Auch , we will reach the Spanish Basque Country the next day. To be continued soon.
Fall holidays
Our short week of vacation with Emile begins with a rainy day. We make the road to the region of Bardonecchia where I hope to drive the Sommeiller trail that we had not been able to discover the past summer.
1. Rainy boondocking above Rochemolle.
2. The next morning, the clouds have disappeared and the sky is blue when we wake up.
3. Uphill to the Scarfiotti refuge.
4. Higher on the trail…
5. The surrounding mountains are gorgeous!
6. High altitude fall colors.
7. VivaLaVida on the trail, at already more than 8,200 feet above sea level.
8. Arrival at the end of the trail whose descent on the other side has never been built.
9. Round altitude (3,000 meters = 9,842 feet), the highest reached by VLV in Europe. As a reminder, she went over 13,000 feet in 2016, in Colorado…
10. The small lake which is just after the pass.
11. And the other side remained empty of trail. Only a footpath leads down to the Ambin Valley.
12. We are close to the first snow that fell a few days before…
13. View of the peaks of the Parc des Ecrins in the distance…
14. Descending back. We only passed two local motorbikes all day.
To be continued in a few days… 😉
Lakes in Ubaye
We leave this beautiful place to discover others…
1. Going down from Colle Fauniera.
2. We find a boondocking place on the edge of a pretty river, very close to the French border from where we will hike tomorrow.
3. …
4. And we build a dam on the river!
5. …
6. …
7. Leaving VivaLaVida early the next day for a nice mountain hike to discover several lakes.
8. The goal of our day: the Lake of Roburent which I wanted to discover for a long time.
9. That’s where we picnic…
10. .. and Emile plays for a while.
11. We start the way back with a climb to the Col de Roburent.
12. Emile frolics like a goat!
13. The valley we descend with the Lake of Orrenaye.
14. We stop there to refresh ourselves before returning to camp at the same place as yesterday…
Continuation and end of our three week trip shortly. 😉
Lacs et Queyras…
1. Dernière soirée dans le Val Argentera.
2. Le Lago Nero (Lac Noir), proche de la frontière franco-italienne, bondé ce jour-là alors que plusieurs colonies s’y sont données rendez-vous pour la journée. Nous décidons ainsi de poursuivre la piste vers un autre lac d’altitude.
3. Campement à 2’400 m. d’altitude.
4. Emile s’entraîne à faire des ricochets.
5. Quiétude…
6. Préparation du souper.
7. Couchant
8. On se couvre un peu alors que la brise du soir rafraîchit l’atmosphère.
Ensuite, nous partons découvrir le Colle Agnello qui relie la haute vallée du Queyras à l’Italie. La vallée qui y mêne est magnifique, nous y reviendront à l’occasion.
9. Dernier lacets avant le col alors que la brume bouche le versant italien.
10. Nous trouvons un bivouac sur le versant italien, près d’un petit lac.
11. Et surprise, la brume se retire en début de soirée…
12. J’en profite pour tirer le portrait à ce joli petit lac.
13. Dernières lueurs sur les sommets.
14. Village aux traditionnels toits de pierre sur la descente côté italien.
La suite dans le prochain post.
Hike to Colle del Nivolet.
After being dislodged by a guard from the Gran Paradiso National Park who didn’t want to let us sleep in the car park of the refuge, we went back up the next morning to discover the various high-altitude lakes that dot this magnificent valley..
1. Departure for the lakes overlooking the Colle del Nivolet.
2. Here are the several first.
3. Emile has fun crossing a stream…
4. … from stone to stone.
5. …
6. …
7. Altitude pond…
8. Another just below.
9. From the highest point of the day.
10. Emile in deep meditation! 🙂
11. Not a bad view for a picnic!
12. In the distance, the Gran Paradiso.
13. Meanders and backlight…
14. During our descent…
Then we went to another place. We’ll tell you about it in the next report.
Fall holidays (2)
Continuation of these few days of relaxation and discovery…
1. To descend from Mont-Cenis to Italy, VivaLaVida discovers a trail, an old border road, some passages of which are spectacular.
2. Passage near the pretty little lake of Roterel…
3. … as the sky clears.
4. The larches are already gorgeous with their yellow-orange hue…
5. Turns…
6. Another small lake, Arpon Lake, just after the Italian border.
7. We make a little stop for the lunch…
8. … near a pretty mountain pasture already closed this season.
9. While waiting for the grocery store to open – it is closed at nap time – Emile improves his cycling technique! 🙂
10. We take the direction of the upper valley of the Claree via the Col de l’Echelle (Ladder Pass).
11. Wake up at the end of the road on a beautiful fall day ideal for a mountain walk.
12. At 5 years old, Emile is a good walker, 5 or 10 miles uphill doesn’t frighten him!
13. Climb to Long Lake in the midst of the fall colors.
14. Arrival at the lake where the temperature hardly exceeds 32°F.
15. Immaculate tranquility…
16. Break sheltered from the strong North wind.
17. Lac Long in a setting of blueberries reddened by autumn.
18. Meeting with a beautiful cricket a little numb by the cold.
19. Going back down to VivaLaVida
More soon… 🙂
Fall holidays (1)
As Emile is on vacation with me for a week, we decide to go enjoying the fall colors without traveling too far since we only have 5 days to travel. The destination will be the Hautes-Alpes, between France and Italy.
1. After half a day on the road, we arrive in the Mont-Cenis region and its lake at the end of the day.
2. While the weather is fine all along the road, the east wind blows fog from Italy which gradually rises, enveloping VivaLaVida.
3. Climbing up to 2,200 m, we have time to make a shot hike outside the nimbuses.
4. But half an hour later, the fog catches up with us.
5. The time to find a boondocking site for the night and we are isolated by the clouds for a quiet but cool night.
6. The disturbance of the night removed the fog and nicely sprinkled summits with fresh snow.
7. A few openings in the couds let in the light…
8. … and VLV takes the trail again to reach the lake.
9. We take the trail that goes West of the lake…
10. … trail that we couldn’t drive in July, a barrier now blocking access from July 1st to September 15.
11. The showers follow one another and the wind is still blowing strong.
12. But we anyway go for a walk by the lake, just to play with Emile and, for me, to look for some picture composition.
13. …
The continuation of the story in a few days…
Week-ends in Jura mountains
We enjoy fall doing some weekend outings.
1. Boondocking in the forest.
2. Nice morning view point.
3. In the Langouette gorge.
4. Billaude waterfall.
5. Another weekend, another boondocking in a beautiful forest clearing.
6. Emile always enjoys it!
7. The campfire is ready to cook diner.
8. Walk in the beech forest.
9. Way back…
In mid-October, VivaLaVida and its occupants left for a few days in the Hautes-Alpes. I will present all this soon.
PS: While the VLV route was no longer displayed on the map pages since Google Maps changed the terms of use of its services a few months ago, I have updated these pages with new maps that present the VLV route until October this year.
Massif Central
1. The night was particularly windy but there is fog in the morning.
2. As I take my breakfast the fog lifts.
3. The trail from my boondocking spot.
4. The locals…
5. Fog game on the Monts du Sancy.
6. I take the opportunity to go and discover the gorgeous Chaudefour valley.
7. Pretty waterfall in the forest.
8. Forest path.
9. Discovery of the small volcanic lake of Servieres.
10. Roche Tuilière viewpoint.
It’s Sunday and it’s time to head back home.
The next articles will relate to some weekend outings and October holidays.
Thank you for your loyalty to this little blog! 😀
Pyrenees (2)
1. Wake up at the Pedró dels Quatre Batlles. It is cool but the view is gorgeous.
2. …
3. We take a spectacular trail to go down from the plateau.
4. View toward South.
5. Escarpment.
6. Flower in the limestone rockery.
7. Further, a narrow passage in which i had to fold mirrors. We crossed it in both directions, the trail having been washed out 1.5 mile further.
We found several trails closed by recently installed barriers, undoubtedly the price of the hordes of 4×4 which crisscross them more and more.
8. Nice boondocking spot.
9. Emile is always ready to play with his small cars…
10. Smal village in the mountain.
While we were stopped by a barrier at the entrance of a trail which should have lead us to discover a pretty mountain lake, Emile said “We just have to walk there”. I explain to him that the lake was at a 7 miles walk with more than 2,000 feet of elevation gain but he insisted. So I parked VivaLaVida and here we were for a day of walking. My little guy had bravely swallow the more than 14 miles round trip! A real mointain goat!
11. The lake we hiked.
12. Picnic in the shelter of a rock while the wind blows in gusts.
13. Before the way back.
Other discoveries in a few days…
D5 Creation