September 6, 2014

Crest to Nyons

Had you asked me, I probably would have told you that my posts are photo driven. But possibly not. I might have used words like history, architecture, environment, landscape. But I have learned that my posts are photo driven. Which is very frustrating, since with the kaput viewfinder I get very few usable ones, and often don't even try for more complicated framing or angles.


Looking towards the Alps 

Knowing that I had a shorter ride today, I slept a little later, lingered over breakfast chatting with three men who were cycle touring from Switzerland, though they hadn't crossed the Alps. Last week I met another Swiss cycle tourer. He was 75, had taken the train to Lyons, and was here for about 5 days.

With many errors, my French holds up pretty well in one-on-one conversations, but put a group together, a conversation with jokes and innuendo, moving from subject to subject, and I am lucky if I get half of it.

My route today did some decent climbing


If you look closely at the next image, you will see a large lump of a mountain in the distance. That might be Mont Ventoux, the very notion of which is now terrorizing me, especially if I continue with the current plan. That route has me riding it with my bike loaded, from the more difficult side, not unloaded from the easier. Am still trying to think that through.


The climbing was followed by some equally nice descending:


I rode past many vineyards as I got close to Nyons, and realized that what I thought I noticed around Bagnols, is true. Whether by virtue of variety, or culture, climate, cultural practices, or something else, the vines I see in the south are taller than their more northern cousins. From time to time rose bushes have graced the end of rows, their significance is a mystery to me.


Wanted to leave you with some pictures of Nyons, where I am now staying, but none were usable. Especially not the 7 hang gliders I watched over the surrounding hills. Nyons is surrounded by very steep cliffs and hills, and is located near Buis-les Baronnies, where several very entertaining documentaries on paragliding and hang gliding have been shot.

Those hills look ferociously difficult to explore by bike, but perhaps I am simply tired ...

NEXT POST


5 comments:

  1. I just caught up on my reading..... am very glad your accident was "minor" and did not apparently impact you more than shock!
    Am amazed than you can still take great photos without a viewfinder! If it were me, I would have gone in to the closest shop and bought a cheap replacement!
    I envy you being where you are.... as Margarit said, I am living vicariously through your blog!

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    1. Hi Kenneth,

      Very nice to know you are there, thanks for the comment! Without them, I have no idea who is with me:-)

      You are right about the camera, though this is (if it even has one) the first town big enough to find a cameras. It has some large box-tyoe stores, for hardware and things, on the outskirts. I will be in one of those tomorrow looking for an unusual battery. Since I don't want to own a throw-away, I suppose I'll struggle through, annoyed.

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  2. The 'decent' climbing looks serious to me and I am glad that you got your camera to give us an impression of it. It must be frustrating indeed to pass good views without being able to make the most of them photographically. Still, you are actually enjoying them personally which makes me envious.

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    1. Yes, I am indeed enjoying them! It's funny, years ago I went through a (short) period of not much taking photos since I thought I would see better, see more, be more present, if I wasn't always framing images. Can't quite convince myself ofthat right now, though.

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    2. Firstly, I am very much enjoying following your journey, Suze. (Finally!) prompted to comment in reply to what you say here. I too went through a camera-free phase for exactly the reasons you mention. I was worried that my memories of past trips were skewed towards only what I had photographs of, to look at later, over and over again. That with the passing of time, I would perhaps only "remember" what I had photographed, and probably not even realise it, not even "miss" when I had not photographed and thus had forgotten. Now, though, I really wish I had at least a few photos of places I visited without a camera. So I carry it with me most of the time now. Sometimes I don't take any photos, sometimes I take loads! But I am more aware of the experience, seeing things through my own eyes rather than through a lens. It's all good.

      And thanks for sharing what you've learned about Blogger. I really really need to switch to self-hosted Wordpress. I keep putting it off. Meanwhile, my blog continues to grow which makes me more anxious about what the migration will entail. Vicious circle.

      Wishing you safe travels.

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