Cruising up the Coast

Some easy climbing close to the house

 

We bailed from the Ariege and drove north and east, with a windy stop at Saint Victoire to a very nice pad on the outskirts of Toulon. The eight days there were very pleasant, with climbing and hiking, plus some book work - pretty much our standard life style these days. Then it was on to Saint Rafael, when we first retired, we spent a couple of winters around here, escaping the UK and working on the Cote d'Azur guidebook. I was surprised how little I could remember about area, turns out it was nearly 18 years ago! The pad is very smart and there is a newish guidebook out, hopefully that will keep us busy for a couple of weeks.

 Edit - it turned out access to the Dramont was closed, the local crags were busy, the traffic was horrendous and the background throb of the city kept us awake at night. After a week we binned it and headed to Buis les Barronais, to meet Colin and soak in some peace and quiet...........and rest.

On the Road Again

Climbing at Auzat - always a pleasure

After two months in Cyprus we nipped back to Kalymnos for a couple of weeks. It is always good to be there though the weather didn't really play ball, we had a spell of nine days when the north wind roared and daytime temperature sometimes only reached 7C which was a bit of a shock.

Then it was back to Chez Arran via a night in Stansted for a week's cat sitting while Jon and Jacci were in the UK. Spring has come slowly to the Ariege though the longer days and a bit of gentle climbing have been a delight. I'm pleased to report that the car started first press of the button and Andorra still does cheap booze and petrol.

In a couple of days we are heading to the Gard - an area we have never visited - interestingly I can't remember the last time we went somewhere completely new - it may have been years ago!