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squiz
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Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3071
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20th September 2012
Kayaking - Surf Skiing: Lac de Serre Poncon Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: 25 Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny Max Speed: Distance Covered:
Thursday 20th September – canoeing ***** - sunny :)
Beautiful day at Lac de Serre Poncon at Chantelobe so did exercises then
after breakfast we set out in the canoe to paddle to the little chapel of
St. Michel on an island which is quite a long way from where we are parked.
We didn’t know if we would make it that far but we did :) The scenery
is absolutely stunning and you have to pinch yourself to think you are out
there on the turquoise lake surrounded by mountains and blue sky :) We
paddled through several moored boats and watched a coach load of Danish (?)
school kids jumping into the lake from a pontoon. We landed on the island
and scrambled up the bank to have our picnic – this was high and dry when
we came in the spring and could walk to the chapel!!! There were a few
dinghies out and 10 of the school kids swam over to the island with their
teacher! We read our books for ages then paddled back. The wind had got
up a bit but we still made good progress. I set the camera up on timer on
a pontoon in the middle and we canoed around trying to get in the shot –
it was hilarious!!! We then stopped by another small island and I swam to
it :) Mag decided against it :( When we were nearly back at the van we
went in and out of the arches of the bridge just to prolong our trip :) We
didn’t get back until after 6! We washed the salt marks off the canoe
and put it to dry on an old pedallo then made a cuppa and took it down the
bank to enjoy the last of the sunshine before it disappeared behind the
mountain opposite. We played phase 10 down there until it was nearly dark.
I packed up the canoe and Mag walked to the tap to get some water. Had
tea and finished off phase 10. We are now drawing 3 each and a draw! Top
day :)
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ype=1&l=f605c0a128
Friday 21st September – travelling – little walk with vulture watching
– very hot and sunny :)
Enjoyed our last morning at Serre Poncon, doing exercises and having
breakfast outside in the sun:) Set off towards the Ardeche, stopping at Gap
to go to the shop. Mag went into the huge Casino and I went into McD to
put some photos on. We also visited a big Decathlon sports shop to see if
they had any rucksacks in the sale. Carried on through scenery which
reminded us of the Corbieres and stopped at Serre for lunch, it’s very
hot now – 30 degrees :) There was a turquoise rocky river with a beach to
sit on. Carried on and when we were getting near to a village called
Remuzat the scenery got very dramatic with big cliffs on either side and
Vultures circling in the blue sky:) We saw some people up near a cross at
the top of a very tall cliff and drove into the village to see how they had
got up there. We didn’t have any luck in the village as the tourist
information was closed and there wasn’t anything obvious. We stopped at
the foot of the cliff for coffee and watched the vultures soar over our
heads. When we drove a bit further down the road and into the Gorge of St.
May we saw a promising turning on the right and headed for the village of
St. May – the road was very steep and bendy. The village is a dead end
but there was a turning off to an abbey so we thought we would try that as
another car had just gone up there. About ¾ of the way up they started to
signpost the French word for Vulture so we were definitely on the right
track :) There is a perfect car park for our overnight stop and only half
an hour walk to the cross on the top of the cliff :) We walked up there
and had a good hour and a half watching the vultures soar past – mainly
below us. There were 4 other photographers up there 2 Italian and at least
one French (who stayed in the car park in his car!). They had thousands of
pounds worth of camera equipment, I felt very inadequate with my little one
:( must get a decent dslr one day as it is very difficult to focus on fast
moving birds:( The French man showed us where a Vulture was perched on a
ledge so we had a very good view of him :) We came back to the van and had
pork for tea and actually heard howling on the other side of the valley –
a wolf????
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