We visited Perouges, north of Lyon, in 2012, and were sufficiently impressed that I did two blogposts, here and here. Also sufficiently impressed that we wanted to return in 2023. It is one of France's best Medieval villages, meticulously restored through the work of the Lyon historical society. Also one of the plus beaux villages. I'll just let the pix speak for themselves.
The previous post sent me back into the family digital archives to find the pix documenting my parapente adventure way back in 1993. We were in France, initially Paris, celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary, and got as far afield, after Brittany, the Loire, Burgundy, etc., as Chamonix. Watching the parasails above led to visiting the several ecoles de parapente in town. Eventually, and with Vicki's encouragement, I enrolled for a baptisme flight, which is documented in the never-seen-before pix below. The whole flight lasted maybe 20 minutes, was exhilarating, and led to further adventures too.
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Our rental car and campsite at the Iles des Barrats campground; it is June 29th, 1993 |
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| A parasail whisks by with Mont-Blanc in the background; note how low the Glacier des Boissons extended in 1993 |
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| While I am meeting with the pilot/instructor, Eddy, heading up to the Plan Praz and suiting up, Vicki has made her way to the landing area, the high school athletic fields... |
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| And there, later, out of the clear blue of the western sky (not)... |
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| Come I and Capt. Eddy |
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| Demonstrating perfect passenger landing form |
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| A perfect four-point landing; to the cheers of a tour bus of onlookers |
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| Assisting with the folding up of the craft for the next ride |
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| For the experience we had bought a disposable camera and I took the following shots...aloft, this is of the ski-lift complex atop Plan Praz, beyond which is the flat, downward-sloping bit of ground down which one runs, harnessed to the parasail, before leaping into the void...the take-off |
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| Aloft...Plan Praz from a little greater distance |
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| Over Chamonix |
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| Mont-Blanc and neighbors; Aiguille du Midi to the left |
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| Circling above the landing field |
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| Now over our campground, left of center |
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| On final approach, cleared for landing... |
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| My certificate; now in the box labeled "France Souvenirs" |
Headed back north, now June 25th, we skirted Grenoble, saving it for next time, but stopped briefly for a large junque eschoppe, La Puceroi, and then later to observe the parapentes (parasails) launching from the cliffs above and then landing in the valley near Monfort. In our experience, Chamonix was always the place for watching parasails...sometimes a dozen in the air at one time. North of Grenoble, however, there were dozens soaring about. I counted sixty-some at one point. Singles, tandems, even a group of three maybe. The Allee des Parapentes, Vicki called it. After many pix, we drove on, landing eventually at Aix les Bains, outside a Casino supermarche.
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| The cliffs going into and coming out of Grenoble were interesting and impressive |
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| At the junk shop...imagine a ski-lift tele-cabin in your back yard, sort of a conservatory or greenhouse... |
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| Thought for the day |
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| Reminded me of a scene from Carrie... |
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| Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? |
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| On final approach... |
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| The landing field |
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| Queuing for landing |
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| Amazing landing sequence |
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| Menage a trois? |
