We left Melbourne in the early hours of Monday morning and arrived in Paris on Monday evening without any dramas. We stayed at the Sheraton in Terminal 2, which is just above the TGV station. This meant that we were in Buis by mid-afternoon on Tuesday, less than 48 hours after leaving home in Melbourne.
The view from the Sheraton in Terminal 2
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| All aboard the TGV to Avignon from below Terminal 2 |
In Avignon we picked up our rental car, which we’ll have for the next couple of months, and which we’re very excited is an electric vehicle. As we will not be ranging very far from Buis this time, we decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to familiarise ourselves with EVs. We were even upgraded to a Tesla because rental car companies are so weird that they will rent you a specific type of vehicle from a specific location but which they then tell you they don’t ever have available. At first, they just did the imperious hand off – here’s your lovely (petrol) car. Non, non, non, we replied, we have specifically hired an EV. Then amazingly, the manager just turned and said ‘’OK – you can have a Tesla’’ – which is a more expensive class of vehicle – ‘’pour le meme prix (for the same price)’’. Never before have we benefitted from the incompetence of a rental car company. Although who knows whether there may yet be a price to pay.
It is always so lovely to arrive back in Buis. We had dinner outside on a beautiful fresh spring evening and awoke next morning to market day, which is already back in full swing.
We have seen our neighbours Betsy and Scott in person for the first time in 4 years. They will be here for another week, which is marvellous, and have been here since the beginning of March. Then, while having a coffee on market day, we saw and were able to say “bonjour” to our good friend Jocelyne and also to a number of our friends from Randouveze (the hiking club). We felt incredibly happy to be back in our second home.
On Thursday we were up early for our first Thursday hike. We had to drive over an hour to the trailhead, but Dale was very happy to have an opportunity to put the Tesla through its paces on squiggly and hilly roads. It can really accelerate!
Farmyard classic. Renault are about to
release a new range of retro styled electric cars based on classics from the
60’s and 70’s. One is based on this
classic 4L
The views on the hike were marvellous, as always. We had some magnificent 360-degree views of the Baronnies and a couple of valleys. It’s hard to keep finding superlatives to describe just how much we enjoy hiking around Buis. Reflecting on it, I think that the Baronnies rise quite steeply, have silvery granite cliff faces, unusual formations and enclose narrowish valleys. This hike involved a pretty decent ascent and a knee jarring descent. All good practice for when we do the 13-day Tour de Baronnies in a month’s time.
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| Snow on the Alps to the north |
It’s also a particularly nice time to be out in nature, with flowers blooming everywhere.
This little spider was very curious as I photographed it
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| So delicate |
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| So furry |
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| New growth pushing out through the lichen |
We exchanged some little gifts with our hiking friends. Annie bought us a French translation of collected short stories by Kenneth Cook that she loved. We brought some (cheap) wombat key rings for some of the women to clip to their backpacks if they choose. This follows an extensive discussion about wombats last year during one of the hikes.
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| Top of the mountain is always a great place for lunch |
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| Lunch with a view |
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| Clusters of ladybirds on the cairn at the top of the mountain |
On the drive back to Buis we all stopped to look at an amazing geological site near the village of La Charce. In one cliff face they have found fossils from two contiguous geological periods and can study the differences between the two periods. It is apparently one of only a few sites like this in the world.
Alternating layers of calcium and marl, representing cycles of ice ages and retreats
Friday’s main challenge was to work out how to charge the Tesla. There are four EV charging stations in Buis but we didn’t know what the cables looked like and couldn’t find any in the car. Eventually we found them somewhere where they were not supposed to be. The car is also so computerised that the ‘’frunk’’ (front trunk), the charging point in the car and the glove box can’t be opened manually, so there was an extra level of difficulty in just working out how to open things. But it all worked and now we’re experts.
Dale is also off to a flying start to his project to construct a built-in wardrobe on the top level so that we can keep our stuff there between visits, rather than in the basement. He’s managed to get his second favourite hardware store (but which is closer to us than his favourite) to cut what seems like a million pieces of melamine chipboard to many different and very precise measurements. Getting everything out of the car and up three narrow flights of stairs was exhausting to say the least.
The circular saw is buzzing away as I type.
