Summer Holidays

There is some dispute about who's idea a 'family' holiday was. But, after some careful planning, seven grown-ups, one child, one baby, four Yeti's and a Whippet by-passed French quarantine and, via the compulsory overnight stop at Chalet Verger, assembled in Les Salles sur Verdon for some sun, relaxation, wine, walking, good food and (perhaps) some MOUNTAIN BIKING.
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The 'kids' hadn't been back to this area for quite a while. In fact, some recent pictures converted from slides (!) to digital, reminded us all of exactly how long ago it was ..
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Molly, Dick and I took one car, Toni (daughter #1) and Felix drove the other and John, Jemma (#2), Kailah and Logan appeared at Nice airport a few days later courtesy of those nice EasyJet people. Game on, and not a bad view from the patio either :-)
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Job du jour on day one would normally be relaxation, but with a 'spare' day before John, Jemma and the kids arrived we decided to walk the Sentier de l'Imbut through the Gorges du Verdon. This would allow some of us to babysit the kids while John and Jemma did the same route later in the week. Parts of this walk are mid-way between a scramble and via-ferreta and the fact that the French have no equivalent to our Health + Safety executive means that you know you will have some fun.
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Molly, Dick, Toni and Felix about 75' (25m) up the first scramble. About another 100' to go.
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Jemma leads John, Felix and Dick 50' (17m) above the river a few days later. It's not the falling that is the issue, it would be the getting out. Sections of the Verdon river are classed as Cat VI rapids and Cat V sections are numerous. They were holding on though!
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Felix and Toni relax, post walk, post lunch and post beer ...
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We didn't want the kids to miss out, so we took a mini-trek through the tunnels on the Sentier Martel, having parked the cars close-by at the Gates of Samson.
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Dick, John and Kailah prepare for the return journey. There are a couple of tunnels along this section of the GR4 and this one is the best-part of a kilometre long.


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'Grandad' gives Logan a lift. Lazy little bugger - nine months old and refuses to walk. I blame the parents ...


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We relaxed a bit and then decided to give the bikes a day out. John, Felix and myself did the circuit between Castellane and Le Point Sublime in superb conditions and in pretty good order too.
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John leading Felix up the last climb before lunch with the Cadieres de Brandis in the background.
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This is one of my favouritist routes and, after cleaning the whole climb from Chasteuil after lunch on the ARC for the first time, I was a very happy chap.
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A few days later Molly, Dick and myself had a great day out at Castellane market and then rode a slightly shorter version of this ride in equally fabulous weather.
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I took the Whippet this time and had a few good challenges getting up the climbs. We even managed to fit in a little rest-stop on the way back. The post-ride beer in Castellane's market square has never tasted so good.
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We celebrated my 55th birthday in Aiguines and had a lovely evening out but, more often than not, we used the local restaurant when we weren't BBQ'ing. We cannot speak highly enough of the service, quality and VFM we enjoyed at L'Escapade in Les Salles. Try it if you are in the area.
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More days on the beach of le Lac du Saint Croix recharges the batteries and gives us the chance to relax and mess about with the kids. Jemma and John in relaxed mood ..

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John, Felix and myself then head out to tackle a local VTT (velo tous terrain) route. I've done this route  before and it's a brutal 'straight up' from the car - then flat and easy - then rocky, twisty and a bit tricky down and back. Since I was there last time they have 'mended' some erosion on the track and achieved this by dumping loads of 30mm gravel on it. It is similar to riding in porridge. Despite having 55 gears between us we were still pushing after a few kilometres. Ride a bit, push a bit, repeat - we've all done it. It was almost worth it for the descent though and I would love to ride this again, fast(er) on the ASR5 instead of coming down carefully on the SS Whippet. It's on the list.
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It's amazing how fast the time goes when you are enjoying yourself and we were soon dropping John, Jemma and the kids off at Nice airport - just a day and a half left.
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We managed to explore the local area on the bikes and, finally, mustered the courage to visit the local bike park.
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Oi - those obstacles are higher than they look !
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I fell off, Felix fell off, Molly watched (and laughed) and Dick fell off (twice). But after some comedy moments, the inner child was released and we were the kings of the playground for just a minute. Luckily no ten year olds came along and embarrassed us and we escaped intact.
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An uneventful drive back completed the holiday and we couldn't have asked for more. No major issues, no accidents (to speak of) and everyone enjoyed it. Good times with good people are very precious and it's an added bonus when those in your family happen to be good people too :-)
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There is just enought time to unpack, then re-pack for a week away up North (working) and then straight to UK Tribemeet #9. I am 55 now and there is no time to waste !