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Hangola May 31, 2001

Jeez, can you believe it?!? I come home from 2 weeks in France and find my yard has a mohawk cut, an empty bottle of extra virgin olive oil in the guest bedroom (what WAS he doing with it???), cat barf all over the white rug in the sunroom, and my house ghost pissed off at being called Barney for 2 weeks.

I had a great time in the second half of the trip. After Aix-en-Provence we headed to Malaucene (southwest of Grenoble) for a couple of days of hiking in the area around Mont Ventoux. Then it was back to St. Hilaire for 2 days. I took 2 flights the first day, but didn't get much airtime being too nervous about all the paragliders in the weak lift. (Ask me offline about my borrowed harness and parachute.)

Sunday's weather was even lighter and more stable, so I opted to join my sister in a visit to some friends in Grenoble. It was fun - one of those big family lunches around the table on the balcony, that lasts 2 hours and usually ends up as the main part of every French movie. When we got back to St. Hilaire, I asked about taking a tandem paraglider flight and was able to get one with one of the instructors. He looked like a good one with long rastafarian hairdo and relaxed living wardrobe. The flight makes me want to take lessons. There was no wind so the instructor said we'd have to run the length of the launch (www.prevol.com if you want to check out the webcam and see the launch). Katie said later that it looked like the instructor was having a hard time keeping up with me. He ran right behind me and had the added jjob of keeping his feet from tangling with mine. He turned right after we were airborn so our wing time was about 10 feet off the cliff face (dead calm at this time) and we flew in and out for a few thousand feet along the face before heading out over the valley. At my request he did some maneuvers including one of those fast 360s where you get some nice G forces going and also a couple of what he called wingovers (but with a French accent). He let me do all the flying after those though I think he helped out on the last moment before we touched the ground. (I got to do the approach - for once I couldn't come in like a bat out of hell.)

From there we headed to Paris with the most exciting moment occuring when I, the navigator, directed Katie, the driver, into and out of the roundabout that has the Arc de Triomph in the center. No dents and no horns blasted at us. Tres bien fait.

Got home yesterday late afternoon and am taking the day off to take care of that mohawk lawn, clean up the cat barf, buy some olive oil, and sooth Gadwinia's ruffled feathers.

Christy

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This page last updated May 31, 2001