Écrins - Savoie Alps - Vercors
First light on the Obiou (2790 m.) in the Dévoluy massif.
View from the hotel.
Looking over the valley of the Lac du Sautet to the L’Obiou (2790 m.) in the Dévoluy massif
Snow on the peaks of the Écrins and Dévoluy, view from Sanctuaire de Notre-Dame de la Salette (1769 m.)
Breakfast in the Écrins, lunch with the Alps, tea in the Vercors and dinner in Marseille.
Le Dévoluy
Crossroads just down from Col de Festre (1442m.)
A brilliant afternoon riding the Col de Festre (1442 m.), Le Dévoluy and Gorge of the Souloise. Dévoluy is a short side trip off the Route Napoléon and well worth the detour if you have the time.
Test ride: Honda CB500X 2019
I booked a short test ride on the Honda CB500X middleweight trails/adventure bike. I’ve checked put various models on paper as I’m looking for a bike for road touring but with the capacity to go on white roads and forest roads in the South as and when the opportunity presents itself. Meanwhile there are plenty of those roads in the craggy limestone mountains around Marseille and even more when you go in to Haute-Provence and the Alps. So not a bike for a trip across the Sahara à la Paris-Dakar, for which the Africa Twin is the acknowledged tool for the job.
Ride to Rye
Riding with friends: twenty GBMCC riders from three regions converged near Gatwick for a ride to Rye on routes over the Sussex Weald and Ashdown Forest.
Comparing Zierfandler from Gumpoldskirchen with Grüner Veltliner from Traisental
Two fine Austrian white wines: Zierfandler 2015 trocken, Winzergenossenschaft Gumpoldskirchen with Grüner Veltliner 2017, Domaine Huber, Traisental. Comparing a forward-thinking bottle of Zierfandler from Gumpoldskirchen with a classic Grüner Veltliner from Traisental.
Read more: Comparing Zierfandler from Gumpoldskirchen with Grüner Veltliner from Traisental
Cité Radieuse de Marseille - Immeuble Le Corbusier
Modernist living: visiting the visionary block of apartments in Marseille by the renowned architect Le Corbusier.
More photos: Cité Radieuse de Marseille - Immeuble Le Corbusier
Ouse Valley, Sussex High Weald
My spring bimble from Balcombe to Haywards Heath via the valley of the Sussex Ouse, with its famous railway viaduct on the London to Brighton mainline.
“Wish Me Luck” France shoot - 1988
Photos from the location shoot for the London Weekend Television drama “Wish Me Luck” in September and October 1988.
