Bikes at Rasteau - photo gallery
Gallery of my photos of motorbikes parked overnight at our club’s annual general meeting.
Puy de l'Angle, 1738 m., Sancy, Auvergne
Arriving well after sunset and not really aware of where I had ended up, except that there was a lot of snow, next morning I climbed 120 metres or so above the refuge at the col for a view of the volcanic mountains right opposite in the coloured light of a magnificent sunrise. There was no wind, but the thermometer on my rucksac showed -12°C; every footfall made a loud cracking noise in the stillness. No traffic except the snow plough, spreading grit on the pass road.
We were staying at the Col de la Croix Morand, 1401 m, above the town of Le Mont Dore in the Auvergne in a weekend arranged by the French motorbike club AMA (thanks Édouard, Jean-Paul and Éric). Immediately facing the Buron du Col refuge are mountains of the Puy de Sancy range, the Puy de la Tache, 1629 m., Puy de Monne, 1692 m. and Puy de l’Angle, 1738 m., the highest of the range, which was our stop for lunch.
Circuit du Castellet
Fine day’s riding but a bit more of an adventure than I had hoped for. The bike’s battery, that was new in August 2014, let me down despite being charged the previous day. Had to be recovered.
Good side is that the bike shop who keep me running has been taken over. Not a surprise and that was one reason for intending to pass by the place in Peyrolles but meeting them first in a recovery situation wasn’t in my plan! The new guys are race bikers not town riders or trail bikers; they look to be setting up a track bike hire and training business.
So I made my itinerary pass by the Circuit du Castellet for a quick coffee and to check out things. It’s also known as the Circuit Paul Ricard as it was founded by the drinks magnate of Pastis Ricard fame. The track is suddenly being bike friendly again, including hosting the Bol d’Or in September, the 24-hour race: those riders must be really mad...
Blue skies, low wind and air temperature 18°C.
Beauregard, 1647 m., La Clusaz, Savoie
I hiked on snow shoes (that the French call raquettes) from the top of the Beauregard lift (1647 m.) up from La Clusaz in Haute-Savoie. The mountains are the Chaine des Aravis and the glaciers of the Mont Blanc massif. The skier is going down the cross-country black route down from the lift.
Me, this was the first time I have been to a ski report in winter, let alone getting up on to the snow. I was staying with Arno in Annecy and was trying out hiking using raquettes (Raquettes à neige) that I’d bought just the previous evening. Sure, hiking with raquettes is literally the most pedestrian of the Nordic winter sports, but having the equipment to get away from the crowds at the top of the télécabine and being able to enjoy the winter wonderland at 1450 or 1500 metres or so was a revelation, even without the adrenaline rush of downhill skiing. The clarity of the air, the sheer brightness of the fresh snow and the apparent proximity to big rocks and Europe’s highest mountains was fantastic.
Abbey Woods & Erith
Varied and rewarding walk along the Thames Estuary starting and returning to Abbey Wood rail station on a circular route comprising paths of the Green Chain and the Thames Path routes. We were surprised and impressed by the quiet grandeur of the river Thames, here fully tidal in the estuary downstream of the Thames Barrier. And there really is a ruined Augustinian abbey in the woods at Abbey Wood!
Andrea Chénier - The Royal Opera
This was a great night at the Royal Opera. Spectacular singing not just of the first class but exceptional at the international level and showcased in a bright new production that added to the understanding of the story. Enrico Carouso sang Andrea Chénier, the title role, here at Covent Garden for two performances in July 1907 in a revival of the production of 1905, those performances must have been similarly thrilling in the style of those times.
Andrea Chénier has a reputation as one of those operas which gives grand opera a bad name but in an immensely pleasurably way. Umberto Giordano wrote Andrea Chénier a couple of decades before World War 1, at the time of the French Belle Époque, but looking back at the French revolution, then a century previously. Royal Opera’s new production uses detailed, luscious period costumes and a cameo ballet.
Jonas Kaufmann as Andrea Chénier is the star tenor everyone has paid to see and hear, and he delivered. At times sweet, strong, dramatic, innocent and idealist. Believably potentially carnal and equally believably never having known love. His duets thrilling in the way only Italian opera delivers. Giondano was a successor to Verdi but signed to a rival publisher to Puccini’s; he gives us but one or two big numbers in each act but they are magnificent.
Apexes on the Col de l'Espigoulier
New white leathers, new boots, new crash hat and a couple of fine days to practice skills on the Col de l’Espigoulier (723 m. altitude), It’s less than half an hour from Marseille and as tortuous as its name suggests.
South side was pretty much dry and the surface is in good condition, apart from burnt rubber tracks from cars. Clear blue sky means Mistral wind here but not a problem on the south side of the mountain. So ran the route a couple of times to practice yesterday and also today and found various other motorbikers to have chats with, this being Friday afternoon.
Constructing Worlds - Barbican - November 2014
Constructing Worlds: Photography and Architecture in the Modern Age
Barbican Art Gallery
A comprehensive survey of photographs of buildings starting with a selection of Berenice Abbott’s dramatic photographs of a dynamic New York City and moving through to near-contemporary photographs of construction in China and destruction in Iraq; finally, celebratory, hopeful pictures of humans living despite architecture in Caracas, Venezuela.
These are largely the photographs the architects want us to see, photographs which communicate the vision. So we see Le Corbusier's work through the lens of his preferred photographer, Lucien Hervé. Viewed as a group from afar, these high contrast prints are reduced to records of the implementation of the design concept rather than dwelling places for real people.
