Irton Fell & Miterdale Forest - Lake District National Park
Low level hike in the calm between storms. Up a steep path through the trees to Irton Pike (230 m.). Grand view from Irton Fell over Wast Water to the central fells and out to Ravenscraig in the opposite direction. Dry but the cloud level pretty low. Early picnic over the ridge to Miterdale then the descent through Miterdale Forest to get home before the next storm rattles the roofs.
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GBMCC London Christmas lunch 2024
Once more our traditional lunchtime club gathering on the banks of the Thames at Vauxhall to celebrate Christmas and the end of the biking year. Raffle drawn by the GBMCC London Area Rep, Noam.
Lac de Sainte-Croix
A ride for pure sportsbike fun, enjoying the big sweeping roads around the Lac de Sainte-Croix. Payback time for all those gym sessions and everything else: rides like this make it all worthwhile.
Calanches de Piana - Corsica in November
Golfe de Porto
Embarking at Marseille
Corsica in November, my escape from storms on the continent and taking advantage of Black Friday pricing. Seeing snow on the Corsican mountains at dawn was the first of many memorable sights. The road from Ajaccio to the red rock Calanches goes over two good cols, both reasonable surfaces for a bit of sportsbike fun, though a bit of sand washout. Cool but not cold first thing, and by midday I was opening the vents on my jacket and boots
Beaujolais Nouveau 2024
An evening with a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau 2024 from Les Vins Georges Dubœuf. The wine has a dark ruby red colour, obviously a fresh new taste, but not fruity; it is noticeably dry and not at all tannic. Certainly a pleasant soft, raspberry flavour. The very young wine has a fresh distinctive flavour, the label on the bottle uses the word energetic.
It’s rare that I’ve been able to enjoy Beaujolais Nouveau on the day it is released, so this was a wine experience for me to remember. After the tapenades and Basque charcuterie, I enjoyed the new Beaujolais with poached Julienne in a lemon sauce, Pascal chose Langoustines with Crevettes, from the menu of a favourite restaurant in Marseille.
Château Cissac 2003 - Haut Médoc - Cru bourgeois
Château Cissac was a favourite of my family but it became difficult to obtain, the last of the 1980s bottles has long since gone. However a box of the 2003 vintage became available en primeur and now it’s ready to enjoy.
The wine pours as a dark red colour, an intense cherry red. Initially a low nose even when served well at room temperature. First impression in the mouth was very dry and tannic. As the wine adjusted in the glass the nose became much more prominent and wonderfully evocative of family dinners long ago.
The bottle lasted well as it aired, there was a bit of sediment for sure but the taste in the mouth lasted long after the swig was finished. A real pleasure to enjoy with Terry’s dish of roast rolled pork loin joint covered in Dijon mustard and honey with copious herbs fresh from his garden, accompanied with butterbeans and balsamic reduction.
Wasdale - Western Lake District
Great Gable (899 m.), Scafell peaks (977 m.) and Wast Water
Wasdale
Cold Fell
Awesome scenery: Gable, Scafell and Wast Water seen on my afternoon riding in Wasdale. The low cloud clearing at last. Hazy sunshine, then a fine sunset over the Irish Sea - I could make out the silhouette of the Isle of Man by eye. But air temperature just 6°C by the time I got back to Keswick, with an air frost overnight.
Honister Hause (332 m.) - Lake District National Park
Honister Hause (332 m.), showing the road down Honister Pass from the slate mine. The figures on the “gates” are formed of layers of flat slate. A reminder of the Walking Song in The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkein)
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
St John’s in the Vale - Lake District National Park
Rough How Bridge
Grey and dismal day in Keswick but I wanted to go out on the mountain bike anyhow. I set the camera to black and white as there’s not much colour around, so many shades of grey! The monochrome technique emphasises the shapes and textures; it also separates the man-made hard and regular shapes from the soft textures of nature. Lovely Lakeland landscapes and some gorgeous Highlands.
Working black and white photographs on my screen still brings to mind the smells of the liquids in the darkroom trays of yore: D40, Hypo, and the red and amber light of warm darkroom safelights. Nostalgia will never go out of fashion!
More photos: St John’s in the Vale - Lake District National Park
La fournée de Lodi - Marseille 6ième
Picturesque artisan boulangerie in Marseille 6th arrondissement. Wonderful these places thrive here, their fresh bread, patisseries and Viennoiseries are still some of the great pleasures of life in France. But astonished to see someone reading a book with his petit déj. These are mostly small family businesses, many have been going for generations in the same location. The boulanger here rides a fine bike - a Royal Enfield Himalayan.
Da Vinci Piano Trio at Keswick Music Society
Da Vinci Piano Trio at Keswick Music Society
The new season of Keswick Music Society started with a fine concert of piano trio music. The Da Vinci Trio played four pieces showing the spread of music in this genre: Beethoven innovating by treating each instrument as an individual, Mendelssohn filling the hall with cascades of notes and contrasting the drawn strings with the percussive piano. The student Dimitri Shostakovich exploring various styles which came to feature highly in his later works and the Estonian Arvo Pӓrt treating the trio almost orchestrally.
Nous croyens en l’Europe - Jean Cocteau at Hôtel Napoléon, Menton-Garavan
Nous croyens en l’Europe (We believe in Europe) are illustrations for a tract published by Cocteau in 1961. I see this image as Liberty riding a goat, a reference to Freemasonry and maybe to Cassius Coolidge’s images of Dogs Playing Poker (1894).
Jean Cocteau at Hôtel Napoléon, Menton-Garavan
Permanent display in one of the hotels in Menton-Garavan of works of writer, film director and artist Jean Cocteau (1889-1963); he is maybe best known in England for the title of his novel Les Enfants Terribles (1929). Cocteau developed his own visual style at the height of the Art Deco period, worked with Pablo Picasso, was supported by Henri Matisse, is believed to have worked with Jean Genet on the silent film Un chant d’amour (1950) as film editor (the film was banned by the censors on account of its homosexual content), wrote a hit one act drama/monologue for his unlikely friend Edith Piaf and enjoyed a scandalous life as a homosexual whilst this was illegal in France. He was Chair of the jury of the Cannes Film Festivals of 1953 and 1954. Jean Cocteau wrote and directed his last film Le Testament d’Orphée (1960) with financial support from François Truffaut.
Read more: Nous croyens en l’Europe - Jean Cocteau at Hôtel Napoléon, Menton-Garavan
Monviso & the Sources of the River Po
Hike from the Rifugio Albergo Pian del Re (2040 m.) under the North-east face of Monviso (3841 m.) to see the Sources of the River Po, Italy’s longest river that flows from here in the Cottian Alps to the Adriatic across the whole of the north of the country. Close by is the mountain in France, Le Pain de Sucre (3208 m.), another of the very few summits over 3000 m. to which I've hiked.
