Ok, so I got soft.
Glomming on wine and cheese in Paris. Cruising down the Rhône on a luxury river boat. Growing soft and indolent and…old.
So I said to myself: Myself I said, what would your fellows in the Shining Rock Orienteering Society think? That you’ve come to this.
It’s like Bruce Willis went to France and suddenly turned into Oscar Wilde.
So I took myself to the nearest mountain.
Oh, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that this photo has obviously been photo shopped. But in truth, I don’t use Photoshop. I use Apple Keynote.
Still, I did walk 2.23 miles from Chalet Reynard to maybe almost nearly halfway to the summit of MV. And I woulda walked even further except that we came to the Windex Passe (French for Windy Pass) and I discovered that while the spirit was still willing, the flesh was caving in under the pressure of freezing, hurricane-force winds.
Plus my right knee was asking me “What in the hell do you think you’re doing, Dude?”
It was a good question.
But that’s not the point, friend and neighbors. The point is that the French have a nasty habit of inverting their road signs. So who’s to point a finger at a 76-year-old-man who’s trying to keep body and soul together.
But I digress.,
Speaking of signs, we came across this one on the trail.
It’s an emergency stop button for the ski lift that passes overhead. In case anybody does anything stupid.
This is the first French sign I’ve seen that uses English “Emergency stop” right at the top.
Almost as though they naturally assume that if anybody does anything stupid, it’ll be an American.
The point is that Le Ventroux is a fabulous destination.
And whether you hike it, bike it or drive it, you really ought to see it,
We came upon this somber memorial to a fallen cyclist.
Cyclists on their way to the summit leave a water bottle in tribute.
Oh, and on a clear day you can see the Alps.
I came. I saw. I blogged.
FreeGNV 