Why does it always hail on me?

I went back to school today... Alistair and Ems gave me more swimming lessons. As a result I knocked 2 mins off my time for swimming a mile :)

After a bit of lunch and a litre of Candy Up, we went to do a little via ferrata.

Via Ferrata du Rocher du Bez is a small circular route designed for beginners. Just as we started though, the dark clouds moved in and it began to hail... in August... in France... Why?

Tournoux

An easy day was planned, after yesterday's 21 hour marathon! So we headed to Puy-Saint Vincent to do another via ferrata.

The via ferrata de Tournoux climbs just to the right of centre (can you see the tiny people on the route?) and then has a descent route down a very steep gully, which means we did a little circuit up and down this impressive crag. Another fantastic route :)

La Via de la Balme

After spending the morning planning our acclimatisation routes, we went to play on another via ferrata :)

La via de la Balme is one of the three original French via ferrata. It was more of a mountain route than the Gorges de la Durance and as a result a lot more exposed in places!

We all sloped off to bed early after tea tonight as we have an alpine start tomorrow...

Gorges de la Durance

After a spot of shopping and a quick bit to eat, we headed to the Gorges de la Durance to do our first via ferrata. This route at one time had the reputation for being the most difficult via ferrata in France. A nice easy one to start with then... :)

This route is brilliant. It has exposed traverses along the Durance and three suspension bridges that cross the gorge. The guide book describes the route as

"not only a route of great class, but [it] is a true classic."

Couldn't agree more :)

Happy Birthday Mum!!