Safe Return Doubtful

Day 83 – at Col de Serre There was a lot of rain overnight. This morning the Col was in thick cloud, but gradually it started to clear. Though the heavy showers kept coming. I had in mind a loop that took in Puy de Niermont at 1620 metres. The…

Day 82 – to Col de Serra (1384 metres) By the time I’d lazed around with the next chapter of Crawford’s book on Borders (a wonderful section about Hadrian’s Wall) the clear skies had darkened. I looked up from my book and was shaken into action. First stop was the…

Day 81 – at Mandailles The heavy morning rain meant even Roja was happy to doze a bit longer and let me concentrate on reading. I’ve just started James Crawford’s The Edge of the Plain, subtitled ‘how borders make and break our world’. I have read books that approach this…

Day 80 – to Mandailles Central southern France seems to have a similar weather pattern to the south of England at present, with heavy showers and thunderstorms sometimes merging into longer periods of rain. I found a gap this morning though, and, with Roja, took on a circuit on the…

Day 79 – to Bruniquel In light rain Roja and I walked into the village this morning, took coffee and watched the morning lives of the locals for a while. There were no visitors except for a table of four ramblers sat opposite me on the terrace, but they were…

Day 78 – to Luvie-Juzon It was a superb night up at the Col de la Hourcère, clear and extremely dark, with a good chance to examine the sky. From 2:30 pm yesterday afternoon, when a couple of motorcyclists passed, no vehicle went by at all. I doubt very much…

Day 77 – to Col de la Hourcère (1450 metres) I moved on this morning after four good days at Larrau, and it’s highly recommended and hospitable little campsite. My first destination was Tardets to use the supermarket, but it was market day, and the place was crammed full of…

Day 76 – at Larrau No bread at the campsite this morning, but there was some available at a house in the village, as this is a holiday weekend in Europe (VE Day). As ever, I was immersed in a book, and left it until late in the morning before…

Day 75 – at Larrau Another very warm morning with storms forecast later in the day, but there were no rapid starts, as I tempted myself to a second coffee and lay reading Charles Willeford’s High Priest of California for an hour or so. Then we took on a longer…