Saturday 1st September part 2
Since Tuesday and my wonderful adventure with Heather I have not done much at all. I am actually finding it nice as Provence was very busy for me, visiting all the villages and markets. It is nice now to have a few days rest at home, although I haven't been doing totally nothing. We have had a trip to the laundrette, supermarket and visited the boulangerie daily. This lack of exploring is mainly due to the fact the weather has turned. When we arrived last Saturday it was splendid sunshine and we were all wearing shorts and t-shirts. Wednesday the rain started and on Thursday Neil did his first wet ride. Yesterday Neil went out on a semi-clear day with threatening clouds and returned with pictures of snow from the higher altitudes. Those higher altitudes were the slopes of the Col du Galibier that we drove up in gorgeous sunshine earlier in the week. When we went out for an afternoon outing to the town's mineral museum some of the clouds that had been hiding the mountain peaks temporarily cleared and we were treated to a wonderful sight of all the peaks around us covered in snow. Of course Heather started dancing at the sight and I put on an extra jumper when I walked outside into a freezing wind. How things can change in the mountains. Summer clothes are now packed away and winter woollies are out. Neil has taken up the sport of weather watching again, changing his mind continuously on what ride to do next and watching the sky to see what the clouds are doing. Two of his remaining rides are well above 2000m which is where the snow is starting to settle so he is not keen to do them until the snow melts due to safety and it is a little warmer. This morning I rugged up and braved the weekly market in town in the wind and rain but looking at the snowy peaks were cool (literally), and at least the fruit and vegies weren't wilting in the sun like they were in Provence.
I mentioned the mineral museum earlier. The whole family came along to learn about what is found in the surrounding mountains. It was a small museum but had a wonderful collection of minerals most of which were found a stone's throw from here. Some of the quartz crystals were very impressive and you start to look at the mountains differently once you know what they are hiding. After the museum we had a quick stop at the playground before it started raining again and we headed home via the boulangerie.
Tomorrow as Neil mentioned is the annual fair in town, so we are all going to escape the house and go and see what is on offer. We are intrigued as our street is closed to cars from 8pm tonight (we have had to park elsewhere) and most of the carparks and town streets will be closed. So we are expecting quite a show. The kids are also excited being Fathers Day and they can shower daddy with the goodies we have picked up along the way.
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