Starry night

[This post describes Saturday evening.]

I leaned my bike against a stone to get a picture of it in front of the view.

A car pulled up and I heard American voices get out and start taking pictures. They were loud and spoiling my moment. I cursed inwardly.

As I was taking my photo I heard one of them say, "Ask this guy if he wants us to take his photo," then I heard, "Photo? Monsieur?"

I could have just told him I was English but it seemed more fun to say, in my most English accent, "Oh that's awfully kind."

The American didn't understand at first and continued to mime taking a photo. I said it again and he twigged and his body performed a writhe of embarrassment.

Me and my bike in front of a majestic view, thanks to a kindly group of Americans

They took my photo and already I felt a bit guilty for my trick. It was actually very thoughtful of them to offer and it was nice to have a photo of me and my bike at the top. We got chatting and they had an easy charm, and seemed open to the world, almost innocent. I told them about my trip and they were impressed. They were in France - I was two feet inside France - representing the US at the European hillclimbing* championships and suggested I come along to watch ("Come along, they've got one of your guys, and English guy there. Oh you'll love it!"). It was nearby and started early tomorrow.

I shook their hands and wished them luck for tomorrow and they got back in their car and drove off.

A Spanish father was taking a picture of his family. Inspired by the Americans, I offered to take their photo so they could have all the family in the picture. We got chatting and they were also impressed by my trip. ("Que merito!")

A good spot for a picnic dinner

After all the photos were done, I walked over to a flat piece of grass overlooking the clouds, which would get a good view of the sunset. I changed out of my cycling clothes and sat down to a picnic dinner as the sun went down.

Watching the sun go down

Just before it got too dark to see, I laid out my bed for the night: a rollmat, gore-tex bivi bag, sleeping bag, cotton liner and an army-issue tarpaulin spread over the top, pinned down with big stones. I wriggled into my sleeping bag trying not to mess up the tarp and arranged some clothes as a pillow. It was surprisingly cosy and I lay on my back watching a thin sliver of moon sink behind the horizon as the stars came out.

I tried to read but was too tired so I dozed off.

I woke in the night and spent nearly an hour watching the stars. Up here, away from the city lights, the stars were magnificent. You could clearly see the thick band of the milky way stretch across the sky and I watched countless shooting stars. I took a number of slower-moving objects to be satellites.

It was the man-made satellites orbiting high above that gave me an eery feeling.

BC


*more on this later