Hello friends!  I am in la belle France, le Rivier d’Ornon, Departement d l’Isere, n the Rhone Alpes in south east France.

I will begin with an apology, I have been slow to write and having computer problems so the photos and gps tracks may be delayed.

I met up with Larry Gomes in the Newark airport and we hung out in the United lounge until boarding.   After pulling away from the gate the skies opened with a huge thunderstorm and heavy rain.  The pilot announced that we would be sitting on the ground for an estimated 1 to 2 hours.  We finally took off about 2 hours late, and the flight was uneventful.   Larry’s friend who is a senior flight attendant on United had emailed the crew of our flight and they gave us each a bottle of wine from the first class cabin – they had intended to give the wine to us at dinner but we were asleep immediately after eating – also missing the ice cream they were going to bring us from first class, too.  Larry and I sat together for the flight – in steerage, but it wasn’t bad.  They gave everyone pillows and blankets and a voucher for a glass of wine and 10% off our next flight when we boarded.  I guess they knew then there would be a delay for takeoff.

When we arrived in Geneva about 2 hours late it was pouring just as hard as it was raining in Newark when we left.  Larry told me it was a downpour as he departed Denver, so I guess we know whose fault it was. It took a while to collect the bikes because Larry’s didn’t show up until we went to complain to the baggage department.  They found it and then we went out to look for Chris.  It took us a while to connect because my phone did not get on the network for a while, and when I called him his phone didn’t ring.  He had been waiting for us and somehow we didn’t see each other. After a half hour his call to me went through and we found each other.  It continued to rain throughout the 3 hour drive south to Rivier d’Ornon.  After we unloaded the luggage and assembled the bikes and had a bite to eat and catch our breaths we got back in the car and drove into the nearby “real town” Bourg d’Oisans which is about 6 miles away.  We walked through the town as the skies cleared and sat in a cafe for a beer (for me) and a panini (for Chris) as Larry watched.  Then we returned to the lodge around 6pm and the guests are all in the living room staring at their individual screens waiting for the 8pm dinner bell.

The lodge is nice, but rustic.  The town is hardly more than a few narrow alleys with ancient houses and barns cheek to jowl on the side of a narrow gorge.  It is very picturesque and strange to see how people are packed together in the midst of a magnificent wilderness.  The valleys are surrounded by steep cliffs with waterfalls cascading off the rocks everywhere, probably more than usual from all the rain today.  The proprietors are Guy and Helen, a very “amiable” young English couple with a 2 year old daughter Alice.  We drove the bags to the lodge then had to move the car a couple of hundred yards away to the edge of the “town” where there were a few parking spots.  Imagine Siena but 1/1000 the size and rural, and Portwen but 1/100 the size wedged into a spectacular alpine valley.  I suspect Rivier d’Ornon has all the characters for a Doc Martin TV series, but you might meet ALL the residents in the first day.  There are no stores in Rivier d’Ornon.

Helen had put out a nice pound cake, some bread and nutella, and a good lactose-free pasta dish in the refrigerator for the afternoon snack.  But I look forward to a hearty dinner and a good night’s sleep.  The adventure begins!