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Storms...or were they?
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A funny old day, this one. The air had an
tropical feel about it; early in the afternoon we could see what appeared
to be huge anvil clouds drifting off into space without being attached to
any feeder clouds, as if there had been just enough energy to form the anvil
before the convection simply gave up. Never one to let the weather get in
the way of a decent flight, I packed the sandwiches and Ariane and I set off
for the parcours. Cloudbase wasn't that high over les Monges, but a step in
the base to the east was enough to get us to Blayeul and away.
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Lac Ste Croix
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As we reached the parcours we noticed the cloud was almost
down on the top of Dormillouse, so we decided to fly south first to give it
a chance to rise. Conditions up to the gorges du Verdon were good, but south
of that, although the clouds all looked good, none of them actually offered
anything in the way of decent lift. It was only when we turned back from the
south of the lake and reached the Serre Montdenier that we found good lift
again. Must be the mountains then...
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We ran back up the parcours and across to Guillaume and the
tete de Lucy, neither of which was working that well. We decided to fly via
Chabrieres to the pic de Bure, which today was wearing an enormous cloudy
hat with the start of an anvil on the top. The sunshine round the edges were
still giving good cumulus, however, and we had no problem touring around the
mountain and on to the ridges by Aspres and Serres.
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Pic de Bure, under a very tall cloud
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Jean Cosnard checks the meat in the
provencale style
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Back on the ground, the club was preparing its monthly
barbecue (it used to be weekly, but le Janus restaurant got a bit
sniffy about club members choosing to eat club meals on club premises...).
And what were we going to get get for our 6€? Aperitifs
with assorted nibbles, saucisson, olives and tapenade; followed by BBQ'd
pork with a sort of potato salad mixed with lardons; and then cheese; and
fruit tart; and coffee. Oh - and all the wine one could possibly want.
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An extra treat for tonight was the surprise appearance of the
Spirits of New Orleans, a five-piece jazz band fronted by the
ebullient Pierre Bourgeois, who has a disconcerting habit of popping up out
of nowhere. The last time we saw him was at the Valernes paella night, and
the time before was at the Ribiers pizza and paella night, and now at the
club's barbecue ... (hang on, can I see a common thread here...?).
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The band
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Pierre: "Do I smell food?"
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The band was excellent, and played for almost the whole
evening. Pierre, ever the showman, obviously loves the music he is playing
and for us, watching and listening, it turned out to be a fabulous evening.
They had also brought along with them a few dozen copies of their latest CD,
Basin Street Promenade. Yes, ok, I'll admit that we bought one...see www.spiritofneworleans.fr
for more.
And, once again, just as it got dark, Jean Cosnard whipped
out his illuminated model aeroplane and gave us another excellent display
(although, regrettably, Celine Dion had apparently still not gone down with
the ship).
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