i have finally added a set of holiday photos in the french alps to flickr…

we started off in grenoble for a couple of days meeting up with the glocks – i have known matt for a while so it was great to hang out with the family and watch the fireworks on bastille day. we caught the funicular to catch a view of the city, loved the fountain, and wandered around at night. then we took a day to visit the chartreuse monastery – these are the monks filmed in the film into great silence. they have communities all round the world and part of their vision is sustainability – this slogan shows that they don’t want to have to ask others for money. the chartreuse liquor they have developed (we visited the vaults and tasted some – 59% tastes like mediciine!) has clearly brought in a lot of money. having looked at communities a bit in the last few years i was interested to see just how thick their rule is. a bizarre quirk of the visit was watching a film about the monks in 3d specs – got to love this photo of matt and sylvie donning the glasses.

then it was off to la chambre de la chevre, a converted goat house in a tiny hamlet on a thin windy track in the alps 1800m above sea level. there was no electricity, just gas and then in the evening an open fire, candles and parrafin lamps – which of course meant a holiday from computers… it was an absolutely wonderful place – the view from the balcony of la meije mountain was breathtaking and seemed to look different every time you looked. we’ve not done a mountain holiday before but had a great time climbing, rafting, swimming in mountain lakes. we got a cable car up to snow topped mountains above la grave where harry fulfilled an ambition of his of being in a cloud and we visited an ice cave full of ice sculptures. opposite the goat house was a climb up to a peak with the most amazing bench i have ever encountered with an amazing view to contemplate the mountains. the alpine fields are an array of colour with all sorts of dazzling flowers. the glocks came out one day to visit and walked up there with us. this photo is pascal standing on a rock dangling his foot over a drop below!

we only had one rainy day where we literally in cloud all day. but in its own way that is magical in the mountains. a highlight of course was the visit to the alpe d’huez to watch the spectacle of the tour de france where sastre sealed winning the tour. this year joel nad harry had both finished school because of exams so it was a rare chance for us to be able to watch a stage of the tour. it totally lived up to expectations.

it was an amazing holiday. the photos only capture a glimpse of how stunning the alps are…