Sport-y Weekend

Frenchguy's childhood friend celebrated his 40th birthday last weekend. May 17 being the Ascension Day, most of the attendees took their Friday off to have a long 4-day weekend. It was a big sport-themed getaway which they started to plan months ago. Frenchguy's brother came all the way from Mali (Africa) to attend the occasion. Another friend came from La Réunion and Moi came direct from Pennsylvania. The rest, of course, came from France Metropolitan - mostly counting 13-hours drive to destination. Yeah, that far.

We arrived Friday late afternoon at Chateau-Ville Vieille in Queyras, at the QueyRaft station. The boss Rafter is a friend and most of the attendees are experienced kayakers. A lot of friends were already there. Some tired of rafting (the level of water is too high, no kayak is allowed), some tipsy over gallons of wine, some just chit-chatting, catching over the lost years. What I hate about arriving late is that I have to do beso-beso to everybody instead of waiting for the newcomer to do the bises. And take note, the traditionnal 4 times the bises in Frenchguy's region is a no-joke.

After the courtesy bonjour to everybody, we headed direct to the gite so I could take a quick nap before the soirée. At 10pm, Louna and I were already ready for the big night. The sausage-wine menu was not at all a welcome treat after the 10 days spent in the US but the fun must go on, right? A little after midnight, I bid everybody goodbye, taking Louna as my alibi.

The next day was a speedy transition - a jetlag swiper. Just as Louna dozed off for her morning nap, Frenchguy and I geared up for our Via Ferrata adventure. The trail is so picture-prefect that it was just too sad that we didn't bring our camera, afraid of losing it to the wild river below us. In fact, the trail runs along the gorge at the left side of the castle. The raging sound of the Guil river below us just adds up more excitement, not to mention the number of rafters passing by. The ambiance was festive. I was already dreaming of doing that activity with my Louna.

Just as we arrived from an hour of Via Ferrata, another group was gearing up for a 2-hour raft. Frenchguy told me to go and he would take care of Louna. I was hesitant at first but just gave in to the adventure. The 2-hour ride included 6 rapids and lots of fun. I was soaking wet but no regrets. I just forgot that I had to complain about jetlag.

The next day was Frenchguy's day. He and his friends did a 3-hour raft in the most exciting and most difficult part of the river. The rest of the day was spent relating funny tales about the weekend. Later that Sunday afternoon, the beso-beso part of the adventure came. Time to get back to reality.

We actually decided to spend one more day in that area - our family day. It's Louna's first ever hike. Well, we actually did hike already with her - a lot of times, but it's her first time to actually walk like a real baby-hiker - out of the baby backpack. It was 100% fun. She's just as excited as we were. And look at her munching her own sandwich. Who would say she's just 18 months old?

Let me leave you with some pictures taken just after the hike. Look at her tan. And look how kulit she looks.