Well today the weather was stunning, as I believe it was also in Jersey. Hardly seems fair. 

Blue skies, lovely temperatures (16-18C), and no wind. Perfect conditions for an attempt on the Chateau de Pyrepertuse, after doing our washing, which we left hanging outside for the rest of the day. 

By way of background, and in our defence, no-one had told us that there was a car park much closer to the top. Just because Nick and Sal, we presume, had hiked all the way up from the aire, we’d assumed this was the only viable way. 

So we headed on up, me having to ignore Sophie’s occasional grunts and groans of regret. This was not a problem because this was her idea after all. I did suggest we turn right round if she wanted to, but after achieving so much it is hard to stop. 

In this fashion we hiked an awful way up the seemingly vertical rough rocky path and eventually reached a road, which was a big surprise, as we’d assumed the only way up was on foot. Although we were probably perhaps 90% of the way there we made the mutual decision, with the near vertical cliffs just above us, and given we’d achieved an awful lot, had seen the castle close up, to turn around there. 

I literally saw a Pyrenean vulture circling above us about this time, so that was the clear decider. 

I would never, ever encourage anyone to read the Daily Mail, but the following seemed apt, found when I was searching for a photo of a vulture:

As we began our walk down the hill we almost immediately saw the place where motorhomes are supposed to park. Couldn’t believe it. 

We decided to enjoy a very leisurely stroll down the road, rather than the rough old path, & stopped halfway to enjoy our baguette with cheddar, tomatoes, & cucumber, with one of Sophie’s nutty chocolates for extra energy. 

After our 2 hour plus excursion, which my wristband told us was the equivalent of climbing 71 flights of stairs (256 metres to be exact, which must be about 750ft in old language, and fortunately not 1,000ft, given that Sophie is actually 52 & the clear vulture risk), we spent a leisurely afternoon trying to keep cool on the van, including soaking our feet in cold water.