1st time I follow a gliding and paragliding competition live on internet !!!

The World air games have started in Torino (Italy). I just went to the web site www.wag2009.com and clicked on the link Live streaming, wondering what this would be about. Probably some cameras on the ground shooting the demos in the air... Could not me more wrong. First the first time I attended a race comment based on Google earth images, real time ! All the gliders transmitting real time their position, altitude, climbing rate.

Unbelievable ! we got there were we can now shoot and comment real events, tactics...without a camera... Distance gliding race like you have never seen it ! Next could added some cameras on the ground or in some of the gliders in order to also give the real atmosphere... Could Gliding become a TV sport ? I think it can with that technology.

New adventures for this summer ? Seems like it :-)

The Summer is getting closer and it will be time to ensure that the paragliding skills are dust free. The gang is forming again and coming from multiple continents, pilots are preparing their venue to France for August. Get ready, Inspect your equipment, reserve your plane tickets and lets thermal ! Vero, Lulu , Arnel, Erik, Arturo, Michele, Anatole, Viera, Maria, Bea are already enlisted. Desertion is not an option :-) We will make sure that the organization will be flawless. If it is not, ...that is part of the fun :-)

I started to learn how to use this kind of lamp while in the US with Craig. I must admit that it is more complicated, heavier, need to be handled carefully and with good maintenance... and why is that so that this is so enjoyable to have a leaving object like that... Elegant. Useful. Complicated and basic at the same time. Where you have to spend the time to take care of it and learn how it behaves... : I must be getting old to enjoy that :-)



Coleman is the oldest manufacturer in US for pressure lamps. In Europe, I think the Petromax is the reference...
I ordered one and hope to get it next week.
It is so interesting to surf on the net and discover that there are clubs of users, taking care of their lamps together and educating new users... I read on a post somewhere that so many stories have been written at the light of those lamps, during marvelous trips, adventures and experiences... I like that thought.

PS: It is good to be in love :-)

A fun evening for his 70 years anniversary

Yesterday was my father's 70 years anniversary.. a lot of people there:-)

Settling down and practicing weekend escapes

After about a year in Paris, I can say that we are settling down. The apartment is in order, the kitchen looks like a kitchen and we start to have our habits like the favorite bakery and stuff like that. Lately, the focus has been on improving our capability to escape for weekends. That is not a trivial thing ! with the crazy life and traffic in the capital, leaving the city is always a rush.

Here is a video that gives an idea of what we are escaping to...


The latest major improvement in that area has join the family today: an Eriba Puck 120 GT from 1992 that we are acquiring from a really nice couple who unfortunately can not use it anymore. I hope we can enjoy it as much as they did.
This will greatly improve our level of organization and enable to be ready to leave Paris on Friday evenings without forgetting half of the equipments.

Becoming the owner of a Puck seems to be a bit like entering a sect: We are now one of them ! High fives on the high way, forums on the internet, gathering and emos remote locations... The inside decoration is a bit 70's but that's why I love it.




Rockin '

Another "vol et ski" weekend ... Chamois, Italy.

This time we went to Italy. Easy to find : go to Chamonix where people speak french, and continue south until they talk something else. The competition was taking place in Chamois, just next to "the Cervin", also known as the Matter Horn. One of the most famous northern face in alpin mountains. Thierry was organising and despite his landing in the wall (see the video), everything was perfect ...


Thanks to Anatole for the ride. Too bad Maria and Viera did not make it !!! pleaaasse recover fast from your skying and rock climbing excess...
After long discussion we decided not to put AC/DC as music and go for something sweeter but still rock. As U2 is touring for their latest album in Europe... that's an easy choice. PS: Bea : You ROCK !!!

Found another video from the last weekend ...

I am for sure spending too much time on the internet those days looking for the best way to travel next summer (minibus or caravan ... that is the question) with the group and pretending that a rainy day in Paris is not that bad. I thus found that video posted by another "vol et ski" competitor of the weekend in Les Saisies.

http://vimeo.com/2826016

I hope that the weather will be good for the one in Saint Gervais in few weeks. Thierry, is also organizing one in Italy as Chamois near Aosta. that would be great to also be there.

For what comes to the transportation , I am really tempted by the little Eriba caravan "Puck" but it is so hard to get a second hand and the new ones are just outrageously expensive. At that price, I would rather go for a second hand transit or VW California.

Back in the air ... Back on the net ...

After a long long period of radio silence, It started to be itchy and I had been thinking for a while to start to post again. Finally, last weekend activity was the perfect occasion. I could always argue that it took a real long time to settle down in Paris but this is had been done for a while already. The house warming party was real nice, the apartment starts to look like... an apartment. So it must have just been that I did not really feel like it. But now, the time has come to publish again and as I got time to take the weekend to go flying in the Alps with the pals... I took some videos with my Nokia N95. Only one remark to my pilot friends in the US : you gotta start organizing "Vol et ski" weekends. For more info look on the site www.voletski.fr. This session was my first ever, but it has been organized for over 12 years in different locations. In France, there is one competition almost every weekend and there are some more in Italy, Austria and Germany. Maybe elsewhere. In the meantime, have a look at this little video which tries to give a idea of the extremely stressful time we had.

Veronique was asking me while watching the video if that would give ideas to Arnel, Nova, Erik, Brad, Arturo, Jeff ...

I certainly hope so :-) !!!!