Meandering through France

Friday I drove from Pamplona (Spain) to Annecy (France), the location where the hang gliding sport class and women's open class world championships were held a few weeks ago.  I had no idea what a huge gathering place Annecy is; when I drove through the town Friday night, there must have been at least 100,000 people walking around downtown and the lakefront.  By the way - if you ever drive through France, bring lots of cash - the tolls on Friday were 90 Euro's (about $120) and they apparently only take French credit cards.

Saturday morning I went up to the launches, the drive and the views were spectacular!!  Then I decided since I can't hang glide over Annecy, I can use the help of a motor - so I took a tandem "trike" ride.  A trike is an oversided hang glider with a tricycle carriage, 3 wheels, 2 seats, and a big engine attached.  I found it oddly relaxing - the engine/prop noise was not too bad because of the headphones, and the vibration was not very great.  I concluded it's like hang gliding but without the stress (how will I stay up? where will I land?).

Easy to take pictures when I don't have to fly!

My pilot, Dominik

Saturday afternoon I drove to Laragne, France, the site of the Belgian Nationals - the second comp I had planned to fly in.  The mountains all along the drive from Annecy to Larange (about 5 hours) were like driving through a giant national park in the western U.S. When I got to Laragne, I was surprised by the large number of pilots in the landing zone / campground, not only those here for the comp, but those who come here to free fly during the "season".  Since the pilots in the comp are from multiple European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain), everything is being conducted in English - much easier for me!!

Saturday night I met and hung out with a German couple and we talked for about an hour (mostly in German), and Sunday morning I met an Australian pilot (who is now living in France) and we drove up the mountain to see the launches (there's no flying today due to unsuitable weather).  They had great ramp launches both north and south, and the scenery was awesome in every direction.

Dawson at one of the north launches.

Cliff at the top south launch.

I had an interesting moment when I was hanging out in the campground with two French couples.  We were joking around about stuff, as they were trying to talk in English, with some funny results.  When they told me they were from Normandy ("Omaha beach"), I mentioned that the father of my wife had flown in the Eighth Air Force during the second world war, that he had been shot down over Germany, and had been a prisoner for almost two years.  Suddenly there was complete silence and then they all wanted to thank me and shake my hand.  I told them I accepted on behalf of my father-in-law, and my father (who was in naval combat in the Pacific).