Well, today was an interesting one! Thanks to some last minute planning me and a few friends decided to head to see Stage 20 of the Tour de France which was due to finish in Alpe d'Huez. Having been to a stage last year near Grenoble we knew roughly what we needed to take, however working the same day we were setting off made it all harder to achieve! Thanks to teamwork and several stops at shops along the way we were all set and ready to camp.
The journey was one a few of us had done before, with a few minor changes due to roadworks but we made good time getting to Le Bourg d'Oisans, the small town at the bottom of the ascent to Alpe d'Huez. En route we encountered one of the best thunderstorms I have seen in my whole time here. The Lightning was almost continuous and was so bright, that the headlights on the car seemed pointless at times.
Once we had arrived the rain and storms were behind us so we looked a suitable campsite; a grassy area on the edge of a roundabout and we set up the tents. Within ten minutes or so I had mine fully set up and good to go but I suppose that's the joys of having a tent for so long, it's practically second nature using it! After that, I moved on to help the others who hadn't even got theirs out of the packing because they were that new.
Tents pitched it was tea time. We got out the camping stoves and got started; chicken pasta and sauce, my favourite! Once it was cooked (and a little carbonised for extra flavour), we dished up and as we were about to eat, the storm caught up with us and the heavens opened. The rain was so heavy it was like standing in a shower! In an attempt to stay a little dry we retreated to the car and ate by car light. Once we had had our fill we all retired to out tents.
The next morning was an early start, thanks to all the cars and trucks beeping their horns at all the tents and campervans. So, up early and our cowboy breakfast on the go; bacon, eggs and beans. Breakfast eaten, tents packed away and cars packed we set off for Alpe d'Huez.
On the way we passed loads of other people as well as stalls selling almost everything with the Tour de France logo on. I decided it would be good spot to get the drone out and sent it up a few minutes later. I instantly got attention from a few people; one of which was a Gendarme, the French armed police. I was expecting to be given a warning and told to stop so I brought it straight down as he approached. To my surprise however, he was just curious as to what it was and how it worked. Having had a little chat in Fre-nglish he seemed happy with me continuing to use it so it sent it back up and carried on!
Since some of the group has moved on I decided to get a moving shot down the road, catch them up and then land in the grassy area next to the road further down. Once we had all met up again I started to bring the drone back down when another Gendarme came over and was practically yelling at me in French.
After some translations, thanks to a member of our group, I realised he wanted me to land straight away. Once I had landed and packed away I went to carry on my way but was then told I needed to show my ID (which I didn't have with me!). Eventually they just took a friends details and warned me not to fly it again. In the end I didn't manage to fly it again anyway as the wind was too unpredictable and there were no safe landing areas.
Until next time,
Bob