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View in frosty blue / Horizons bleus
Wintertime : Departure on foot from Mialet in the Cévennes range. About a 2000 foot climb to get a look at the surrounding hills. Hiver : Départ à pied de Mialet dans les Cévennes. Une montée de 600m pour un point de vue dominant.
Iris reticulata
These bulb irises are usually the first ones to bloom in the north mediterranean climate. The first mild days in February bring them into flower, usually lasting about 2 to 3 weeks.
Plum flowers
Original photography by Winston. Smudges by computer. It was plum flower time in Taiwan recently.
End of the road for the Aiguille cable car
I rode up this cable car on 2 Feb 2011 for the last time. As of 8 Feb 2011 this was no longer possible. The cable car (affectionately known in French as the “egg”) is being dismantled. Too old and too slow and (who knows?) maybe dangerous too but this wasn’t on my mind on…
Chapelle de Pise
A chapel that looks to be 800 years old – but was only completed in 1998, built to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Edict of Tolerance (or Edict of Nantes) of 1598. The chapel is a masterpiece of craftsmanship, it is completely isolated in a remote country area and no signposts on local roads…
Skiing in La Foux
The Observatory. An exposed peak in the southern Alps. Altitude 2600 metres. Windy and very cold in January. The way up? an ancient cable car (due to be dismantled for scrap in spring 2011). The way down? A steep ski trail or if you prefer, an even steeper ski trail.
Lakes
There are very few lakes in the Languedoc where rivers and streams are dry for 4 or 5 months of the year.
Notre Dame de Gattigues
In Gattigues there is an old church with foundations dating from the first millennium. It was a way station on the Regordane highway during the middle ages at a time when the traffic from Paris to the Mediterranean sea had to be routed via the Cévennes for military security. The church is built in the…
Lavoirs
Public washbasins are a common sight in the Languedoc. Some were built as late as the 19th century, some earlier. Most were no longer in use by 1960. Today many are dry but some still have running water.
Iron Cross
Everywhere you look in this countryside there are crosses of iron and stone. Legend says that travellers in the middle ages were protected from highway robbery if they took sanctuary next to a cross.
L’Oustanaou
… still frosty in the shade
Hiking trails
2000 feet – Col d’Uglas – Cévennes foothills
Mr Tait’s Banyan Tree
Planted in 1841 and still growing strong. Picture taken by Winston.
Ski season coming up soon
No fear – skiing towards the edge.
Winter scene / Scène d’hiver
The snow-topped hills are in the Cévennes range. Picture taken from a hillside about 40 km east of the ridge. Les Cévennes enneigées. Image prise depuis un point de vue à 40 km à l’est des crêtes.
More landscapes
Towers of Uzés in the foreground and Mont Ventoux on the horizon. Ventoux is about 2000m high and about 80 km away from the camera in this shot. Unusually good visibility in this case.
Hiking on a frosty morning
December-Cèze river valley-Village of Cornillon. Freezing fog and minus 4 degrees C, but all the hikers are ready to go.
