To the Alps ...

Our trip to the Alps started with a long haul to Bourgoin Jallieu near Lyon and the excellent hospitality of Jean-Marc, Véronique and Laura.

From there to St Paul de Varces near Grenoble and the home of Erige and Marie-Paule which dates back to the 16th century.

From here we were able to explore the north end of the Vercours guided by our hosts. It was good training for the coast to coast walk ... 5 hours walking including about 500m of climbing.

If you've watched the Tour de France on TV you would have seen helicopter footage of these spectacular cliffs (Moucherotte), not too far from the famous Alpe D'Huez.

Here Irene is observing chamois grazing 600m below and being urged "just another 10cm forward" for a better view (against all her instincts!) by the imperturbable Erige, and being photographed by François whose viscera tell him he is already too close!

Below, the one kneeling over the edge is the fearless Erige!

Grenoble meanwhile is over 1000m below us.

There were too many wonderful flowers and examples of wildlife to include in a gallery here - maybe later - but here are the beautiful alpine Trolles as a sampler (in English it's prosaically called a globeflower).

 Botanical Note: They may look like the size of Triffids but it's a photographic illusion ... they are only about 25cm high.