SFra -8: Mt.Ventoux; le Buc

Great day here in southern France: NO clouds at all and excellent visibility (> 120km), but hard to find a site to fly as in the morning everything indicated winds out of the North/ Northwest, sometimes quite strong, especially at higher altitudes.

So Martin and I decided to drive towards Sédéron, about an hour west of Sisiteron, which offers TO possibilities in many directions and with 'le Buc' and 'Bergiers' has to sites close together. When we first got there, the wind came out of the East, which was totally unexpected and is the only direction, for which there is no launch. We saw one paraglider launching from nearby 'Bergiers', but he sank out very quickly. So instead of waiting on launch for the wind to switch we headed for 'Mont Ventoux', with 1912m the highest mountain in this region. The name 'Ventoux' derives from 'vent' = wind, and normally is a very windy spot. Mt.Ventoux is a 'famous' mountain for cyclists: the Tour de France often arrives here and it seems to be a 'must' for many bikers.
We actually found to LITTLE wind and could just make a sled ride on the North side.

Martin

looking NW towards the Rhone valley

LZ in Mt.Serein, probably one of the nicest LZs in Southern France.

We drove back to the top hoping for some more wind and thus some soaring, but the wind was even weaker... Back to 'le Buc', where the winds had sitched to North (as we had hoped); but also here too weak to permit more than a prolonged sledder.

looking NE: 'les Ecrins', about 120kms away

'Le Buc' - observe the large 'windsock'

But all in all it has been a great day! Nice company: Martin & Dorothée (which drove the car down twice), excellent visibility and colours, beautiful countryside with pittoresque villages and even though just 2 short flights, but 2 sites I hadn't flown before - what more to wish for!?