Not too far from Aix en Provence you can find a Roman bridge with two arches under which to pass as you cross. I expect that the stones from others were quarried and so this is the last surviving example. If we check the sources we might find mentions of more.
I located it on Google Maps for you
The Via Ferrata Jacques Revaclier is located on the Salève a short drive from Vitam Parc and within easy driving distance of Geneva and Nyon. The Via Ferrata requires scrambling over a few metres of rock to get to the start.
This via Ferrata has two parkings. The first of these is for the Abbaye de Pomier and the second is for the “promeneurs”. If the abbaye parking is empty use this one because you may hit the bottom of your car on the dirt track heaving up to the hiking parking.
This via ferrata goes sideways rather than up and requires you to go down and then up, and then across. You walk under the rock formation pictured below and then get to a section where you are more exposed to seeing the landscape and the landscape below. If you’re used to via ferrata then this is the moment you will enjoy and if you are new to via ferrata then this is the moment that will either convince you of your love for the sport, or to try something tamer next.
When you get to the end of the via ferrata you will come into a cluster of trees and you are meant to follow the red paint back to the path down. This is not well marked so requires some tracking skills. I created a GPS track of this trip. Keep in mind that later in the season the track should be clearer. At the start of the season teams of volunteers have usually not cleared these paths.
Beginners can try this via ferrata but be aware that the last part may be a challenge for beginners so prepare them for the last section. It’s short and easy to surmount but be wary of it.
Yesterday D-Day Film Archives were shared on Facebook. These film archives were of landing crafts landing troops on the beaches, of battleships firing rocket salvos at the coast, of gliders being pulled by planes, of paratroopers getting and more.
Over the years films have been preserved by transferring the footage from one film stock to another and then transferred from film to tapes. The problem with film and tape is that they are stored in a physical location that only archivists have access to. This means that if we’re curious about seeing the footage, like the footage included in this post we would have to go to the film archive and ask for permission to see this footage. Within a few hours, days or weeks we might get an answer. We would have transport costs, access costs and more.
The advantage of digital video archives accessible online is that everything is accessible within a few seconds with the right keywords. This means that a child hearing about the Second World War for the first time can do a quick search and see this footage. History, rather than being words on a page, is brought to life. It stops being an abstract subject for the mind. In this footage, we see our grandparents and our nephews and nieces see their great-grandparents.
An effort, by the international community, should be made to preserve, digitise and then make available as much of this film material as possible. The technology exists today so that, at the very least, we can have digital backups of all of this material and in the best case scenario for this material to be available for future generations to watch and study.
I have already spent 15 months as a video archivist and media asset manager and I would like to continue this line of work. I find it to be a fascinating and interesting way to learn about history. It inspires to find books that contextualise the material that I am seeing on screen. This material makes us more informed citizens of the society in which we live.
Winter is coming and snow has fallen on the local peaks and then melted again. The temptation to go snowboarding in real life is back. While waiting to go and do sports in the real world Ubisoft give us the opportunity to simulate the experiences of snowboarding, skiing, base jumping and paragldiding.
I know three of these sports. I ski, I snowboard and I recently tasted my first paragliding flight.As I watched the trailer above and Jack Septiceye’s video of the game it reminded me of so many of the extreme sports videos I have watched. It also reminded me of the FIFAD event as well as the Montagne En Scène events. It pays a nice tribute to the culture of snowboarding and extreme sports that many of us have grown up with. It also harkens back to the days when I would edit the events that are mentioned in the trailer to this game.
This would be a good game to have in the chalet while waiting for the snow to fall or the conditions to improve.
I understand why the game filled me with passion. I liked seeing places that we know. It’s because the game developers are in Annecy so they’re playing in the same landscape as us. They’re snowboarders and skiers so they understand the sensations and they’re trying to emulate them in the game. When watching the paragliding sequences I like that we hear the flight computer’s beep as you ascend at different rates. It’s one aspect that you really notice the first time you try paragliding. That’s a nice touch for the game.
From the videos I have watched so far it looks as though they have managed to capture all of these sensations in the game. This looks like a really enjoyable game to play. The game should provide people with a nice amount of escapism. As they get used to the controls and as the community for this game grows so the ties that bind this community will grow. It looks excellent.
PLAY & WIN
The first time I went to St Hilaire du Touvet was for the Coupe D’Icare event which is held every September. It is a mountain film festival and parapente competition. The second time I went was with Glocals friends to climb up the via ferrata. There are two routes up. One is an easier one. The second is a hard one. What makes the second one so hard is that it’s vertical, up a chimney of sorts. What made me uncomfortable was the friable nature of the rock. I thought that if I fell the spikes would not hold. A few weeks later I found out that this is one of the hardest via ferrata, supposedly the hardest via ferrata in France.
The video above is nothing like that. They’re climbing up the beautiful waterfall that the via ferrata goes along. I was attracted by the width of the water fall.
Today for the second time we went to the Dive site in Duingt. It is located on the Lac D’Annecy a short drive from Annecy. The dive site is near a castle and the dive is down the flanc towards the cliff. The dive takes you by some submerged trees that would have fallen in to the lake at some point. The visibility is good and you can see the occasional fish and crayfish at this time of year.
During this dive I was experimenting with the Gopro. When I gather more footage I will share it.
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This is one episode of a series of short videos showing people what there is to enjoy locally.