Not quite as planned

We were up and out early this morning, heading to the Pyrenees for my birthday present  – a tandem paragliding flight. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for years, though I have to admit to feeling a bit nervous.
We left home under heavy skies, but as we got into the hills, the cloud broke and the sun came out; by the time we arrived at Val de Louron, it was perfect and we could see several paragliders flying already.
We were to be two “passengers” on this trip, myself and a guy called Daniel; we got into the minibus with our pilots and the driver, to go to the top of col d’Azet, the starting point for our flights. But as we drove up the col, the cloud came down and the wind started to blow; once on the top we all loaded up our gear and walked to the take off area. The pilots weren’t happy; the wind was too strong and in the worst possible direction. We walked to a second and then a third possible take off point, but it was no better, so in the end we had to come back down in the minibus and re-book for another day. Very disappointing, but at least I’ve still got it to look forward to in two weeks’ time.
On the way home we stopped in the pretty Pyrenean town of Arreau, to take photos, as I’d promised there would be some today!

Nick m’avait promis quelque chose formidable pour mon anniversaire et ce matin on est parti tot vers les Pyrenées pour un vol bi-place de parapente!

On est arrivé en beau soleil, mais pendant le voyage vers le haut du col d’Azet, les nuages sont déscendus et le vent a commencé souffler fort, et dans une mauvaise direction pour décoller.

Nous avons essayé trois lieux de décollage, mais toujours avec le meme problème, donc en fin on a du descendre en minibus et re-booker pour un autre jour. J’etais très deçue, mais j’ai toujours l’anticipation.

A la retour, nous nous sommes arretés prendre des photos, comme j’ai promis hier.