The IMT World School

The IMT banner behind the rostrum

Apologies for the big gap, but my fears about the WiFi at Bardonecchia were justified.  We did have some, but only in the bar and it wasn't until the last but one day that I discovered that the best strength signal was at the far corner of the bar, where the bookstalls were, so I struggled most times.  Also, there was very little time for anything other than listening to, reading or talking politics, therefore I only spent little time online and only sent the daily e-mail to Roy before either the signal went or I had to be in the next lecture.

Alan Woods speaking

The World School itself was absolutely fantastic.  For a variety of reasons (bad health, other commitments etc.) I haven't been for 6 years.  In fact, the last one I attended was the last one held in Barcelona and that was the one where I got robbed, so the memory was not particularly positive.  Since then it was held in Italy somewhere in a seaside town for 3 years and for 2 years in Greece, also in a beachside hotel. The reason why I definitely decided to go this year was manifold: 1. I missed it all these years; 2. I love mountains; 3. It was held at only a 15 minute car drive from a good friend of mine whom I have not seen a long number of years.

Lal Khan speaking

So, on this mammoth trip, having done the family visiting (Hassocks and St. Columb Major), I took off to see Ginny in Nevache and rounded up the trip with the World School in Bardonecchia.  The road between Nevache and Bardonecchia was breath taking, as you might have already seen from previous posts. Bardonecchia itself is not very large, but it has a nice, oldie worldie centre with a pretty Main Street and church.  The rest is basically a ski resort which really comes into its own in the winter.

Downtown Bardonecchia

The lectures and discussions were excellent.  One massive difference I saw against the last one in 2009, was the prevalence of young people.  Large numbers were new, totally unknown to me, and I made quite a few very good new friends.  The Canadian contingent, numbering 13 this time, had accepted me as an honorary member and I spent a lot of time in their lovely company making friends. The topics at discussion were partly the usual ones: Perspectives for World Revolution, Organisational report, Work in the Mass Orgnisations, Economics, Nationalism etc.  The new topics were, obviously, Greece and Scotland. I attended many of them, choosing the more topical ones when there was a choice. Although a large proportion of the people attending was new, I still managed to catch up with some of my old friends from far flung places on the planet.

The Canadian group plus me, an Austrian girl and another guy

On the free afternoon we went up on the chair lift and then went for a hike up the nearest mountain. Unfortunately we didn't make it to the top, as we had to turn back due to the last chair lift going down at 10 to 6. We still managed to squeeze in a few beers as well and had a really good time all round.

Marco, Jessica and Adam on the chair lift

One evening we attended a dinner organised by the British delegation, which foodwise was a bit of a disaster for me, as there was very little I could eat, but otherwise I had a fantastic time with those friends that were on my table. Chatting about all sorts of things in the evening makes for such a change after concentrated politics from 9am to 8pm on most days.

Manuel, Sunny, Adam and Karen in the restaurant

The conclusion of the School was tremendous. It always puts a lump in my throat, the singing and the enthusiasm that nearly 300 people generate. Instead of the train, on Monday we caught the bus organised by some brits and arrived at the airport really early.  Last Monday was a hell of a day for me for many reasons.  For the first time ever, parting with Alex was hard and I was very near tears most of the time. Also, I had less than 2 hours' sleep the night before, that didn't helped either. After several hours' hanging around, finally I caught my plane from Turin to Brussels and then had a 6 and half hour layover until the next one. Arrived at the flat just after midnight, totally exhausted, but in one piece.

Plums on the ground

Stayed in town for a day to recuperate and then yesterday came down to the village.  In spite of the occasional downpour, the weather must have been very dry while I was away, as the cracks in the ground are wide enough to lose my arm in. Yesterday we picked up 5 days of dropped plums, which filled about half of the first barrel for pálinka. Today, as soon as the high heat (35-40 degrees Celsius) is gone we'll pick up today's lot and water the roses, veggies and herbs, plus do a bit of tidying and deadheading.  Currently we are hiding indoors, where the temperature is still at least 10 degrees less than outside, so our 2ft thick stone walls are still doing their job!!

The one apple tree with many large apples already

Other than a 5 day orienteering event, which is in our own county near the Slovakian border, we are staying in Bér for a month at least.  Let us hope that the heatwave would have abated by then, so should we have to get to town any time we would not be near heat exhaustion.  It is really amazing how much cooler it is here at the start and end of the day.  During the daytime it is only a little bit cooler here, but the evenings, nights and early mornings are considerably cooler, sometimes by up to 10 degrees or more.

Will write next week, or sooner if anything unusual happens!

The Lautaret alpine botanic garden

This morning started with a bit of a panic.  I couldn't find my credit card anywhere. I worked it out that the last time I saw it was at Porta Nuova railway station when we tried to buy tickets with it and it didn't work.  So we used cash instead and everything was fine. As we looked in every possible place I realised that it is either in a place I can't think of or I dropped it in the station without realising it and without thinking of it for nearly a week. The first thing I did was to check on the internet and nobody used it since before that day. That cheered me up no end and I also spotted that nowadays you can cancel cards on the internet, so I did so quickly and ordered a new one which should arrive within a week or so. Just in case Roy is reading this, DO NOT PANIC!! On the relevant page on the internet it listed both cards and asked which one I want to cancel. I definitely clicked on mine!!:-)

Glacier de l'homme

Now for the happier news: today's trip up into yet another glorious alpine valley was superb. Ginny took us up to the Col du Lauteret where there is an alpine botanical garden and we spent at least 3 hours looking at and photographing the plants. The word "Alpine", when applied to plants does not necessarily mean that they are from the Alps.  They were actually from all over the world's mountainous regions, including Siberia, South Africa, Corsica, the Andes etc., etc. I couldn't stop myself photographing everything, but I am not sure that I actually did all of them justice.

The arboretum with one of its little lakes

The surrounding peaks, glaciers, valleys and cols were also magical and some even had snow and ice on them.  Unfortunately, probably due to global warming, the biggest glacier at the top is now only about 60% of its recent self, but it was still impressive. We took a packed lunch and munched it in the sun by a picnic table and benches, chatting to 4 French people.  My French is amazingly still with me, but Ginny helped.

The giant hogweed with the health warning

Now we got home and Ginny is fixing a fish pie. Richard has plastered one of the walls and is looking like he is getting over his jetlag. Alex and a couple of friends are coming over tomorrow, as it is their free day and we will all get back together to Bardonecchia for the World School tomorrow afternoon. Might not be any more posts before I get home, depending on WiFi availability over there.

The arboretum with the mountains behind

Pretty blue flowers (name's forgotten)

Geology lesson which even I understood mostly

Close up of a lovely Edelweiss

Blood red little flower (I can't remember this one's name either)

Or this one

Now this one looks familiar, but this is wild

A whole field of my favourite flower of the day: the alpine thistle

The alpine thistle in close up

A group of pretty Edelweiss

Another glacier down the Serre Chevalier valley en route home

Col de l'Echelle

On the way down looking at the other side of the Vallee etroite

Today Richard got home early afternoon. In the morning we went shopping for trout (again) and visited the supermarket. The weather is still gorgeous, so we sat outside, drank tea and I even had a cup of coffee which we were invited to partake of by the owner of the B&B by the trout farm.

Nice steps now, instead of the old rickety wooden ladder

The main event, however, was the little hike that Ginny had promised me down and up the "ladder" leading to the Col de l'Echelle, which was the only way to get between Bardonecchia and Nevache in the days before the road was built. It was not very long, our hike, but during it we lost and then regained 115m vertical height.

Pretty little plant by the path

Looking up the Vallee etroite from the bottom of the path

The views were magnificent, although occasionally the big contrasts and the backlit panorama played havoc with photography.  Still, it was delightful and probably the most exciting bit of the Alps for me so far.

Little forest chapel dedicated to travellers

The rock of Barrabas taken with 20x zoom

Another peak beyond the forest

A ski centre a long way across the valley in Bardonecchia

The heart shaped cirque a fair distance away across the valley

The same cirque from a lot further up the rockface

The Fort de l'olive back in France and on the very top of a very tall mountain

Briancon

After a reasonable recovery from my sore throat and earache in the last few days, yesterday the ailment returned with a vengence. I had very sharp pains in my right ear and Ginny was very kind to fix me a doctor's appointment with her own doctor. We thought that if I am much better by this morning we can always cancel the appointment.  As it happens, while the earache was slightly better, I still felt pretty awful this morning, so we were set to journey into Briancon to see the doctor at midday, do some shopping and if I felt up to it some sightseeing. I took two paracetamols just to be on the safe side, so we went at about 11.20, after Ginny's hairdresser had been.

Ginny with the barcode reader

Briancon is really impressive. It lies at the confluence of 5 rivers and is full of forts and a lovely old town.  The doctor was an absolute darling and honestly I am seriously considering moving to France just for the reliability, efficiency and quality of its health service.  We got through with no problem on the phone (remember Hassocks?), got an appointment for the following day, waited no more than 10 minutes in the surgery and the doctor treated me as an equal, as a member of the human race, explained everything in detail, was smiley, polite and even chatty, albeit my French didn't allow too many responses from me, but he chatted with Ginny for at least 5 minutes while he was doing the paperwork.  It cost 23 Euros, which I will get back from my insurance, so it seems a good and humane system, unlike the ones we know (countries shall remain nameless!!). The upshot of the examination was that he could see no bacterial infection, so no anti-biotics, but suggested pain killing eardrops, should the pain return in any big way. Also, if I feel in any way worse in the next few days, we should come back straight away.  Apparently he is on duty during the weekend, so I hope that the earache will not return, but should it do so, at least it will be this lovely man that Ginny would take me back to.

Briancon fort and the big church in the distance

Afterwards we bought some bread, visited an organic food shop for some stuff and then a supermarket. By the way, in this supermarket people shop with a very clever little gadget: it is a hand held barcode reader and as they put anything into their basket they read the barcode on the product with it.  The gadget registers the purchase and gives you a running total, which is also useful. At the till, no queueing, no waiting for everything to be rung up, just one quick reading of the gadget and you pay. So easy and quick!!

Looking up one of the valleys from the fort ramparts

Finally we walked around for about 40 minutes in the old town/old fort. Fantastic place this part of France, it is really delightful in every respect: the people, the facilities/services and especially the environment. On the way home and perhaps even before we finished our tour of the old town, I felt awfully dizzy again and we thought it was because the air got very damp and oppressive. Well, just as we got home a quick shower ruined all the nicely dry clothes on the washing line, but we managed to get them in quick. As soon as I was indoors and the shower cleared the air, I was OK again. Currently I am awaiting lunch, which will be very nice, I'm sure. Ginny knows all about veggie cooking and the ingredients are always first class. I have a feeling I'll be back again.  Perhaps I can also talk Roy into it, as the atmosphere is so delightful here and our hosts are equally so, that it couldn't be a better choice for relaxing and switching off.

The fort's outer defences from the ramparts

A cafe/restaurant on one of the fort's bastions

From Hassocks to Nevache in the French Alps

The pink monster

The day after the Bodiam visit I was so tired that we let Callum, Alex and Meaghan go out on their own with me in bed. They went up on the Downs at Ditchling Beacon and visited Monkey Business, an indoor soft play area in Lewes in the afternoon. In the evening we babysat so the two sets of parents could go out.

Departure

Cool shades

On Saturday Meaghan and Callum went home - Alex drove them to Heathrow, while Roy accompanied them, so that when Alex took the car back, he wouldn't be alone. They just made the cut off time, so all seemed well.

On Sunday we went out to the Jack and Jill again, where I managed to choose well from the much depleted menu. Goat cheese with caramelised onions in a tart was delicious.

At the Jack and Jill pub

On Monday we had to get up at 5.30am for catching the 6.23am train to Victoria. Stephen advised us to get one of the front carriages and we did get some seats. The change to the tube - first the Circle Line then at Soth Ken the Piccadilly Line - went without a hitch and we arrived in plenty of time in Terminal 2 to check in. The queue was going rather slowly but the little Asian woman checking us in was extremely helpful. She checked us in for both legs of our journey and put us together on both flights. Brussels to Turin we flew on a 70 seater turbo prop, which was exciting.

Sun setting in the Vallee d'Etroit

In Turin Casselle Airport we landed and came through like a dose of salts. Within 20 minutes we were on the bus to Porta Nuova station, where we managed to buy water and a snack and catch the train to Bardonecchia. The trip took 90 minutes and towards the end went through a lovely valley surrounded by big mountains. On arrival we waited in a cafe for Ginny and had another snack.

Just before 9pm Ginny arrived and drove us over the mountain to Nevache, over the border, to their home. That trip was magical, with its hair pin bends and steep mountain sides in the setting sun.

Yesterday Alex and I went on a little outing up the valley of the River Claree on foot and by bus. First we walked through the next village to the nearby town. We visited the church and a produce market. Then caught a 15 seater minibus (3 euro return fare) to the top of the valley, amonst gorgeous views, more hair pin bends and many shingle covered mountain houses.

St. Martin's up the valley

At the top we took lots of photos and decided to walk back down to the campsite where we remembered the minibus stopping on the way up. It took us about 75 minutes, stopping frequently to admire and photograph the view. The weather forecast promised thunderstorms by 2pm, but they never happened. Mountain weather is notoriously unreliable, so we didn't get wet. We were home for lunch and even Alex's washing was bone dry on the line. Ginny made us a lovely pasta bake which disappeared fast, along with the soup and salad.

Today Alex is leaving for the IEC meeting and I am hoping to investigate the col on the route to Italy while Ginny delivers him to Bardonecchia.

PS: I didn't get to investigate the col on Wednesday, because Alex chose to have dinner with us before he was taken to Bardonecchia over the col and the light was going by then.  However, we did two things yesterday (one with Alex and one after he'd gone) which was fun.
1. We went to buy some trout and as the trout farm was on the other side of the valley we got a totally new outlook on Haute Ville with its lovely old church.

Alex near the trout farm

The church from the South

2. We went for a concert in the church on the picture in the evening which was delightful. It was a vocal/choral concert with not much instrumental music, but the voices of the 4 singers (soprano, alto, tenor and baritone) were superb. All were amateurs, but with what seemed to me professional training. The program ranged from the 15th century right through folk songs to Debussy and Britten.  Most were totally unaccompanied, but some were solo with piano or guitar accompaniment, plus percussion. We even heard Greensleeves in English.  It was fun and while it made me go to bed at midnight and cost 10 Euros, it was well worth going.

Apologies for the quality of the photos, but the lighting was not particularly good and we were not supposed to use flash in the church.