The Good Life France Magazine




The Good Life France Magazine brings you the best of France - inspirational and exclusive features, fabulous photos, mouth-watering recipes, tips, guides, ideas and much more...


Published by the award winning team at The Good Life France

Views
2 years ago

Issue No. 15

Discover the Drome, Nyons - the last Provencal frontier, Charente-Maritime, Burgundy, Paris gastronomy, Nice, secret Provence, recipes, a whole lot more. It's the next best thing to being in France...

I’m running downhill,

I’m running downhill, worrying whether I’m going too fast or too slow, but suddenly the land falls away before me and I’m airborne. We’re soon above the trees and, even though I’m not good at heights, I realise there’s nothing I can do, as the pilot is in complete charge. We’re circling, trying to find thermals, and climb higher, experiencing some turbulence. I’m told there’s nothing to worry about unless I start feeling sick. Apparently, at this point, some people experience severe nausea with the expected results and it can’t be pleasant cleaning up afterwards. We keep spiralling upwards and I see one of my friends way above me. The views are tremendous down the valley and I begin to feel I could stay up for ever. Indeed, in conditions like this it’s normal to travel for miles, harnessing the thermals to soar over the mountains. After about 45 minutes, I begin to hanker for solid ground and am relieved to find we’re starting to descend. On the way down, I’m offered the controls Rupert has a bird's eye view of the valley from his sky high position but I politely decline - better to leave it to the professionals. As the valley floor comes nearer, there’s a tractor mowing the grass dangerously close to the landing site. Not to worry, my pilot can land on a dime, but he does instruct me to stand up immediately he gives me the order. I see the freshly mown grass rushing towards me, I’m worrying about twisting my ankle, or smashing my feet, and it looks like we’re going too fast. He tells me to stand, I stay sitting and land flat on my bottom, much to his disgust. I’m just relieved to be down, glad to have survived intact and pleased I’ve done something I’ve always dreamt of. Find information about Samoen's summer activities: samoens.com Hotel Les Glaciers makes a comfortable base: hotel-les-glaciers-samoens.com

Pop in SUPER75 to get a 75% discount on sign up