A special VRB meet up

[Sandie1961]

For a couple of years Cmoi and I have been talking about meeting up when I’m in France. It’s a big country, though, and we’d had a couple of near misses. When Mr S said he’d like to take a few days travelling home and go across to the eastern side of the country, I began to hatch a plan 😈 Anyway the upshot was that we booked an apartment in Le Puy-en-Velay, which just happens to be only 50 minutes drive from her village. Result 😃

After dinner with her and hubby in Puy last night, Mr S and I spent the morning on a tour round the area, then went off to her house for tea and yummy freshly baked lemon drizzle cake 😋 After that it was time for her to try to convince me that hills are not to be feared 😂 Not a run, but a walk with the lovely Jedi and we even managed to persuade the OHs to join us, although they bailed halfway round and went back to the house for a beer 🍻 6k across varied terrain, 170m of elevation gain, stunning views across to the Puy de Dome and I hate to admit it, but it didn’t feel too hard, despite 30c temps.

All in all, it has been a fabulous weekend and it felt like a very special meet up. Another VRB has become a friend!

[Week7 Half Marathon]

Just...wowWhat a lovely thing to do!

[SueAppleRun 10 Miles]

Thats a great meet up, and really happy ohoto of you all 😀

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon]

Excellent work Sandie and Cmoi …nobody is beyond the reach of a VRB on a mission!! I would have been looking out for hunters and wild boar in those hills, but maybe they are out of season. You had the famous Jedi for protection anyway. Safe journey home Sandie. 🙂

[Sandie1961 Half Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

A few weeks later and it might have been a different matter Beachcomber66 but we were safe this time 😉. Pity it was hazy, but you can just about make out the Puy de Dome, the biggest ex volcano, on the right of the photo. Wonderful views!

[lexi6 10 Miles]

That's so special Sandie1961 and Cmoi great photo of you all

[RunWillie Marathon]

Great photo & so lovely you got to hang out in person with Cmoi What a treat 😍

[aliboo70 Half Marathon]

What a great photo, and wow well done on completing a Cmoi expedition ! Yes hills ARE your friends! Love a VRB meet up! Sounds great! 👌 😊plus cake too!!! Xxx

[Shake-and-run Half Marathon]

lovely meet up for you both. Xx

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

That sounds like a perfect weekend, how wonderful. Safe travels home 🥰

[Cmoi Marathon]

It was just so fab wasn't it? 😊

Have a safe journey, and eat the cheese 🧀 before it ruins the car! 😉

Woofs and licks from Jedi 🐶 and hugs from me 🤗 xxx

[Sandie1961 Half Marathon in reply to Cmoi]

It really was 😊 We shared the cheese last night when we got back to the apartment with some blinis we’d still got. Delish 😋

Big hugs back at you 🤗 xxx

[Cmoi Marathon in reply to Sandie1961]

I should've given you more cake and cookies too, just in case you can't find a restaurant this evening! 😉😘 xxx

[Sandie1961 Half Marathon in reply to Cmoi]

😂😂

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon]

How fab! Sounds amazing and those views are just gorgeous 😍

[CBDB]

Oooohhh you two are lovely …. but those hills in the background are capturing my current love for hills! After seeing those beauties, I’m not sure I can call my wee bumps hills anymore! 🤣🤣🤣 and so many of them! 🤩🤩🤩….

… got carried away there by the view …. So lovely to see you two out and about!

[Sandie1961 Half Marathon in reply to CBDB]

You can see why she loves it so much can’t you? It is a beautiful place, especially in such lovely weather (over 600 metres above sea level 😳)

[Cmoi Marathon in reply to CBDB]

Here are a few numbers for context CBDB 😄

Our house is at 679m and you can just about make out the red roof close to Sandie's right arm, where her t-shirt sleeve ends! 😂

Photo was taken at the top of the field opposite our house, at 737m. It's about 250m if you run directly up it, which I think I've only done once.

In the middle of the photo you can see a line of trees and hedge. There's a track along the re that forms many of my routes, I actually came back down it this morning. It starts about 400m from our house, rises from about 671m up to about 718m over a distance of roughly 600m. Then it turns into a forest path and drops a bit before rising again into the forest, which itself goes up to over 1000m.

There are a few lesser hills a bit further in the background. Then in the far distance you've got the Chaîne des Puys, where the Puy de Dôme peaks at 1465m, maybe 70km away as the crow flies.

[CBDB in reply to Cmoi]

🤩😳🤩😳🤩😳🤩

I wonder if there are stats with people living in those kinds of hills being generally more fit. Must be, right?

[Cmoi Marathon in reply to CBDB]

It'd certainly be an interesting topic to explore. I suspect that in the past it would've been true, not so much now. It's still a highly agricultural area, mostly producing cattle and sheep, so there's probably quite a lot of job-related physical activity. There again, agriculture's a high risk sector when it comes to health and safety!

Also, there aren't many shops or other amenities, and very little public transport, so people - myself included - drive everywhere. I could in theory run down to the little supermarket 5k away, then run back home with groceries in my backpack, but realistically it isn't happening!

[Dexy5 10 Miles]

How lovely to meet a VIP VRB while in France Sandie1961 , and what a beautiful place it looks too. You will now be able to visualise Cmoi ’s runs when she is posting on here. It’s nice that your OHs had a good natter too, after all they both share the common theme of being running widowers. 😂

lexi6 still holds the record for travelling from NZ to UK to meet VRBs but this one is still pretty special, especially as it included meeting Jedi.

[Sandie1961 Half Marathon in reply to Dexy5]

Mr Cmoi was apparently a bit apprehensive, in case Mr S was a runner, but I think they spent as much time nattering as we did. A definite marathon sized chatathon 😊

I know Lexi got there first, but I will be reciprocating in November.That will be a very special parkrun!

[Dexy5 10 Miles in reply to Sandie1961]

Oh yes your trip to Oz. It will be magic.

[lexi6 10 Miles in reply to Sandie1961]

Really looking forward to seeing you Sandie, I haven't done a Parkrun for 3 years so I'd better start getting some practice in! 😱

[Sandie1961 Half Marathon in reply to lexi6]

Haha 😂 It’s just a 5k, you’ll be fine! And hopefully a nice breakfast and catch up to look forward to 😃

[lexi6 10 Miles in reply to Sandie1961]

the best part☕🥐

[lexi6 10 Miles in reply to Dexy5]

I still dream of doing it again one day Dexy5

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon]

That is so lovely! ❤️

[Sandie1961 Half Marathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Loved it 😊 It just felt like we had known each other for ever!

[Cmoi Marathon in reply to Sandie1961]

It did, didn't it? 😍 Think we only stopped talking to eat and drink! 🍰🥮🍷🍻😋

[over61andstilltrying Half Marathon]

Wonderful! 😊

[Sandie1961 Half Marathon in reply to over61andstilltrying]

It was 😊

[Birdlady64]

Aww! That's so lovely 😍

[Sandie1961 Half Marathon]

It really was

[GTFC Marathon]

Absolutely awesome you two 👏👏👏👏

[Sandie1961 Half Marathon in reply to GTFC]

It was fab. You know how you just click with certain people …?

[Cowladyrunning Marathon]

Wow - that's lovely to read! Very well done for making it happen!

[Sandie1961 Half Marathon in reply to Cowladyrunning]

A long time in the planning but well worth it. We had a great time 😃

[RunBrianRun Half Marathon]

How lovely 😊 Amazing VRBs becoming non virtual friends for real! Love it.

[Sandie1961 Half Marathon in reply to RunBrianRun]

I have made so many lovely real friends who started out as VRBs. Priceless and so grateful 😊