Today we decided to sleep late and the clock was almost 10 when we started to stir. The sun was shining outside and we packed our gear and food stuff. This time we decided to have our first coffee of the day at the hotel, instead of hurrying off to a nearby forest to make our own on the trangia.
After fixing in the room we got our backpacks and stoved them in the car. Then I managed to order double espressos for us. The bartender wanted to be helpful and change to English, but I told him I need the practice, which seemed to make him happy and even more inclined to help.
"Nous voudrions deux double espresso, s'il vous plait." We would like two double espressos, please.
We sat outside in the sun for our coffees and I took the chance to call mum and dad to ease their nerves ( hehe). Both were worried for some unfathomable reason since a bridge had collapsed somewhere in Italy. How is that in any way related to our mountaineering??? Seriously...
Anyhow. We had a couple of cups of coffee more and I re-learned another word. Chaque. Both. The bartender asked if both of us wanted one more. I'm learning so much!! This is fun! :D Today we decided to head south (or south west actually), towards Gap.
According to the weather forecast it was going to rain in the area
around Briancon, but not around Gap. We drove past lots of fascinating
places where we saw people river kayaking and windsurfing. We crossed a
huge lake, Lac de Serre-Poncon, that shone turquoise like the
Mediterranean. People were walking around in bathing suits on the
side-walk. 
A small winding road led us to a village called Ancelle and from there we found La Rouanne, a river that names the via ferrata. The gravel road up to the ferrata was quite uneven and on the way up we did see a tow truck bringing a car down. It seemed to have a flat tire. At the foot of the small mountain a group of canyoners were just returning from their adventure. They seemed quite content and were quite wet.
The sun was shining as we started the ascent on foot. We were a bit unsure about the weather, though and brought sweaters and jackets with us. According to the signpost at the foot of the hill there were three alternatives. An easy one, moderate and a hard one. The two latter routes had the same beginning. We decided to choose which one to take when we reached the crossroads.
The ferrata started with a crossing of a small river. I wasnt wearing my gear yet and actually dropped my helmet in the water. Argh! Luckily it ended up in a closed spot so it didn't continue down the river, haha! That would've been a sight, me running down the river bank trying to catch a blue helmet.
The ascent was short to the starting point of the ferrata which went straight up a rock wall. This time though there were handholds in abundance. They were so many that it felt like going up a ladder. The view was great, but the handholds were so frequent that the ferrata indeed became a bit too simple. For that reason, and for the ascent being a lot swifter than expected, we decided to go for the harder route when we reached the crossroad. After a while I suddenly noticed a smile stuck on my face. In places there were no handholds so you had to lean in towards the rock or grab hold on anything to be able to continue. At one place there was a "tibetan bridge" which made me a bit nervous, but to my surprise it wasn't so bad at all. There were a couple of places with a slight overhang so some hand strength was needed.When we reached the top only a bit over an hour had passed. So not very long at all.
We made dinner on the top and finished with a cup of coffee. Dinner with a view, one could say.On the way down we saw the route the canyoners had taken and it looked really fun. Maybe I should try that one day. ;)
We drove back to L'argentière de la Bessee through shifting rains and had even time for an "after-ferrata" drink at the restaurant in the town center.
Tomorrow we'll be heading to the next town. Tell you all about it then :-)
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