A bit too much sun...

Last weekend the weather men (and women) all predicted clear skies with lots of sun and temperatures of up to 24°C. Given that it was chilly and wintery only a few weeks ago, this was the perfect opportunity for us to get outside and really enjoy some fresh air.


Enjoying the sun and the
view at Signal de Bougy

So, Chris and I headed to a place called Signal de Bougy, which is north of Rolle in the Canton Vaud (and roughly 20 minutes by car from where we live). Chris had been here in the past with her family when she was younger, and remembered it as a very nice place to spend a few hours.

She was right - masses of open parkland, plenty of outdoor playgrounds and games areas for the kids, a restaurant and several wooded areas make Signal de Bougy an ideal place to come, especially for kids (must make a mental note of this for future reference).


They also have a treetop adventure park full of rope ladders and zip-lines for the more sporting visitors, although it was closed at the time - due to re-open in 2 weeks for the summer period.

The weather people were right as well - the sun was shining and there was a not a cloud in the sky, and the temperatures did indeed climb above 20°C, which is not bad for early April. In fact, the weather was so clear that we were treated to a fabulous view of Mount Blanc across Lac Leman (it is often obscured by clouds or haze).

We had a picnic lunch in the sun followed by a game of Ligretto - a fun card game for those who don't know it - and were later joined by Nelly and Bernard. Together we all went for a stroll around the park area, which even has some enclosures for animals and a minigolf course. 


Stick a fork in me - I'm done

At the end of the afternoon we headed down to a little cafe/bar next to the Château de Rolle to have a beer and a chat, and at this point I started to realise that my skin felt a bit sore, particularly on my forehead and my neck. I tried to hide from the sun by sitting with my face in the shade as I began to realise that I might have been in the sun a bit too long...



A quick check in the mirror confirmed my suspicions - sunburn. When I left the apartment that morning I simply did not think to apply sun cream, partly because it has been so long since the last time I had to use any (last September in Thailand, to be precise) but also because it is frickin' April for crying out loud!

The result: a red face, and not just through embarassment. The words "lobster" and "beetroot" come to mind. Several days later and I am still a nice shade of pinky red, as you can see in the photo.

Still, I guess it could have been much worse. Fortunately during the day I subconsciously rotated my position under the sun through moving to sit in different places, which meant different parts of my exposed skin were under the sun at different times. This is the human sunburn equivalent of spit roasting, as I became nicely toasted on all sides instead of simply over-cooking one bit of skin.

Oh well, hopefully this will serve as a lesson to remind me to use sun cream next time I sit in the sun for a few hours, even if it is April.