Arbois

We started this week's walk in the pretty town of Arbois. It involved quite a lot of climbing again, but it was more spread out and less steep than last week.
We had high hopes for more stunning panoramas from the top of the gorge, but we ended up looking down into a thick sea of fog.
However, much of our walk was through woodland and the mist made it very atmospheric. When we stopped crunching through the beech leaves, there was a kind of dense, comforting silence - interrupted only by the occassional birdsong. It was quite magical at times, especially as we came across a group of wild chamois cavorting amongst the ruins of an ancient chateau.
It was noticeably colder this week and, 16km later, we were more than ready for a vin chaud at a local hostelry!

Baume les Messieurs

Another great, long walk this week - 15km. Not as sunny as last week, as you can see from the pictures, but magnificent scenery again. I've included a screen shot from Google Earth to show the layout. (Guess I should be able to link it, any ideas?) If you're interested enough, open Google Earth and search for Baume les Messieurs. If you zoom in around the village and the southern end of the gorge, some little red squares should appear which are links to panoramic photos.

After parking beside the Abbey, we climbed up the escarpment. Carol's guide book classed the walk as difficult and described the climb as a ladder, so I was a little apprehensive. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as we'd feared and we were soon on the top, looking down at the tiny houses and cars. We walked all along the western edge, looped through a village or two and then came back down the southern end of the gorge, via the waterfall.

The boys had less stamina than us girls, so David and Bob stayed in the car while Carol, Jacquie and I went to explore the Abbey. It was undergoing some major renovation - the floor of the chancel had been lifted and an archaelogical dig was in progress. They had uncovered some 13th century burials and what they thought might be the remains of a Carolingian building under the Apse. A bit morbid, I know, but we took a few photos of the skeletons.

Keeping busy

What a busy social life we have at the moment! We've been to a quiz night which David did not find too thrilling (no, we didn't win but there were only 3 points in it), joined a French conversation class for both English and French speakers at all levels - so it suits both of us, walking in the Jura mountains and I've been to a women's coffee morning/debating club.
The walk has been a real highlight. We responded to a circular email from the St Jean de Losne boating community, asking if anyone was interested in exploring the foothills of the Jura and the Beaune region. Carol arranged to pick us up at 8:30 Thursday morning, along with another couple - Bob & Jacquie who we'd met at the French class. We packed a picnic and a flask of rum-laced hot chocolate; we thought it might be chilly up in the mountains!
With Borat on the GPS to guide us through the morning mist, we set off for the Cascades du Herisson. Driving up into the foothills, the mist disappeared to reveal the sunny slopes of the Jura. We left the car in the small village of Menetrux-en-Joux and started our ramble.
The sun shone all day and I soon started stripping off some of the many layers I'd worn 'just in case', although it was cooler in the shady, steep-sided gorge. The scenery was beautiful and as we climbed, we were privy to some stunning panoramas. There were still a few russet leaves clinging to the branches of the beech trees which, along with the pines, added some last-minute autumn colour to the landscape.

We stopped for lunch beside the Lac d'Ilay - not really warm enough for a paddle, but what a view.

We arrived back at the car with aching legs (not surprising after 14km) having really enjoyed the day. In fact, we had such a good time, we've arranged to go on another walk next week.

What do we do all day...? part 2

Shiny new chairs.

F-Escher

Home-made fly screen

New curtain pole

Shopping!