A long awaited hike.

 

 

It seems to me the parts of pregnancy lately that have gotten to me are the mental parts, the feelings of being limited in what I can or cannot do...

 

{25 weeks, 3 days pregnant}

 

...call it selfish, but I really miss riding my bike through the hills, valleys and mountains of our region, as I do running and hiking as well.

 

 

So yesterday we decided to try to correct this feeling, in a safe and responsible way, by taking the telecabine in Crozet up to a higher point in the Monts-Jura. The Jura is the mountain chain that runs behind our house, and separates the Rhone from the Rhine, extending through France, Switzerland, and part of Germany.

 

{Looking out over Lac Leman and Genève}

 

I was so happy to get up on the mountain we love so dearly, to breathe some fresh air, too cool off a bit (it's been hot again lately), and to stretch my legs over the gorgeous mountain paths.

 

{Pregnant Standing Bow}

 

 

At 25 weeks and 3 days pregnant I felt pretty confident hiking around on this part of the moutain, as the trails are much more manicured and flat, more like walking paths, rather then incredibly steep and often slippery paths such as behind our house.

 

 

We took it slow and brought a picnic lunch with us, and figured we'd play it by ear, depending on how I felt.

 

 

We hiked around for about 2 hours and put in just over 2 miles on the trails before stopping for our picnic lunch.

 

{Not to be left out, Doc's bump update}

 

We didn't get to the top of the mountain (we had about 30-45 minutes more up to go), but it did me a world of good to breathe the fresh mountain air, see all the cows (it never gets old), do some impromptu Bikram yoga poses, and to stop and (literally) smell the (wild)flowers.

 

 

I think Homekid liked it too, because he/she behaved the whole hike! (Unlike while food shopping the day before...) If only Homekid would be as nice to mama when we're out food shopping at Migros! I think Homekid hates spending a Saturday afternoon in Migros as much as mama and papa.

 

 

For our picnic we brought a quinoa tabbouleh (look for a recipe post on this dish later this week), some sparkling lemonade, carrots and cucumbers, a loaf of bread, cherries, watermelon, and some cervelles de canut that Doc made, (fresh cheese with shallots and red wine), a recipe we got from a recent post by A Cup of Jo. (We need to tweak the recipe a bit to match our palettes, so once we've perfected it I'll be sure to share!) Many thanks to Doc for carrying all of that food and a liter and a half of water throughout the whole hike!  

 

Next weekend, so long as the weather holds up and I'm feeling up for it, we plan on going on a different hike up in Gex, to another part of the Jura Mountains - I can't wait!  

 

How was your weekend? Did you go out and brave the heat in your part of the world? I'd love to hear about it!

 

A la prochaine friends!

 

Honey



Snowshoeing adventure.

 

After a successful first tartiflette of the season (more on that later), we woke up Samedi matin to find a glorious sight:

 

 

Not only had the snow continued all night, but we had accumulated over 30 cm!

(That's over a foot for all my fellow 'Mericans out there.)

 

 

So we grabbed our snowshoes, packed some snacks and some tea, and headed up to the cow pasture behind our house and the trails that head up to Tiocan.

 

 

The snow was really deep in the cow pasture because there aren't many trees to trap the snow...

 

 

...at some points I sunk to just about my hip!

 

 

Once we got close to the trail, the snow was a little more packed, so it was time to bust out some yoga postures, because that's just what we Bikram yogis do...

 

 

We then got on the trail, which led to more sinking-to-my-hips-in-the-snow moments as we were the first ones through that trail for the day...

 

 

...we made it up to the road that leads to Tiocan, and were surprised to see people skiing down the road, as the plows hadn't come through yet...

 

 

Oh, and then there was also this guy riding his bike down the same road...

 

 

And after about 30 minutes of walking along the road, we made it to Tiocan.

 

 

Where it was completely windy and freezing.

 

 

We didn't stay long, in fact just long enough to inhale a container of rice each and lose the feeling in our fingers.

 

 

So we began our descent, and in good timing too because we made it back to Hauts de Thoiry just as it was getting dark.

 

 

We finished the night with some fondue (because clearly having had tartiflette the night before did not quell our cheese lust) to congratulate ourselves for our effort, and fell asleep on the couch with glasses of wine in hand...

 

 

...because isn't that the way a day of snowshoeing should end?

 

I should think so.

 

Hope you all had a wonderful wintery week end in your part of the world!

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey



First hike of the season.

{Doc and the view above St. Jean de Gonville}
 

This past Saturday Doc and I took advantage of the amazing weather and went for a hike in the Jura, the mountain chain of which we live at the "foot" of. (And when I say "foot," it's a complete and utter misnomer, which you realize when carrying bags of groceries and/or plants and/or a coffee table and/or etc up from the shopping center or bus stop. It's still very much "up" in every sense of the word.)

But I digress.
 

{Me and my sweet new Lafuma belly bag. Tres cool, no? Right? Hello?}
 

We're lucky enough that there is a cow pasture directly behind our house that leads to one of the many different trails leading up the Jura. It also tends to be pretty quiet as the main hiking attractions in Thoiry are Reculet and Crêt de la Neige, and there are more widely used trails in the center of town to make your ascent to those landmarks.
 

{Wild daffodils}
 

 {"Duck, dip, dodge, dive and dodge."}
 

{Doc and a little pocket of snow.}
 

We couldn't go much higher because it was getting late and there is still snow on the top of the mountain, but I'm hoping this weekend we can explore a little higher up. We were out on the mountain for about 4 hours, and with an earlier start this week we'll hopefully be able to do a lot more adventuring.
 

And there's something about a glass of wine after a few hours hiking that just makes it taste so much better, don't you think?

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey