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
