France (2026 - III)

The 2026 summer at our house in France was characterised by a single term: 'canicule', which is the French word for heatwave. During our time there we had hardly any rain, and almost every day the temperatures reached 30-35+ degrees. Luckily the mornings were fresh, and we were still able to hike, cycle with the local Velo Club Oisans, and do some work around the house. The afternoons were spend relaxing on our shady terrace, reading, doing some chores inside, and many walks with Pippin in the Sarenne river just behind our terrain. When we arrived we saw Paula only for a few hours. She was there with some her friends who were participating in the Marmotte cycling event a few days later (for which we volunteered as road marshalls). Paula left the same evening for Lausanne, next time is Christmas?

Last year Piet signed up for L'Etape du Tour, which is a Tour de France stage for recreational cyclists. The event is a copy of the real professional stage a few days later, over the same routes, that are completely free from cars. As this was the hardest stage of the Tour Piet had to plan some serious training, and together with several cycling friends from Bourg d'Oisans he did many long rides as preparation. The day itself went well, by pacing himself Piet managed to finish in reasonable shape, after more than 10 hours on the bike, and after climbing the Cols Croix de Fer, Telegraphe, Galibier and Sarenne, ending in Alpe d'Huez, a total of 190 km and more than 5000 m of height difference. Never again?

Dorien, Lars and Ollie spend two relaxing weeks with us, escaping from a very busy time at work, but mainly from the stress of buying a new house. They decided to leave Oegstgeest, as they both had long commutes to work, and found a new house in Nootdorp, at cycling distance for both of them. The final signing, move and sale of their old house were all scheduled directly after their return. Dorien worked a few days from our house, and they had two good friends staying the second week. 

This year the Tour de France was in town again, with two stage finishes on Alpe d'Huez. The week before many, many fans arrived, creating a complete chaos in the Oisans valley with campervans, limited parking, and people and cyclists everywhere. We left the car at home, and enjoyed the oasis of peace of our terrace, only to venture out of the village to watch the stages. The first one was the classic ascent of Alpe d'Huez, which we saw from the garden of some friends, just before the first incline of the climb. The second stage followed the same route as Piet 6 days earlier, and we cycled with Dorien, Lars and friends a few kilometers up towards Col de la Croix de Fer, where it was relatively quiet.

Due to the heat we did very few long hikes, and stayed mainly in the valley, close to the water, to allow Pippin to cool down frequently. We also continued the agility and mantrailing sessions with the local dog school 'Mountain Dog'. And we enjoyed several evenings with our local friends, catching up on the latest news and local gossip. Time flew past as usual, too quickly we had to return to The Hague to take care of matters there, but are planning to come back soon!

Hiking near Lac de Buclet

With Lars on Col de Solude, Villard Reymond

Picking up the race number in Alpe d'Huez

Impression of L'Etape du Tour on Col de la Croix de Fer

Col du Galibier, the highest point of the Etape route

Enjoying beer and crisps afterwards, with Ollie

Running and cycling up to Alpe d'Huez

Manmade Canal de Valbonnais

Start of the Alpe d'Huez climb, a few hours before the race arrives

Waiting for the Tour de France on the lower slopes of Col de la Croix de Fer

Visma leading the peloton

Pogacar in the yellow jersey

Col de Sabot, one of the most beautiful rides in the area

Cabane les Chalanches, the only long hike we did in the mountains

Sunday ride to Villard Reculas, with Velo Club Oisans

Mary cycling towards Pas de la Confession, high above the Romanche valley

France (2026 - II - part 2)

We planned to visit Paula and Jasper in Lausanne, and used that opportunity for a short holiday halfway, at Lac d'Annecy, where we stayed in a cabin on a large campsite. Annecy is one of the major tourism hotspots in France (we found out), with an excellent cycling infrastructure along a converted railway track. As it was very hot we did a combination of short hikes and bike rides, relaxing, and swimming in the lake. In Lausanne we caught up with Paula and Jasper, and started with the usual walk through the vineyards, and along Lake Geneva. We even dipped into the lake (much colder than Annecy!). The following day we did a beautiful hike from Col de Jaman, with great views over the lake, and had a nice dinner at the waterfront. Our visit was topped off with a gentle bike ride in the Lausanne hinterland. They are lucky to live (and work) in such a beautiful spot!

The last week was dominated by Alpe d'HuZes, the largest charity event in The Netherlands. The idea is to cycle, run or walk up from Bourg d'Oisans to Alpe d'Huez as many times as possible in a day, and thereby attract sponsorship to fund cancer research. It is an impressive and emotional event, fully organised by Dutch people, with 5.000 participants, and some 15.000 supporters and volunteers. The start is at 04:30, when it is still dark, and soon thereafter the mountain is lit up by a continuous stream of white and red bike lights. This year Piet joined the local Team Oisans again, and managed to ride up 4 times. Mary joined her friend Sharon and rode up once. In the afternoon it started raining heavily and we had to call it quits (it was enough for both of us already). It is very satisfying to see the enthusiasm of participants and supporters, and the generosity of many, many sponsors. A memorable day!

The last few days were spend recovering, doing some last work in the garden, and cleaning the house before driving back to The Hague. We'll be back soon!

The campsite at Lac d'Annecy

Hiking near Lac d'Annecy

Col de la Forclaz, with a view over Lac d'Annecy

Col de Pierra Perchia, hiking near Lausanne

Jasper and Paula are checking directions

Lake Geneva at night

Cycling through the vineyards above Lake Geneva

The local Team Oisans is ready for Alpe d'HuZes

Impression during the first ascent of Alpe d'Huez, in the early morning

Piet is still looking good on his third ascent

Sharon and Mary rode up once

France (2026 - II - part 1)

Our spring trip to France was split into three parts: a short holiday on the drive down, a period at our house, and another short holiday towards the end, including a visit to Paula and Jasper in Lausanne.

We left The Hague and drove to Saint Fargeau, a small town in the French countryside, southeast of Paris, where we stayed for two days in a 'roulotte', an old-fashioned wooden caravan. The target of our stay was Guedelon, which is a nearby medieval castle that is being constructed with methods from that era, e.g. by hand and old-fashioned tools. It is part an archeological project and part tourism, with a large terrain where various craftsmen were demonstrating their skills, and all products they produced (tools, tiles, wooden beams, masonry, rope, grain, etc.) were used to continue building the castle. It was an impressive sight, and we spend a whole afternoon looking around. After two days we drove a short distance south to Sancerre, a beautiful hilltop wine village near the Loire river. We were bringing Mary's new road bike and Piet's mountainbike with us, and this allowed us for some bike rides in both locations, in addition to hikes with Pippin. The gentle hills were a nice change from the steep mountain roads in the Oisans!

Once back at our house we had the work cut out for us: the mild spring resulted in long grass, and in our little forest several large trees had fallen down in the winter. We combined our work in the garden with hikes with Pippin, and many bike rides with our friends from the local cycling club. As Piet is training for L'Etape du Tour (a very tough Tour de France stage for cycling enthusiasts) he did several 100 km+ rides, which culminated in the GFNY Villard de Lans, a 160 km ride with more than 3000 m of climbing. 

Our roulotte in Saint Fargeau

Guedelon castle, under construction

Pippin in front of our hotel in Sancerre

Hiking towards Sancerre

Ready for a ride with the local cycling club

Mary and her friend Sharon

Riding along the Romanche

The Veneon: we had some poor weather as well

The men are testing the new sunbeds on our terrace

GFNY Villard de Lans, a cyclosportive through the beautiful Vercors region

Champagne

Like most years the cellars of Piet's wine and dine society 'Het Derde Glas' were running low on Champagne after the festive season. To avoid a potential crisis a short trip was planned to restock, and to try several new wine producers in the Champagne region. In the end, after several late changes, everybody could join, and we set out with two cars and five people from Utrecht and The Hague early Friday morning. We joined forces in southern Belgium, and continued to the first tasting together, at Beaudouin Nirel, in Nogent L'Abesse, due east of Reims. The host had just taken over from his parents, and struggled to make a lasting impression, especially after he sold us several bottles he didn't have in stock.

We drove south into the nearby Montagne de Reims, to the village of Villers-Marmery and the tiny winery of Noel Bazin. The son and his parents only produce 20,000 bottles a year, which is a minute quantity for this region. We had an entertaining discussion in their living room, and left with a good amount of bottles, driving a short distance further east. In Rilly la Montagne (another classic Champagne village) we stopped at Couvreur-Philippart, who received us in a small, cluttered tasting room. The champagne was almost at freezing temperatures, so we had some doubts about the quality, but we still made a reasonable purchase.

On to Epernay, the town in the heart of the Champagne, where we stayed overnight. Along the famous Avenue de Champagne we drank an aperitif at Michel Gonet (and bought some more bottles), which was followed by dinner in La Grillade Gourmande. In the morning the planned detox walk was only attended by two of us (guess who?); a pleasant stroll through the vineyards above Epernay. After breakfast we had a final champagne visit at Jean Milan in Oger, who had a commercialised set-up, however, this was compensated by a relaxed outside tasting in the morning sunshine.

A long drive followed to Kruisem in Belgium, just south of Gent. On the way Sybren was picked up from a railway station, and we attended a large tasting event organised by Thienpont, one of the major wine importers in Belgium. They had invited several wineries to promote their own wine. There was a lot of variety, but after more than twenty different wines you generally start loosing the plot. Luckily we were still sharp enough to sort and re-pack the bottles... In the evening we had an excellent dinner at Lof, in the centre of Gent. The next morning we drove home, with enough Champagne to last to year end, we hope!

Tasting the first champagne of our trip at Beaudouin Nirel

Paul is talking to the son of Noel Bazin

Tempting us to buy rose champagne

A cramped tasting at Couvreur-Philippart

Paul in Avenue de Champagne, on his way to dinner in Epernay

Morning view over Epernay

A sunny morning tasting at Jean Milan

Filling the glasses at Jean Milan

Paul and Sybren discussing Alsace wines at the Thienpont tasting event

Piet is trying an Etna Rosso at Thienpont

Sorting and repacking our champagne bottles

Gent in the early evening

Gent at night, walking back after dinner