Autumn break in France

The girls has their autumn break at school, and we decided early on to go back to our house in France. During the summer we (read: Mary) did not get round to do maintenance on our outside wooden stairs and balcony, and there is always some work to do in the garden. But above all we wanted to ride horses, to cycle and to do some hiking, in hopefully nice autumn weather.

Mary drove down by herself the Sunday before, so she had time to sand the stairs and balcony, and varnish them afterwards in dry weather. She hooked up with the neighbours and was allowed to work with the village horse, Swallow, again. Since the summer little had been done with her, so after a few training sessions in our garden Mary took her for some rides in the area, getting her back into shape.

On next Saturday morning Piet and the girls flew into Geneva, where they were picked up by Mary. After our usual stop in Grenoble to shop for some sports gear we arrived at the house. The next few days Paula and Dorien spent a lot of time at Cecile's stable in Mizoen, helping out and riding. They also hooked up with their friend Pauline, who came to our house a few times. We did some work in the garden, picking apples from our trees, and starting some serious trimming on these trees. Cutting the grass, cleaning out some of the ditches and keeping our forest clearing open are some of the regular chores we carried out.

Piet did a few bike rides, he even managed to cycle up Alpe d'Huez (ice on the roads!) in pretty cold weather. There was already some snow on the mountain sides, and frost on the ground in the mornings. On the nicest day of the week we went on a hike towards Lac des Quirlies, in a beautiful valley behind Mizoen. The sheep had been rounded up from the high grazing grounds, and there were many of them around in the fields at the start of the walk. Always fun to mingle with them. We did not reach the lake, but we will try again this summer when we have more time.

On Saturday morning we drove back, as on Sunday Paula and Mary had a riding lesson in The Hague. We didn't notice anything of the strikes in France, with threats of no petrol or blocked highways. We had a smooth ride, and will be back at Christmas!

Lunch at chalet des Quirlies

A sign on the hike to Lac des Quirlies

Lot's of sheep at Les Perrons, in the Ferrand valley

Piet in Utah

Once in a while a good training opportunity lands on Piet's desk, and this year he got invited to attend a geological field trip in Utah. The idea is to go "back to basics", and link observations in the field to the daily work done behind a computer screen, sitting in an office with the nearest rocks hundreds of kilometers away.

A group of 20 geologists met in Salt Lake City, and in 8 days drove east (via Price and Green River) to Moab, which is on of the main outdoor activity centers in the US, surrounded by beautifully exposed, red coloured rocks. During the day (still very hot and sunny in October) we walked around, discussing the rocks, and did some exercises linking these to finding oil and gas (Piet's day job in The Hague). They also visited the famous Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. The evenings were spend having typical American dinners (lot's of meat) in classic places like Ray's, Eddie McStiff and Sundance.

They also had a half day off, and Piet took the opportunity to rent a MTB and explore some of the classic tracks around Moab. It is claimed that mountain biking started here, and as it is one of his passions.....

Walking to an outcrop in Hatch Mesa, Utah

Piet at Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Moab

Daily routine and a new family member

After our time in France it was back to our daily routine again. The girls started their first full year at the ISH, Paula in year 10, and Dorien in year 8. Paula had to choose a number of subjects, and could drop a few as well (history and drama featuring high on that list!). As part of the IB (International Baccalaureate), secondary education that is recognised all over the world, the girls have to do some hours of community service. Our stable across the road has joint accommodation with an organisation for horse riding for disabled people, and they are always looking for volunteers. Just before the holiday the girls went for an intake interview and after the summer they started. Every Saturday from 8 to 12 o’clock they help cleaning the stables, grooming the horses and helping with the lessons. Many of the disabled riders need help to stay on their horse, or someone holding on to the reins. And when they are lucky they can ride a bit themselves, the horses need proper exercise as well….

Piet has recently moved office. As part of a larger reorganisation his department moved from a grey office complex in the outskirts of Rijswijk to the main office in the centre of The Hague, definitely a step up. He also went on a team building outing in the Belgian Ardennes, where they did some outdoor activities, a cooking clinic and team discussions.

And we got a new family member: Smokey. Mary met a lady, Hanneke, during barbeque at the stable. She was looking for someone to help taking care of her horse. They agreed that Mary would look after this horse, Smokey, every Thursday, and also on other days when required. Mary has started to train him, as they want to do endurance events in the future. Smokey is riding without a bit, and that is something new as well. Mary is very happy with the arrangement and gets along very well with Smokey's owner.

And the first endurance event was held early October, with Mary as groom and photographer.

Smokey and Hanneke during the endurance event