Autumn break in France

Piet and Mary went on their traditional October break to the house in France, to enjoy the last days of nice weather and get the house and garden ready for winter. Also a tradition by now is to join Piet's friend Frits on his yearly wine pelgrimage in southern France. After two beautiful sunny days at the house we descended to Bandol on the Mediterranean coast to meet up with him. There the weather turned, and rain started, and lasted until we left the next day. This didn't matter as we planned to visit a number of wineries to stock up on red wine in the afternoon. It is always enjoyable to talk to the proud winemakers, and it makes drinking afterwards a lot more fun!

The next day we did a hike along the coast on Chemin du Littoral. Unfortunately most of the path ran along the Port d'Alon private housing estate, that was closed off from the coastal trail. With signs it was made very clear that normal hikers were not welcome at all! Quite depressing, but probably not the only place along the Mediterranean coast were rich people are hiding behind a fence. The scenery was great, and we will try the other direction next time.
The rest of the week was spend in a relaxed manner reading books, working in the garden, on the bike, and enjoying a hike around one of the nicest villages in the region: Besse en Oisans. As usual the week flew past, and on Sunday we drove back to The Hague, and our third child Beau, who has been suffering from dental problems. More later...

A deer in our garden at dawn

Making plans for a wine tasting afternoon

Frits and Piet are tasting at Chateau Salettes

A case of wine

 At the oenotheque in Bandol

Hiking along the Mediterranean, in the rain

The ruines at Mornas, a stop on the way back to Bassey

Besse en Oisans, one of the most beautiful villages in our region

Hiking near Besse

View towards Plateau des Emparis

 The chapel at Bonnefin