After several days at our house in the Oisans we drove north to Lausanne, to visit Paula and Jasper for the weekend. We had seen Paula recently, as she was in The Hague for two stag parties, that she helped organising. However, it is always great to see them in their own surroundings, as they are well and truly settled in Switzerland. As usual we took the opportunity to plan a hike in an area they hadn't been before, this time near the French border, southeast of Lake Geneva, to Col de Cou. The scenery was stunning, and we even had coffee and cake at the Col, in a refuge that was an eyesore in the landscape. The next morning we walked along the lake, which is always very pleasant. The shore is bordered by a walking path, and many parks and sports facilities, supporting the healthy lifestyle of most of the inhabitants of Lausanne. After lunch we drove back home, and ended in the middle of the student protests in Chambery. The main highway tunnel was closed, and we were guided into town, where many streets were blocked as well. It took us more than two hours to get to the other end of the tunnel, a kilometer further on...
After a day back in the house we drove south, for the yearly wine pilgrimage to the Gigondas with our friend Frits. Once we arrived it started pissing down with rain, but we still needed to walk Pippin. The tracks in and around the vineyards turned into muddy rivers, and we had to cut the walk short, and took shelter in one of the cafe's. Here we met Frits, and together we visited the Gigondas winehouses of Cayron and Bosquets. Our usual champagne sundowner on the terrace of Hotel les Florets had to be moved inside; this was followed by a nice dinner.
The following morning we split up for one day: we drove to Carcassonne for a tourist vist, whilst Frits stayed in Gigondas to tast and buy some more wine. In Carcassonne it was finally dry, and we hiked around the cite, an almost intact medieval city on top of a hill, and one of the most famous tourist destinations in France. There were quite a few people there, but it was still very pleasant to walk around. We just don't want to think about a visit in the high season! We ended the day with a dinner in the restaurant ion the top floor of the hotel, overlooking the illuminated cite.
In the morning we drove northwest to the Cahors wine region, which we hadn't visited before. There we met Frits again, and did some tasting of Cahors wines (made with malbec grapes) at Passelys and Resseguier. We stayed in the city of Cahors and had an excellent dinner at Chez Suzanne. The next day we drove west to Albas, a beautiful village on the river Lot. There we did a nice hike, before meeting Frits again for a wine tasting at two of the top Cahors producers: Chateau du Cedre and Clos Triguedina: it was well worth it! After another night in Cahors we drove back to the Oisans for our last few days at the house.
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