A short visit to Cairo and two new (temporary) family members

Never a dull moment in the Lambregts family.... Mary returned to Cairo to visit our horses and their Egyptian entourage, and to hook up with some of her lady friends. She took the "red eye" flight and arrived at 2 in the morning, and was picked up by Sayed, the stable owner. He dropped her off at Els, where Mary stayed for the first three days. Her days consisted of horse riding, and ... horse riding. She had arranged to ride with her friends at the stable or in the desert, and also for daily horse jumping lessons with Sayed at the Saqqara Country Club. Our horses where in good shape, but had suffered some during the hot summer, being a bit skinny. A good, cooler winter will definitely help them! Weather was perfect, and Mary had many, many hours in the saddle, putting into practise all the "traditional" horse riding lessons she got in Holland.

Mary was received with open arms by Sayed, his family, headgroom Reda and the rest of the village. She could borrow Sayed's car and a phone, has lunch in the stable every day, and stayed in the small apartment in the village for the last 2 nights. After five full, satisfying and tiring days Mary was taken back to the airport by Sayed, with the promise that she will return with the girls next time.

In the mean time, back in stormy, wet and cold The Hague, Piet picked up two Siamese cats from one of his colleagues, who is traveling for 5 weeks. Paula and Dorien will look after them, mainly cleaning the litterbox and associated mess. The cats are living in an apartment, and are not used to go outside; under close supervision we let them out in the garden, which they find very exiting.

The foal Baghour is having fun in the paddock in the village

The village ladies are backing bread

Our new (temporary) family members Maru and Mochi

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

Holiday in France (part III)

The third part of the holiday was pretty straightforward: Paula and Dorien went horse riding at Cecile’s almost every day and Mary worked around the house and garden, while Piet was doing time in the office in The Hague. Cecile had a children’s holiday camp (daytime only) with 20 kids from 3 to 12 years old, and she needed all the help she could get. The (spoken) French of the girls improved again, and Dorien is also managing to chat away happily now. In the garden Mary cleaned out some of the ditches and opened up our natural spring. She also managed to get the antique wardrobe, which she had been restoring over the last few years, from the old part of the house into our bedroom. We had postponed this move many times, as we thought scaffolding was required. However, pure man- and woman power turned out to be sufficient. In between all the work Mary rode several times on the village horse Swallow, taking her on longer trips each time. Afterwards there is always the reward of fresh grass from our garden. Her companions, two sheep, enjoy that snack as well!

Piet’s return started a bad weather week: lots of rain and cool temperatures. We still managed to get in some cycling (Piet) and horse riding, and on one of the nicer days we did another Via Ferrata (see also post of the 8th of August), this one near Alpe d’Huez. The route had an easy and a hard section, which were intertwined, and offers the option of several different combinations. We used our own equipment (we have 2 complete sets now) and just did the easy route, leaving the more difficult parts for next year.

Due to the rain work in the garden was very slow, and we just cleaned up what was already chopped down. We had a huge bonfire again, and filled up the barn with more wood for the fire place. The smaller bits were shredded to wood chips and ended up in Swallow’s stable. After a day of cleaning in and around the house it was back to reality again: we left on Sunday at 5 a.m., had a very smooth ride and arrived back in The Hague after 11 hours in the car: home after a 7 week holiday!

Mary admiring another bonfire

Dorien riding Swallow along the Romanche

Paula and Dorien on the Via Ferrata of Alpe d'Huez

Holiday in France (part II)

The second part of our holiday got going when the girls left for a 5 day horse riding trip, with stable owner Cecile and two other teenage girls. They started from Col d’Ornon and descended to the southwest, arriving back across the Taillefer 5 days later (this for people who know the region...). They carried all their equipment with them, and slept under the stars or in mountain / shepherd huts. Even horse food and a portable paddock were dragged along, by a big Fjord horse acting as a giant donkey. The girls had a brilliant time, riding through the mountains on small hiking trails, cooking on a wood fire (couscous and tomato sauce every day) and being with horses 24 hours a day.

Just after they left Piet had to go back to The Hague to put in some time in the office. Mary was by herself for 2 days and then her parents arrived, by bus from Holland. In our village Mary met a guy, who was looking for a place to leave his horse overnight. Our fellow villagers pointed at our garden and a temporary paddock was put up. The guy was organizing a horse back mountain trip (similar to what the girls were doing) for a group of French and Italians. After a lot of changes of plan Mary decided to join them on part of that trip. In the mean time the girls had returned and all of them went to Vizille to a big horse festival “Equirando”. Here Mary stayed behind, leaving the girls in the care of the grandparents (or the other way around?). Mary spend the night in a barn and left next morning with the horse guy (Jacques), who had left his group by themselves, as they were a rowdy and unruly bunch. They rode to Alpe du Grand Serre, and stayed in a bed & breakfast. The next day they rode across the Taillefer (part of the beautiful route the girls took a few days earlier) and descended to Bassey; the horses stayed in our garden again. The following day the group had to be guided up to Villard Reculas, right above our village, from where they would go on by themselves. Paula did the honours along a narrow, steep and winding forest track. Mary drove round and picked her up, and the group continued their trek towards Briançon.

A day of rest and then Piet returned for a 4 day long weekend, and the following day Mary’s parents were put on the bus back home again. This weekend we did a long overdue activity: the Via Ferrata of St. Christophe. A Via Ferrata is a secured rock climb, where you are clipped in to a steel wire all the time. We rented some equipment and just took off with the four of us. It was quite tricky in some parts, with a 10 m vertical wall high above the Veneon river as the main difficulty. Vertigo is not an option as there is no way back once you started! We ended at the top after some 3 hours, doing much better than many other groups on the climb. Despite Dorien’s protests we also did the much shorter second section and ended up, exhausted, on a café terrace in St. Christophe. After the walk back down, a quick late lunch and a short drive we collapsed in our chairs at the house. The day was finished off with a meal in our favourite restaurant in Bourg d’Oisans. Unfortunately the next afternoon Piet had to return to The Hague again.......

Cooking dinner during the horse riding trip

Approaching Taillefer on horseback

Ready for the descend at Taillefer: the last day of Paula and Dorien's horse riding tour

Dorien climbing up the Via Ferrata at St. Christophe en Oisans

Mary, Paula and Dorien on the Via Ferrata

Holiday in France (part I)

This summer we planned to stay in our house in Bassey, France for some 7 weeks, with Piet commuting up and down, making his total 4 weeks. He still hasn’t the same amount of holidays as the girls…

We drove down overnight, arriving on the 1st of July, very early in the morning. During the trip we celebrated Piet’s 45th birthday, and presents were unwrapped in the car. In Bassey we went straight to bed for a couple of hours, and then our holiday started. We quickly got into the routine of working in the garden (starting with getting our lawn in shape), cycling, hiking and horse riding.

In the garden all our tools (toys) were employed: our lawn mower, which we inherited with the house, is an old beast with bits falling off, but the engine is as strong as ever. The strimmer (brousailleuse), with rope or saw blade is used to cut long grass and small bushes. Then we get out the chain saw to cut down (nearly) dead trees in our swampy forest, and last in line is the wood mulcher (broyeur) which pulverises everything to small wood chips. (Mary is in charge of the noisy ones!). And there is the old-fashioned axe, to splice wood for the fire place. Enough ingredients for a loud and bloody horror movie!

The girls were lucky this year with the horses. One of our neighbours has a horse, but their daughter fell off some time ago when it bolted, and she hasn’t dared to go back on again. Mary offered to train the horse to get it ready again for riding. Every morning Paula and Dorien picked up Swallow and longed her in our garden (running around in circles on a rope) to get her used to exercise and to make her listen to commands. After a week they slowly started riding her, and now they take her everywhere on the forest tracks around the village.

Since they were small Paula and Dorien have been riding with Cecile, who used to have a stable in the next village, only a 10 minute walk away. Unfortunately a few years ago she had to move to Mizoen, a village higher up in the main valley, and a 20 minute drive from the house. Every year Cecile goes to the French championships with a few children and horses, and leaves the stable in the care of the remaining girls, with, in general, a 15 year old in charge. Paula and Dorien have been helping the past few years as well, taking care of the horses, cleaning out the stables and giving lessons to small kids. It should be clear that we run a regular taxi service from Bassey to Mizoen (and vice versa). This year Cecile also planned a horse riding-camping trip in the area to the south of us; a 5-day horse trek, sleeping under the stars. More in the next post....

Like almost every year Piet’s sister and family visited, and they were keen to go with us to one of the mountain cabins in the Parc des Ecrins. We did two long hikes beforehand and they also came well prepared, fully trained, new backpacks and ready to go. We decided to go to Refuge de la Pilatte, which is located on a beautiful viewpoint above a valley with a large glacier. Starting from La Berarde we had a good walk up in spectacular mountain scenery, crossing a number of snow fields and arrived at the hut after some 4 hours. And they had draft beer! We had to organise our stuff, claim 9 of the communal bunk beds and enjoy the view. A few of us descended to the glacier, but as we had no equipment we couldn’t venture very far. After the meal we tried to sleep amidst snoring, creaking beds and whispering kids. As it is lights out at 9 we managed enough hours of sleep anyway. The next morning we took everybody on the glacier, and Mary could practise her old job of mountaineering instructor again. We hiked a different way back and ended up again in La Berarde, where we had lunch and cooled down in the local water fountain, as it was baking hot. The day was finished off with pizza in Bourg d'Oisans.

The next morning they left for their own holidays near Lake Geneva. Unfortunately the day after Piet had to go back to The Hague to work (but not without a ride up Alpe d'Huez in the morning)....

Dorien and Piet during a walk near Le Chazelet

Paula is longing Swallow

Hiking up to Refuge de la Pilatte

Piet and the van Balkom boys showing off their bodies at the Refuge

The kids are descending towards La Berarde