Summer holidays (III)

The last part of the holidays started when Dorien and Lars left, and Paula returned with Tim, a friend from her study. They had been planning a true high mountain alpine trip, with glaciers and a summit. After a two day hike and a day of organising gear we drove to Vallouise and Aillefroide, on the eastern side of the Parc des Ecrins. From a beautiful valley we hiked up a busy trail to Refuge du Glacier Blanc, where the hikers separated from the real alpinists, and we continued upwards. We ended up at the Glacier Blanc, an enormous glacier filling the whole valley. We needed to cross part of this glacier to reach our destination, the Refuge des Ecrins. This allowed us to test all the gear, (crampons, pickle) and practice a glacier crossing, as a four person roped party. Lastly there was a very steep climb to the Refuge. It was extremely busy, as the following day promised excellent climbing conditions, and the hut was run with military discipline.

The next morning we were woken at 04:15, and after breakfast descended back to the glacier. We put on all gear and continued further up the valley, slowly upwards. Near the end we split from the route to Barre des Ecrins, the highest summit in this part of France, and turned north towards Roche Faurio, our goal. The glacier steepened significantly, and with increased confidence we reached a steep rocky slope at 3600 m. Here Piet dropped out, found a flat rock in the sun, and let the others continue to the top. They crossed the rocks, another snowfield and ended up at a difficult final rocky wall, where they needed real rock climbing to reach the summit at 3730 m, in perfect sunny weather. After a smooth descent we reached the Refuge in the early afternoon, and enjoyed a lazy remainder of the day. The next morning we had another early rise, and descended back to the glacier, and further down the valley. The weather had turned, and it started raining once we got off the glacier. In poor weather we descended to Refuge du Glacier Blanc, were we stopped to dry and warm up. From then onwards the descent was easy on good trails, and we arrived safely back in Aillefroide. The next day Paula and Tim went back home, and Mary picked up her horse riding friend Marion.
Marion visited for the first time, and she had alternate days of hiking and horse riding. She rode Beau,  with Mary on the bike, as we still hadn't received a saddle for Curly. We did some easy hikes near Alpe d'Huez, Lac Lauvitel and La Berarde, and enjoyed leisurely afternoons in the garden. The last few days were spend on the bike, in the garden, and organising our return with Beau. After a loud farewell from Curly Beau was loaded in the trailer, and we had a smooth drive home, back to our normal lives!

Hiking towards Refuge du Glacier Blanc

The first view of Glacier Blanc


Paula and Tim enjoying the view


On the way to Refuge des Ecrins

Mary's first steps on Glacier Blanc

 Mary and Piet on the glacier, in an area with crevasses


Piet settles on a rock at 3600 m, Barre des Ecrins in the background


Tim, Paula and Mary on the top of Roche Faurio, at 3730 m

Paula enjoying the descent towards the Refuge

The roped party

Tim and Paula descending past the crevasses

Bad weather above the Glacier Blanc: rain gear on!

Summer holidays (II) - more photos

We got a new camera, and made many, many pictures. Some more are below, taken during the middle part of our holidays and the Tour de France.

Waiting on the Tour

Steven Kruijswijk in the lead on Alpe d'Huez

Egan Bernal chasing Kruijswijk

Robert Gesink is passing us

Laurens ten Dam is cheered on

Peter Sagan is taking a bidon from his team leader

 Jasper de Buijst is struggling to make the time cut

Lars is cycling up Alpe d'Huez on Piet's old bike

Mary made it up Alpe d'Huez as well - second place!

In La Berarde

Dorien rode up in the support car

Lars and Dorien at Refuge de la Lavey

Summer holidays (II)

After the initial quiet period visitors started arriving. First Dorien turned up, with four friends from her study. They did some low level activity for novices in the Alpes, and were basically all recovering from a busy year at university. After a week they were changed out for her boyfriend Lars, with two other friends from their Outdoor Survival Club Slopend. Also Paula turned up with her boyfriend Jasper, and all of them started the week full of enthusiasm and energy. After a few long and strenuous hikes it became clear that holiday is also meant fo taking some rest.

Highlight of the week was the arrival of the Tour de France at Alpe d'Huez. Dutch cyclist Steven Kruijswijk passed us with a significant advantage halfway up the climb, but unfortunately didn't manage to win the stage. It was an impressive first for all the visitors. The next day the start was in Bourg d'Oisans, and we managed to see the whole circus a second time.

The rest of the time was spend playing games, cooking, and looking after the horses in the garden, and after a week peace returned, and Mary was left with just Dorien and Lars. As Piet bought a new race bike his faithful old orange Bianchi could be used by Jasper and Lars. Lars, who never rode a racing bike, or used click pedals before, was very enthusiastic, and cycled up several classical cols, a few times joined by Mary (Alpe d'Huez!). In the end Dorien spend 4 weeks in France and they left to go back to take one more exam, and to prepare for the university introduction days. She has started as Chairlady for the Slopend board, which is not a full time role, but will certainly mean a very busy year for her.

 Beau and his summer friend Curly, starting eating of the garden


Dorien and friends from her Civil Engineering study


Paula and Jasper at the start of a 2 day hike


On the way to Refuge des Sources

 Beau and Jasper cooling down in the Sarenne

 Dorien, Sam, Lars and Luuk ready to hike to Muzelle

Paula and Jasper cycled up with Piet

Lars and Dorien riding in the valley

Lars on Beau and Dorien on Curly riding in Robert's garden

Summer holidays (I)

Summer started and Piet and Mary drove to the house in France with Beau. The girls were still finishing university and rowing business, but both are planning to spend part of their holidays in the mountains as well. And as usual Piet will travel back and forth whilst Mary is holding the fort. The first week was spend in usual fashion: on the bike, hiking, in the garden, and taking care of Beau. After a few days a friend arrived for Beau, a mare called Curly, but they need time to get used to each other. This is clearly not such a good match as last year, when Quinaille was stationed in our garden.

Piet and Mary did a few hikes, further strengthening Mary's physique, in preparation for 'expeditions' with the girls later this summer. The weather was perfect, and most of the time was spend outside, and several books were finished during the hottest parts of the day. Holiday is also relaxing!

Our house

First training for Beau, in the garden of our neighbours

Mary in the village of Ornon, during one of the hikes

A col from Piet's bucket list - done

Mary after arriving in Le Mollard

Beau and Curly are getting to know each other

Mary on top of Col de Corbiere


Descending from Col de Corbiere

Beau cooling down in the Sarenne river, behind our house

Family day at Slopend

Dorien, Lars and their Outdoor Survival Club 'Slopend' organised a day for their families to give everybody a taste of their activities. Piet, Mary and Paula turned up at the Delft University sport grounds and spend the whole day immersed in the Slopend way-of-life. As a start Dorien and Lars gave an intro training on their obstacle run; they make it look very easy, but is it much harder than it seems! This was followed by a lesson in tying knots; Mary could teach some tricks as well. After lunch an adventure puzzle race was done, where family teams has to solve some riddles and find spots running around the Delft campus. The next activity was the making of fire in a natural way, wood was collected, and with a fire stick a small fire was started, then a larger one, and an even larger one. Nettle tea was brewed, and drunk by most of us. We all moved to a nearby boat, where dinner was being prepared. While waiting all enjoyed a beer in the sun, and some brave people had a swim in the harbour. After a good dinner Slopend hosted a pub quiz, which was a test for the Lambregts family, who claim to have good general knowledge level (with specialities in cycling and horses!). In the end we came second, but won the first prize as the winners were students without family: so Piet took home a collection of Delft beers! 

It was a very enjoyable day, and we will see some of the main characters in France this summer. We also met the family of Lars, his brother Bob and his parents. And finally: as a reward Piet and Mary had some sore muscles on Monday!

Piet is trying the monkey crawl, supervised by the girls

Mary is being supervised by Dorien

Tying knots

Preparation for the adventure race

Making fire without matches

Sundowners on the boat

France

After a busy period Piet and Mary went to the house in France for a 10 day break. At the last moment they finally managed to align this trip with their friend Jan, after many, many earlier attempts. Jan and his fiancee Gwen have a house in the Pyrenean foothills, near Perpignan. Unfortunately she couldn't make it, as she was stuck in Houston for work. So they drove to the house in Bassey on Wednesday night (in their new car!), and after a short stopover continued further south on Friday morning. They agreed to meet at a winery in the Cote de Roussillon, where Jan, and other Shell friends Ron and Helen, where already tasting. They joined and after a few stops ended up at Jan's house, high on a hill above the town of Ceret. The day was rounded off with a Catalonian dinner. The next day Piet tested his new racing bike with a loop to Col de la Brousse, whilst Mary and the others visited the local market. In the afternoon they did a hike around the area, and the evening was focussed on wine and music, with the Eurovision Song Contest as central theme.

The next day Jan and the others went to Barcelona for the F1 Grand Prix, and Piet and Mary went on a trip to memory lane, to Mary's old fieldwork area near the coast, centred around Banyuls sur Mer. Unfortunately it was very cold and windy, and a planned hike in the area was foregone, and replaced with a short walk around the Banyuls harbour. The drive back to Bassey was a real nightmare; it was the end of the Ascension Day weekend, poor weather, and all French were returning home from the Mediterranean. A drive that should have taken 5 hours lasted almost 10 hours, with all side roads blocked as well.

The next week was spend in the usual French mode: cycling, working in the garden and some short hikes in the mountains, to test Mary's body for the summer. Also Beau's stable and field were prepared for the return late June. Fully recharged they returned home, to Beau and the girls.

Mary and Jan discussing wine at Thunevin-Calvet

Piet with his new bike, after a ride through the Pyrenees


Collioure

 In Banyuls sur Mer, Mary's old fieldwork area

Refuge du Carrelet, in Parc des Ecrins

There was still lots of snow in Parc des Ecrins

Retie

Retie is a small, sleepy town in the Kempen, northern Belgium. The peace is normally only disturbed if there is a performance by Raymond van het Groenewoud, or if there is 'koers', a cycling race. We went there for the latter, to watch our nephew Max participate in a local under-18 race. He is now training with a larger and stronger team than the previous two years, and therefore has possibilities to be selected for classic races: he will race Brabantse Pijl, early May. Retie was a regular 'laps around the church' criterium, with 15 laps of a bit more than 5 km each. 

Max did very well in Retie, as he managed to position himself in the leading group at the beginning of the race, and helped driving the pace so high, that none of the other racers managed to get back. This group of 12 raced the 81 km with a staggering average speed of 41 km/hr, and in the end Max placed 10th. Below are some impressions from the race.

Start of the race, the leading group is being formed

Max is driving the pace

Max is trying to stay with the leaders

Final sprint of the leading group