Summer holidays (III)

Despite the sad events this summer we had a good holiday, with both Paula and Dorien spending a few weeks at the house. The Great Outdoors is still our passion, and we did quite a few activities, with different compositions of the groups. Below is a photographic summary of our summer adventures.

Paula on top of Aguille du Dibona

On the way to Refuge de l'Aigle

Lunch on the Aigle trail

Mary in a snowfield, high above the Romanche valley

Hiking towards Refuge de la Fare

Piet at the Refuge

Lars cycling up the steep road to Mizoen

Lars and Piet cycling to Col de Sarenne

Mission accomplished, at 1999 m

Paula and Jasper on top of Mont Gioberney

Mary joined them as guide, and reached the top as well

Descending to Refuge de la Pilatte

Mary in Palais Ideal in Hauterives

More sad news

When we returned from our May holiday in France Beau, who had stayed at horse hotel 'De Blis', was lame, and Mary took him to the vet. Beau was diagnosed with severe arthrosis in one of his legs, and also some bone loss in his back. It was clear that we couldn't ride with the same intensity as before, and probably had to restrict Beau to a few outdoor rides a week or even less, if he would recover somewhat. We even considered to have him put down, as the quality of his life would be quite poor, considering the circumstances, with a small box and no outside areas at our stable. Recovery would not be possible, and in the end we decided on a treatment that would relief some of his problems, to allow us to take him to France, with the hope that 2 months of unrestrained walking in our garden would improve his health, and at least give him a great summer.
As we wrote in the post of 17 July Beau was hooked up with Quinaille, an old friend, and he spend the whole summer in our garden, with a short ride once or twice a week. Towards the end of the holidays it was clear that his legs hadn't improved, and Mary and the girls had to make the very difficult decision not to take him home with us, as in The Hague there was no option to provide him the quality of life he deserved. Also we didn't want to expose him to the drive home, and the inevitable end in a strange environment. On the 29th of August the local vet put him down in our garden, where he spend the best time of his 8 years with us. Mary and Piet were there with him, and although we were all convinced it was the best decision it was very, very sad to see a horse, that was happily walking around a few hours earlier, pass away like that.
Beau has dictated our schedule every day, and we happily took him for walks, rides or exercises three times a day. He has taught Mary, Paula and Dorien to ride better, and has happily acted as guinea pig for Mary's horse trainer courses. He will leave a large empty hole in our family, and will be sorely missed.

Beau and Quinaille enjoying the grass in our garden

Mary and Beau spend almost every day together for 8 years

Beau and Piet were great friends, but they never rode together

Beau (2001-2019)

Summer holidays (II)

After Tony's funeral Piet, Mary, Lars and Dorien returned to the house in France, and Paula went on a hike in the Pyrenees, with some friends from her rowing club. This turned out as a typical Lambregts family holiday; we did some cycling, hiking, horse riding and work around the house. After a week Dorien and Lars returned to The Netherlands, as Lars was starting his new job in Shell, and Paula and Jasper came to replace them. The only change was the addition of rock climbing as activity.

Piet and Mary made a small trip to celebrate their 25 year wedding anniversary, and visited the famous Palais Ideal in Hauterives, did a hike around the Hermitage vineyards and finished the day off in the excellent La Cachette restaurant in Valence. The next day a planned hike in the Vercors fell into the water, as it rained most of the day. But this downpour was quite welcome, as it had been warm and very dry the whole month of July.

Hiking between St Christophe and Les Deux Alpes

Lars, Dorien and Piet above the Veneon valley

Ready for a ride

Paula and Jasper made it up Alpe d'Huez

Cooling down in the Sarenne

 Palais Ideal

Sad news

About 6 months ago Mary's brother Tony was diagnosed with a complicated illness in his lungs. The initial treatment resulted in a partial recovery, but he had to give up his work as owner of a professional cleaning company, and was re-adjusting his life. In July Tony had a relapse, and his health quickly deteriorated. In the end he passed away peacefully in his own house.

Mary returned from France to be with him and the family, which was a great support for them. We all managed to be present for the condolence session and funeral. This was an impressive farewell, also due to the presence of Tony's motorclub, who accompanied the procession, and lined up for a noisy 'row of honour' before the start of the remembrance session.
Although Tony looked tough on the outside he had a heart of gold; he was always ready to help anybody who needed it, and found it difficult to sit still. His passion was his motorbike, but also any other motorised vehicle. Despite our years abroad we have kept in touch, and Tony and family visited us in Norway, Malaysia, Egypt and France. He will be truly missed.

Tony Gijsen (1959-2019)

Summer holidays (I)

Our summer holidays started with a family week at the house in France. At the end of the Delft academic year Piet, Mary, Beau, Paula and her study and climbing friend Tim drove through the night, whilst Dorien and Lars took their own car and went ahead during the day to prepare our arrival. After a last minute colic scare with Beau we were happy to arrive safely, and get set up for the summer. Mary and Paula arranged a friend for Beau, which turned out to be Quinaille, who also spend the summer with us in 2017. After three lonely days (we don't count......) he was in his element. Due to health issues with his legs and back Beau will have a relaxing summer, concentrating on eating the grass in our garden.
Dorien and Lars came to relax as well, as they both had a busy year. Dorien has been combining her studies with the position of chairwoman for the Board of Slopend, and Lars completed his studies, secured a job at Shell (!), and had a surgery from which he was still recovering. They were planning an easy summer without commitments, with some hiking and cycling in our area, and a week in Italy with friends.
Paula and Tim, in her usual fashion, crammed a week full of activities with two main trips. The first was the climb of Aguille de Dibona, a very distinct steep needle of rock, visible from afar. Although the climbing level was not that high the main challenge was the airy nature and exposure during their ascent, but they managed without much difficulty.
The second trip turned out to be a family affair. Paula and Mary planned to go to Refuge de l'Aigle, the only mountain hut we hadn't visited in our 20 years in the area. The plan was to hike up to the hut, climb one of the summits in the neighbourhood, and descent. Piet and Dorien joined as well, Lars had to stay and mind the horses, as he was not yet fit enough. The hike up to the hut was an alpine tour in itself, it took 8 hours, and we had to cross many steep snow fields, manage a rocky descent on cables, and cross Tabuchet glacier to arrive at the hut, located on a spectacular point on top of a small rocky outcrop. This day was so strenuous that only Paula and Tim decided to continue the next morning to the summit of Meije Orientale. After they got up at 4 AM they continued on the glacier, but got stuck on an icy slope towards the summit ridge, and had to decide to turn around. Back at the hut we all packed up, and made the long descend back to the car passing the same difficulties as the previous day; with 1800 m of height difference this resulted in muscle pains for the next week (Piet & Mary)!
The rest of the week was spend playing games, looking after the horses, some short cycle rides, and watching the Tour de France in the evening. Then Piet, Paula and Tim had to leave work work, the next holiday and an internship, planning to return later this summer.

Dorien and Lars are cooling down Beau in the Sarenne

Paula, Tim and Lars on Col d'Ornon

Mary in one of the many steep snowfields during the climb towards l'Aigle

Descending towards Glacier du Tabuchet

In the Refuge de l'Aigle

 Refuge de l'Aigle has a spectacular location!

Paula is descending from the glacier

 Mary is arriving at te church in Venosc

Las Palmas

Piet went for 3 days to Las Palmas, on the holiday island of Gran Canaria. This was not for pleasure, but work. He visited a vessel that was starting offshore operations in Mauritania, to make a detailed survey of the seabed in preparation for future activities. Two days were spent on the vessel discussing the operations, cooperation, reporting and other issues. The third day was spent in a hotel for a session with all people that are going offshore, a so-called mobilisation meeting.

In the end there was little time to explore Las Palmas town, that is located on a narrow peninsula with a large harbour on the east side, and a walking boulevard with beach on the western side. In summary: despite the location and pictures below it was not a holiday.....

Piet on the bridge of the vessel

Leaving the vessel for the hotel

Las Palmas beach

Surfing on Playa de las Canteras

Spring break in France

We (Piet and Mary) went to the house in France for our usual spring break. We parked Beau at his horse hotel De Blis, where he would be enjoying a large stable, knee-high straw and lots of time outside. After a smooth drive we spend the first days in the garden, mowing the lawn, planting new fruit trees to replace two dead 'pommiers' (apple trees), and getting everything in order for our arrival in the summer. 

Then we drove to the Provence, to the village of Gordes, where we had rented a small cottage on the land of a retired farmer. We brought the bikes, and did two rides. The second ride was up Mont Ventoux, the famous white mountain dominating that area. As we were both not in great cycling shape we decided to attack from the east, from Sault, where a 20 km gently climbing road brought us to Chalet Reynard, on the main climb to the top. The last 6 km were the steepest, and we both reached the top without too much trouble.

The last day we did a famous villages tour, where we kept seeing the same faces of other tourists during the day. Apparently a circuit from Oppede-le-Vieux, via Menerbes and Bonnieux to Roussilon is on many to-do lists for the northern Provence. We also stopped at Chateau de Canorgues, where one of Mary's favourite films, A Good Year, was shot. We picked up some wine, notably Le Coin Perdu; this wine played a role in the movie, and Mary named our own house the same. For non-French speakers: Le Coin Perdu means 'the forgotten corner'.

The last few days were spend back at the house, with a bit of cycling and gardening, and lot's of reading. After a relaxing week we drove back to The Hague, looking forward to return to France for the summer. 

Mary is planting new fruit trees in the garden

View over Gordes

Cycling around Gordes

Mary is cycling towards Chalet Reynard from Sault

 Almost at the top

We made it!

Descending

 At Tom Simpson's monument

 Buying wine at Chateau de Canorgues