A Weekend Break In Olargues

At the end of the first week as volunteers, we realized that we needed a break, and that we would like to see just a little bit of the area, which was not possible without a car. Our hosts were very understanding, and upon recommendation from one of the retreat participants, Lydia, Kiet booked us for two nights at the Hotel Laissac. When the retreat ended Saturday afternoon, we got a ride to Olargues, checked in, and enjoyed a 'real' shower for the first time in 10 days.

 Olargues is considered to be one of the most beautifl villages in France, and we can agree with that. There is around 600 inhabitants, so it is truely a village. The "Devil's Bridge" is said to date back to 1202 and is reputed to be the scene of transactions between the people of Olargues and the "devil". The old village is clustered around the belltower, which was formerly the main tower of the castle, and the old shops have marble frontages and overhanging upper storeys.

Devil's Bridge; 12th century

We walked around the village, swam in the river, and had a very nice dinner at restaurant Fleurs 'Olargues, which it turned out was run by a Danish couple! The food was wonderful, and it was a treat to see the chef go to the herb garden to pick herbs for our meals.

A wonderful evening

We had great plans of doing some hiking in the nearby mountains, but decided we just needed to take it easy and relax. All the physical work of the previous week, had taken it's toll on the two 'pencil-pushers'!

Raison d'etre!

Volunteering in Vieussan: The Family Retreat

We flew EasyJet ($110 incl. luggage) to Toulouse, France, and I had warned Andy that there would be a run for seats, as we didn't want to pay for seating. We got moved around twice, as it turned out that there was seating, and our seat numbers were actually printed on the boarding passes as usual! Did somebody say experienced travellers?

The airport shuttle ($16) took us to the mail train station, where we bought the train tickets to Bederiaux ($74). I called our Workaway Host Kiet to let him know when the train would arrive, as he would pick us up. Unfortunately, there was a 'personal incident' on our route, so we were re-routed, and spent about an hour on the train waiting for the tracks to be cleared. When we finally reached Beziers, the last bus to Bediareux had just left! The rail staff told us that they might be able to give us a taxi with another person in an hour. We checked out the price of a taxi, and a hotel room in case we had to spend the night there. I left our host several messages, as he would already be at the station waiting for us.

Finally, we were sent off in a taxi, met by Kiet, and taken to our home, La Source, for next couple of weeks. Sandra and Kiet live on the top of a mountain in the middle of now-where in the Languedoc National Park. A beautiful and peaceful place.

La Source

Five years ago, Sandra and Kiet bought the abandoned house and land, and they have now turned it into a peaceful place for retreats and workshops if you wish to be close to nature and expereince meditation and Chi Gong. http://www.lempreintedutao.org/index.php.The conditions were very basic compared to our daily life, so it was good we were used to that when camping. We sleept in a tent on a futon

Our home

The shower is a bucket of water behind a curtain.

The hot water is heated by solar power, and the cold water is rain water. The toilet is a dry toilet using saw dust to absorb the odour and initiate decomposition process, and the drinking water comes from a well nearby. The dishes and laundry are done in rain water, and everything is left to dry outside. It is around 30 degrees during the day, and we have only had rain once, so it is very dry here. This is really back to nature, and it takes a while to get used to that everything takes longer, and we have to be sparse with the water. 

The tasks the first couple of days were to help getting ready for the retreat, as well as get used to the kitchen, so we cleared paths, cleared areas for laundry lines and  tent sites. A lot of physically hard work, which  we were not used to, so we slept well and long!

The Family Retreat

Fourteen adults and 13 children (between 1,5 and 9 years) participated, and most of them were French, but there were also 2 German couples from Berlin. We cooked lunch and dinner, and the menu was a mix of French and Vietnamese vegetarian cuisine, so we chopped A LOT of vegetables. 

We had help from one of the participants at each meal, but it still took us around 3 hours to prepare the meal, set the tables, and fetch hot water in the shower.

We participated in the guided meditation session every morning, and both found it very relaxing to try to still the mind and focus on being in the present just by concentraton on breathing.

Andy is getting meditation position advice

The first afternoon, we went for a walk to explore the area,

but it was really hot and uncomfortable, so after that mistake, we slept after lunch like everybody else! 

We started cooking dinner around 17:00, and after dinner, when the left-over food was put away and the pots and pans washed, it was time for a shower, and walk and then bed. Often the dog, Zuckar (means serendipity in Vietnamese) and the cat Plume (means feather in French) accompanied us on the walk which was funny and very nice.

If you cannot find time to meditate for an hour every day, find two hours

 - Kiet Dao

Geneva

It took us about 4 hours to reach Geneva by trains and cable car, and cost $180. 

My friend Nadia, met us at the train station, and after having taken our luggage to her place by tram, we headed out to enjoy Geneva. We took the tram to an end station, walked back along the beautiful lake Geneva, and had a ice cream. 

We got caught in thunder, lightening and rain, and had to have the picnic Nadia had planned in her living room - not a problem. The weather cleared,  and together with a bottle of Moroccan red wine, which Nadia, who's father is Moroccan and mother is Swiss, offered us to try, we went to the river - what a nice ending to our last evening in Switzerland. The wine was really tasty, and we had a good time.

Thanks again to Nadia for her hospitality. Next experience awaits us in France! 

Switzerland Hike Day 3: Grindelwald to Murren

In the mountains you never take the weather for granted, so we really felt privileged to have wonderful weather for the last day of our hike.

Andy saved us a trip to Grindelwald station as we could send our luggage from Grindelwald Grund station to Murren ($14). The challenge of the day was that the hike would take us 11 hours, and Murren station closed at 17:45, so we would have to start hiking at 06:00, and we would have the time pressure of getting to Murren in time to get our luggage, or, alternatively, pick it up the next morning!

The day before, we went to the Tourist Information to get a hiking map, and were given some good advice, which made us decide to take the cable car from Grindelwald to Holenstein, which saved us 1.5 hours hiking 500m up a (boring) road, and so we did. Our laziness cost us $23. We chatted with a nice German couple in the cable car, who had come to hike for the day as it was only a couple of hours drive away. Distances are short in Europe.

Along the way, Andy got to play the alp horn, which is made of wood and it is believed that the alphorn was frequently used as signal instruments in village communities since medieval times or earlier, sometimes substituting for the lack of church bells. 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151591170077865&l=7833690777866755772

And I got to 'milk a cow'. Nice with some entertainment along the way.

The 2 hours, 500 m hike up to Mannlichen followed right under the cable car, and we huffed and puffed our way to the top at 2,225 m, accompanied by cow bells, but, boy, was it worth the climb.

We could see all the way to Murren (the village on top of the cliff across the valley and to the left), 

and the route we had to take to get there, and it looked quite an ordeal for the legs. Luckily due to Swiss efficiency, we had the option to take a cable car down to Wengen in stead of hiking the 900 meters down, which would have been like hiking down the Grouse Grind, but worse!

So, with that decision made, we had time to enjoy the majestic view and have lunch. Two Swiss men started talking to us after they saw Andy's Canadian flag on his backpack; they had lived in the US for a while and visited Canada. They also told us that the Swiss army was headquartered in Grindelwald during the Second World War, as the Germans could neither get into the valley with their bomber planes nor could they attack by foot due to the mountains. Interesting.

The cable car ride down to Wengen felt like a private ride, as we were the only people on board. We must have hit the early season in Switzerland, since we didn't see many people hiking or on public transportation. Or maybe the strained European economy makes people choose to vacation in cheaper countries. We mainly met Swiss and German people.

Wengen

Wengen is a popular skiing resort, and it had a nice feel to it. We found the trail, which was a gravel road leading down to Lauterbrunnen at the bottom of the valley. It took us about an hour. Then we took another cable car up to Grutschalp, as it would have been Grouse Grind hike up there. We had a ice cream, enjoyed a well-deserved view from this side of the valley and had a rest.

The last leg to Murren took us about an hour and we were tired by then despite all the cable car riding. All in all, it took us 5 hours to hike the 16 km! 

Mürren is a traditional Walser mountain village in Bernese Oberland at an elevation of 1,650 m above sea level, has a population of 450 people, 2,000 hotel beds, and is unreachable by public road, and thus car free.

The James Bond movie 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' was filmed here,  and you might remember the scene of 007 fighting Jaws on top of  a cable car.

We picked up our luggage at the train station, 

and checked in at Hotel Regina, where we had another wonderful view of the mountains from our room ($140/night incl. b'fast). 

We had a nice roesti with egg, cheese and salmon for dinner, and a half a bottle of Swiss rose. We bought another half bottle of the rose and enjoyed it at our balcony watching the sun set over the mountains.

Trust me it was not easy to get the legs going the next morning - they were so stiff it felt like walking on telephone poles! We had breakfast on the patio, and Andy finally got to taste Birchermuesli (the famous Swiss muesli).

We had decided not to go up to Schilthorn, as we were too tired to hike up, and it would cost $70 each, and we had been looking at these mountains for 3 days now. Instead, we walked around Murren, bought postcards, and had a fresh chocolate croissant at the bakery.

 We bought lunch and dinner at the local supermarket, and enjoyed both on our balcony, as we wouldn't get a better view anywhere else in Murren.

Switzerland Hike Day 2: Schwartswaldalp to Grindelwald

At breakfast, we realized that we were the only people in the Herberge, so we felt very special. Andy really enjoyed the coffee.

Another sunny day in the Swiss Alps, we are so lucky with the weather. We can see up to the pass Grosse Schneidegg at 1,960m, which we will be going through on our way to Grindelwald. so close, and though so far away!

Up, up up and away we go. Stunning hike. It took us around 2 hours to hike the 560m up to the pass.

Reaching the mountaintop is rewarding because it is hard. 

If it was easy, everybody would do it 

- Anonymous

It is amazing to be so close to some of the highest mountains in Europe. Of, course the 360 degrees view from the pass was spectacular;  we could see way down to Grindelwald in the valley.

I got REALLY excited, but you weren't there, Stepfi!

What goes up, must go down, and so must we! Even though we zig zagged as much as we could to protect our knees, it was hard on them and the calves, as you use your legs to brake the 900 m down to the village with only a few flat areas. 

We reached Grindelwald after another 2,5 hours, and had a well deserved Migro's (thinking of our good times in Marmaris, Stephanie) supermarket sandwich and a coke on a bench.  Grindelwald (height: 1,034 m, 3,393 ft) has a population of about 4,000 residents. It took us 4,5 hours to hike the 16 km.

Our luggage waited for us at the train station (love the efficiency of the Swiss). We had a beer right next to the bus station, and still managed miss the bus to our hostel as I had to go to the wash room, and our bus was the only one which didn't take a break at the station, but just picked up passengers and went on!

So, we took the train one station, and walked the 5 minutes to Mountain Hostel Grindelwald Grund ($55/person incl. breakfast private room, WC and bath on the floor). We went for a swim in an outdoor pool to soften up the hard leg muscles, and it was fun swimming 'among the mountains'.

We both craved a salad for dinner, and found a place close by, which served a tasty chicken salad, and then went to be early - we were tired!

Day 1 Hike: Meiringen to Swartzwaldalp

3 hours, 12 km

We woke up to wonderful sunshine, and our spirits were high in anticipation of the hike. We took our big backpacks to the train station and paid $22 to have them sent to Grindelwald ( destination day 2), as there is no transportation to Schwartzwaldalp. We just carried some extra clothes and toiletries in our day packs.

We 'cheated' and took the tram from Meiringen to the top of the waterfall, and saved our legs from 1.5 hour of hiking straight up the mountain.

We followed the road and hiked on trails up, up, up over the pass, and were met with a breath taking view.

The trails are well sign posted, ant it is very nice that they give the distance in time in stead of kilometres, so you at least have an idea of how long it will take to reach your destination.

You know you are in the Swiss Alps when you hear constant ringing of cow bells, can buy home made cheese at the barn door, and the air is crisp and clean. Cheese is still made the way is was 300 years ago, and of course we had to buy some.

The trail was fairly easy going along the river, through forrest and open fields. After 2 hours of hiking we stopped in Rosenlau, and bought bread for our cheese, and had a nice lunch. The cheese was dry, sharp and tasty.

We reached Schwartzwaldapl an hour later, so it was an easy day hike, and just what we needed to get going again. We were staying at Chalet Swartzwaldalp (CAD104/pax incl. breakfast and 3 course dinner) - it was the only accommodation there, and not many people live here.

We visited the only hydro powered saw mill left in Switzerland, which Andy was very fascinated by as he used to work in a saw mill in Newfoundland.

Then we had more bread and cheese by the river, and then it was finally time for some beer at the terrace with more astounding views!

Most of the food you get in the mountains is local and home made - just up our alley. Dinner consisted of smoked trout with salad, wild boar steak with new potatoes and vegetables, and apple cream for desert.

We were rung to sleep by cow bells!