Discovering France and Switzerland in summer

This summer was abundant in adventures. Lovely weather made it possible to go and see many beautiful places. Have a look at compilation of photos from various places we saw in this period.

Arles:

Avignon:

Bories:

 Lausanne:

Gordes:

Montreux:

Pernes Les Fontaines:

Pont du Gard:

Rolle:

St Remy de Provence:

Photo contest

A huge advantage of coming back to Poland is that there are so many events going on around and we can actually take part in them. There is nothing that stops us, no language barriers, no elevated costs, no problem with care for Wojtek. We really enjoy this a lot in our city.
Anyway, we learnt there was a photo contest for amateurs. The theme was: alteration. Radek thought it would be fun to participate and together with our friends he went on location to shoot :)

There was a limited time for this challenge. He treated the motif very strictly. Have a look at the photos he made (and I  processed later).

We didn't win but it was lots of fun trying :)

Fort l'Ecluse like a (go) Pro

Radek got a Go Pro camera as a CERN goodbye gift and he gave it a try on Fort l'Ecluse. How do you like it?

Sixt Fer à Cheval one more (and last) time

Our friends were passing by the area while on holidays so we met them in Sixt Fer à Cheval - the place where we take all our visitors. A perfect day to stroll with children.

Refuge de Tête Rousse (3167 m)

It's official, we started preparations to Mont Blanc trip. The idea hatched for a long time but now it materialized and we're very happy about this. My friend introduced us to Jacek who had the same dream and we started planning it together. So if everything goes well, next year we will set foot on the highest peak of Europe. Meanwhile... We're doing preparations. We decided to follow the Mont Blanc route as far as possible without any special gear and got as high as  Refuge de Tête Rousse - the refuge we will be staying in during our next year trip. I'm so excited! Also, it's symbolic. This will be our final hike in the area, we won't have time for anything else, so we will close the season with  Tête Rousse, and open it the next year with the same route (only extended).

As you can see, we didn't have inviting conditions, but we decided to give it a try anyway. We're all experienced in mountains and Jacek is also a runner so we weren't afraid of the challenges. We continued in a super fast pace (it was Jacek who led and he clearly was fitter than us - I guess running marathons gives you a good deal of stamina - I must try this!). So in nearly no time we reached Barrack Forrestiere from where it was already quite close to the refuge. And where the snow began.

We went past a couple of daredevils willing to claim Mont Blanc. Not the best idea taking into consideration that the Gouter Couloir was closed due to heavy rock falls and there have been a number of deaths recently. I guess some people can't argue with their call for adventure. But that's not us. We reached Tête Rousse, warmed up considerbaly there and went down to the base using the same route. Radek got stomach upset yet again so it was a bit of a challenge for him to get down but eventually he made it. We didn't see Blanc that day, but we will see it next year! Au revoir!

Stats: max elevation: 3127m, Elevation gain: 1370m, Distance: 14,3km, Time: 6h 15min (+45 min break in the refuge).

Goodbye Jura

Finally, the heat is over! Isn't that great news? Although, I must admit, the change is huge as in Jura it was around 4 dg. C today. Only 30 less than a couple of days ago :) Anyway, not much time left for us so we're saying farewell to Jura. It's the chain that we saw every day from our windows, where Radek took his first ski lessons, where I made my first hiking trips back in 2010. We're taking lots of memories with us. Jura, we will miss you greatly!

Les Via Ferrata du Rochers de la Chaux

Yet another Via Ferrata. We called this one: "A VF on a vertical rock" because indeed, it was vertical :) There were two possible routes to follow, we chose an easier one and I think it was a good decision. Not that the easier route was challenging or anything, but the other one looked super difficult from where we were standing. Or better say: from where we were hanging :)

For sure, this one is not for people with vertigo. There is no place to recover, once you're there, you need to hide your fears, tiredness and continue up. A look back down gives you this nice panorama on a town in mountain valley. Have a look at the movie we made there: