After the Gers we drove back to Buis with Julia. And we spent the next 4 weeks in Buis, which was fantastic.
The weather was definitely cooler than in July and on our second night our evening stroll turned into a dash back to the house to avoid being stuck in the thunderstorm.
Julia and I did the Buis historical circuit walk, slowly and in full. I’d done bits and pieces but loved doing the whole thing. I discovered that our house is inside the very original 12th century walls. I also learned that you could go into the Dominican Cloister and even into some of the rooms. Because it is a hotel I’d assumed that I couldn’t enter, but, in fact, the Cloister is community property that is rented to the hotel – so you are allowed to go in. And there is some really interesting historical information.
We did a lovely 3-hour hike to the Chapelle Saint Jean D’Ollon, which is charming and from which you get lovely views of the surrounding Baronnies.
We drove to the Col de Perty and did a small walk, with a big climb, to get some even more fabulous views towards the Alps in one direction and the Ouveze Valley in the other.
And there had to be one more visit to Bistrot Du’O for lunch and the compulsory wander around Vaison la Romaine pre and post-lunch.
On Julia’s last day, she joined us for our first hike for the season with Randouveze. It was a very hot day and one of our number started suffering from heatstroke. We had to make regular stops to make sure that he was hydrated – which made for a very slow descent. But at least he was OK.
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| We saw birds of prey in small groups of a few walks |
It was lovely catching up with Julia in her new home country and sharing three different and special experiences in Bordeaux, the Gers and Buis.
One of the lovely things about coming back to Buis at different times of the year is that we discover new things about the life of the town. In September there is a professional boules tournament over a few days, which takes over the main carpark.
On Tuesday the 6th of September we joined more than 30 other Randouveziens for a 4-day trip to Jaujac in the Ardeche. The area has many extinct volcanos and lots of interesting geology. The town of Jaujac sits below a crater that is now covered in forest. This trip was a real highlight of our time away. The club organsises a couple of these hiking trips away every year and we have been really looking forward to doing one.
We stayed in basic accommodation in Jaujac – although we were given the biggest room -because we had travelled the furthest. We suspect that it also stopped people complaining about who got the room. Just give it to the Australians.
We hiked every day. There was one short and one long hike every day to choose between. As we didn’t arrive until late morning on the first day – the hikes on that day were both shorter, although our fitness was lesser. Just as well, because it was very overcast and humid. We did the longer hikes, and they were pretty demanding on the following 3 days.
Day 1
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| Being away from our region meant a lot more attention and discussion about the navigation |
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| The goats liked licking the tree sap |
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| Copious numbers of chestnut trees in the Ardeche |
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| This lovely german shepard adopted us early on in the walk and 'lead' us all the way to the end. Lucky we met the son of the owners along the way, who called his parents to collect her from the bar at the end of the walk. |
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| Jaujac |
Day 2
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| We drove up to the ski fields for the walk; I love this photo of the ritual of getting ready |
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| Le picnic |
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| The final descent was down a ski run, which is much steeper than the photo implies; it was brutal on the tired knees |
We had many wonderful experiences on the hikes, but number 1 was the fact that it was mushroom season and the Ardeche is known for its wonderful ceps. They were everywhere and locals were out in numbers collecting bags and bags – and even cars - full of ceps. Some people on the shorter hike collected 6 kgs one day that our chambre d’hote hosts cooked up into a beautiful velouté. A few people elected not to partake out of concerns for their health (and the opportunity to foreshadow our overnight deaths), but the rest of us did survive.
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| No, you can't eat this one |
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| nor this one |
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| nor these |
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| Bingo! |
The equal number 1 experience was reacquainting ourselves with the wonderful people we’ve met over the years. We also met some new people and got to know people that we had met but not really spent time with. It was all wonderfully organised by Christine – who we have known over the years – and who is the most amazing hiker. She almost seems to float up hills and skip across rocks.
After each day of hiking, we invariably found somewhere in Jaujac to have a quick drink. Then it was off to have showers and get ready for aperitifs – which were outdoors most evenings. Aperitifs were followed by dinner indoors.
In the morning, the chambre d’hote also made us our lunches. We all had to bring our little plastic containers to fill up with our lunch supplies – which we thought were extensive. Think salads, cheese, hard boiled eggs, cold meats etc.
There were two events during the trip that centred around us – and which were hysterical. Firstly, Christine and Phillipe (club secretary) had organised for us to get a lift to Jaujac with the delightful Jean-Michel and Brigitte. Most unfortunately, Brigitte fell during the first walk and badly injured her arm and wrist. This of course meant that she and Jean-Michel had to return to Buis so that Brigitte could start her recuperation. However, this left us without a lift back to Buis and 3 days ensued of discussions and plans excitedly conceived and then discarded about how we would get back (to which we were largely spectators). On our final night I think we chatted to at least 4 different people who approached us with their different ideas about how we (and our luggage) could get back to Buis. Then on our last day a completely new plan appeared, which led to one of our friends giving Phillipe a blast about not having been kept in the loop since she had expected to drive at least one of us back. One of the other people in the club asked us wryly whether we were enjoying French organisation. We couldn’t say that we found it all highly entertaining (which we did) – and we were pretty (not totally) sure that we weren’t going to be abandoned. Before returning to Buis, Brigitte counselled that we shouldn’t let anyone tell us that we could take a train – because there are none at all in the Ardeche!
Day 3 |
| Jaujac |
The other significant event was the death of Queen Elizabeth. It broke during a raucous dinner on the final night. As we were the only people in the group who were subjects of her Maj, people were very keen to make sure that we knew of her death. The next morning one card decided to pass on his commiserations for her death as well as for the fact that Charles is now our head of state. In any event we all agreed that this was an important historical event, and we wouldn’t easily forget where we were when we heard the news – no matter how much magic mushroom soup we’d consumed.
Day 4
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| The view down to the bridge below was most vertiginous; and that is where our cars were parked |
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| Down |
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| And down |
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| And down. This would not have been considered a safe path in Oz. |
As a coda, I travelled home in the car of Annie and Patrick, and Dale travelled with Jean-Pierre. Our luggage was taken separately by Simone and William – which Simone kindly delivered to Bar Passion, where we were enjoying our post excursion aperos. It was a fabulous few days and we’ve been talking to Christine about going on one of the excursions next year – fingers crossed!
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