What canicule? Hiking in Belledonne

This summer we don’t get much good weather in France. Two saturdays ago it was raining, and although the sunday was not raining the view up in the mountain was not very good. We went to Grande Sure in Chartreusse but due to the contrast between sun and the remaining wet weather the mountains were covered with fogs.

So when they announced canicule – heat waves – in almost north-west side of France, we picked up our phone and dialed the refuge de la Pra in Belledonne mountains to see whether they got place to stay for this weekend. It was tuesday and they were fully booked already. It was expected.

Bretagne trip: Sun, Rain, Bike. Part 4. Finished

Finally to my disappointment the bookstore was not open and we did not have more time to wait before my train for Nantes left. I crossed my finger that I could find the book in Nantes. So we left Vannes, and Morbihan, and Bretagne. We arrived in Nantes around noon. Again Nantes was no longer part of Bretagne during this trip but it was historically – and I think most people would still consider it as – Breton.

Bretagne trip: Sun, Rain, Bike. Part 3.

Part one
Part two

Quimper

The train left Brest at 12:36 and would normally arrived to Quimper at 14:17. This train served the west side of Bretagne. We had a little bit more than an hour in Quimper so why not visit it.

We rode our bike along the quai of Odet towards the old town. If you follow the story you must have noticed by now that in France or in Europe, the true heart of a city beats on the old town.

Bretagne trip: Sun, Rain, Bike. Part 2.

Part one

Saint Brieuc

It was predicted that it would rain last night. I expected our tent to be wet but it was dry when we woke up. I have to excuse myself for my poorly written articles. I write in english to practice and practice makes perfect. We were happy that the tent was dry for we left Saint Malo that day. And yes, the previous random sentences were intentional.

We packed our stuff and left Saint Malo. It started to rain when we biked to the train station. We bought our train ticket for Saint Brieuc.

Bretagne trip: Sun, Rain, Bike.

It was July 30, the first day of my awaited holidays. One of the perks of working in France is that your working place may be closed and thus you may be forced to take your days off during summer. I got two weeks. I wasn’t very enthusiastic due to deadlines and also because I just took a trip to Crete on June. After some considerations, Bretagne popped into discussion. First was because the furthest I’ve been in Bretagne was Nantes; and second was after several trash-talks, I fell in love with the idea of doing a biking trip. By bike I mean bicycle here.

Greece Part 1. Crete: Hersonissos, Lassithi Plateau, and Knossos Palace

Back in June I got a chance to attend a work event in Crete. I seized the opportunity to also travel a bit there. After 6years living in Europe, this was my first trip in Greece, especially in Crete. The trip was perfect it terrifies me to put it into words. I’m afraid to skip details – as I usually do – but I’ll try my best.

The whole trip lasted for seventeen days including six working days. I started the trip from the east part then moved to the west part of the island. During this trip I also visited Athens that I am less fond of. This is the first part of a four stories that I plan to write. This first part took place during my work event. The second part would be about the walks and hikes that I did on the south-west part of the island. The third part would be about Chania, and I would finish with Athens in the final part. At the end of the story I will try to summarize the trip with some helpful links. 

Bastille day camping

French national day is celebrated on 14 July each year. It is known as the Bastille day that commemorates the 1789 French revolution. This year the 14 July fell on a thursday so a lot of people – and I – took our friday off to have a long weekend.

The weather was cold and rainy for a July. We initially planned to go to Beaufortain on the north but heavy rain was predicted. We thus modified the destination to the south that has slightly better prediction.

Vercors hike

I have been hiking a few times around Grenoble and now it became harder and harder to find new spots that I haven’t been walked to. Of course it would be easier if I had a car but since I take the bus to do my hiking my options are rather limited.

From the three massifs around Grenoble, Vercors is the easiest massif to reach by public transportation. One of the simplest option is to go to Villard de Lans (about 1000m a.s.l), a small rather cute town, and then hike to the rather easy Col Vert (about 600m altitude difference) or to the popular Pic St. Michel.

So this time, I tried to find an alternative and found that we can walk to the Rochers de l’Ours between Col Vert and Col de l’Arc. 

Under the sky

French spring has been quite wet this year. Rain has been pouring almost every weekend and finding a good time to go to mountain has been difficult. When I was writing this story Paris was on yellow flood alert (just below red and orange), it feels like Jakarta.

So one of my personal project this year is to do an easy bivouac. Essentially a bivouac is to go to the mountain and sleep there. It can be as simple as a night under the sky with a sleeping bag or as many night as you wish according to your capacity.

Double hike in Chartreuse

After a series of unpleasant weather on weekends, I finally did my first 2016 spring hike this weekend. I couldn’t do much on saturday since it rained. The weather forecast for sunday wasn’t exciting either; the sun wouldn’t be up before noon and northern wind would still dominate the region. However, we had been waiting for sun since forever, so took our chance and decided to hike.