On August 25th, we took the train from Moret, near where we live, to Bourron-Marlotte, two stops along the line. From the station in Bourron, we passed through a fairly wild section of the forest, with lots of fallen trees, that made a nice change from other carefully managed areas further north. After the small… Continue reading Bourron-Marlotte to Nemours via Villiers-sous-Grez, the Dame Jouanne rocks and Larchant

A long, 19-km hike in a part of the forest that I had never seen before. A fairly difficult trail to follow as a lot of the paths are pretty overgrown, but this makes for a more adventurous atmosphere than on the other carefully maintained trails of the forest. The terrain was fairly undulating, with… Continue reading Rocher de la Combe, Mont Morillon, Rocher des Demoiselles, quarries and romance

Finally, after 25 years in this corner of France, we made it to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Provins for a “beat-the-heat” hike first thing on a Sunday morning when temperatures were forecast to hit 40°C. A great, easy 14-km hike from the ramparts of Provins into the surrounding countryside, and then back to… Continue reading The gates of Provins

Early morning hike through the forest and along the river in the pretty village of Thomery. Another angle on a landscape that I only usually see from a kayak. http://www.komoot.com/tour/231206405

July 22nd was a beautiful day in Paris, cool in the morning and warm to hot in the afternoon, but without the mugginess that all too often characterizes the city in summer. As I had to be in Malakoff (a southern suburb just outside the city) at 9:30 am, I took an early train and… Continue reading Paris from station to meetings to station

After completing the Lechweg on July 20th, 2018, we drove across Austria and Germany, via the Danube valley town of Kelheim where we did a river cruise to the Weltenburg Abbey to sample its excellent beer (monks are expert brewers!), to Pirna, just south-east of Dresden. We had been led there by a sales assistant in… Continue reading The Malerweg, or the surprises in store when you don’t look too closely at the guide book…

A quick 8.5-km afternoon hike over pleasantly undulating terrain. We returned with 1.5 kilos of delicious blackberries for a crumble and enough green walnuts to make liqueur. http://www.komoot.com/tour/212148757

An easy, 10-km hike on very sandy terrain in a far-flung corner of the Fontainebleau Forest that we have never explored before. We saw only one other hiker on a sunny Monday afternoon and it was incredibly peaceful. A fairly unusual area for the forest because it is mostly flat. But very pleasant walking all… Continue reading Les Platières des Béorlots & la Mare des Couleuvreux

With the exception of a couple of trails in the Fontainebleau Forest, there is one hike that I’ve done more often than any other. It lies in the heart of the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland, an area where I’ve spent many holidays, alone, with my family, with one of my children or with my wife.… Continue reading Schynige Platte to First – the hike I’ve done more often than any other

An easy and very pleasant 16-km hike starting from the village of Paley and going through woods, fields and along the Lunain valley in two long loops, just a 15-minute drive from our house. There are a couple of old churches, some very beautiful houses, nicely undulating fields and even one working watermill (unfortunately barely… Continue reading Around the Lunain