The view from my window

The view from my window
The view from my window

Friday 6 September 2024

Feel the burn!

The last few days following our visit to the Parc de Merlet have been somewhat telling as to just how long it's been since I did any exercise (a couple of months probably)! Oh I've done a couple of walks on the flat round the lake at Passy and also into Cluses but actually doing something even slightly strenous? Nope, I've been avoiding that like the plague, so the climb from the parking lot to the park entrance the other day was a struggle, even though, being perfectly honest, it shouldn't have been difficult at all. Anyway. all that to say that for the past couple of days I've been falling out of bed and hobbling around as my poor old muscles try to figure out what on earth just happened! As things calmed down a bit I decided that I didn't want to keep going through that every time I made any effort so the best thing to do - apparently - is to keep at it!

I mentioned before that I follow a few hiking groups on FB and when I see anything that looks relatively easy and somewhat local I've been making a note of it with a view to "getting round to it someday"! To be honest, if I don't do it in the autumn with the cooler weather I'm probably not going to do it when the snow comes am I, so my friend and I decided that since today was supposed to be nice we'd take a trip out to a place called the Gorges de Diosaz, which turned out to be only about 20 minutes from the Parc de Merlet, so not far at all. Then this morning my friend let me know that she had had a bad night and hadn't slept so I decided to head off on my own because I knew I'd soon be getting cabin fever again if I didn't get out and walk!

At the entrance to the park there was a signpost to a small cave which I'm presuming had indeed started off as a cave but which had later been hollowed out further and used to store dynamite for mining purposes!


According to the signs posted outside, it appears that some poor family had actually lived in this cave for three years (????) in the late1800s and a pitiful young (unmarried) woman had been forced to give birth there - a child which was promptly proclaimed an orphan and adopted into what I'm presuming was a noble family (given the name) and raised alongside their nine other children!

Cralin, the little boy born in the cave, I believe!


After visiting the cave I couldn't find any valid excuse to delay the hike up to the end of the gorge - all 600 steps of it! Now to be honest it wasn't actually that bad because there were "landing areas" every so many steps so it wasn't as though you had to keep going non-stop. As I set off I bumped into an older English couple and when we got chatting the man asked if I was "a scouser" (i.e. from Liverpool), which wasn't a bad shot I suppose as I'm actually from Birmingham and some people think the accents are alike. They were actually living in a smallish village in Herefordshire right near the village where I got married!! It's a small world isn't it! They were only over here for a few days for their niece's wedding, which was going to be taking place the next day at 2,000 metres, so I told them to pack something warm (I'm thinking cable car ride up) and wished them luck. What a lovely place to get married!

After that it was simply a question of trudging my way up which, as I say, really wasn't that bad if you managed to avoid the ice cold water dripping off some of the overhanging rocks. All in all it took me about an hour to get to the top and since tomorrow is also scheduled to be nice, I might see if I can get another walk in before the bad weather hits on Sunday!










18 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Hi Sluggy, yes it was a nice "find" (after only 34 years of living here). I hope you are doing better now - I heard you were not well!

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  2. Looks like a gorgeous, long[?] walk; but the scenery is inspiring!

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    1. Distance-wise it wasn't far at all, but it was apparently 600 steps to get to the end of the gorge, so a bit of a workout nevertheless (it took me about an hour one way). I've always loved exploring but didn't do much when I was working/raising a family, so if I don't do it now I guess I never will!

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  3. Good for you! And you know, these walks are good not only for your body- that scenery has got to be so good for your soul.

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    1. I think just getting outside is good for your soul isn't it, but discovering new places certainly adds to it!

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  4. Gorgeous walk. Glad you got out and about. I'm at a cottage as I type this but I'm underdressed for the cooler weather so no exploring for me 😔

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    1. I actually like the cooler weather better because you can always warm up by moving (my DIL is always freezing when she comes to my house) but getting away from the heat is another thing altogether!

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  5. What a beautiful place for a walk! Good for you getting back out there to walk and exploring new places.

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    1. I've always loved exploring and would love to join a hiking club to go with them on new-to-me trails but I'm seriously not fit enough and would probably just annoy everyone. Even those much older than me are fitter than me, I suppose because they've been doing it for so long, but who knows, maybe I'll get there one day!

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  6. I could never manage that walk as I have a fear of heights! But, it is amazing.

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    1. We were never actually very high up to be fair, and in all honesty I would say the bigger danger would have been from slipping on the wet wooden steps - which is probably why the park closes at the end of September.

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  7. Hope the muscle reaction is a little less the second time and how good were you to stick to the plan made and go by yourself?

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    1. I've been out walking every day since (only for about an hour though) and yes, it works - no more hobbling around! I guess that means I can't stop now though. It is hard to kick my own backside (metaphorically and physically) because it's so easy to talk myself out of it, but as ever I was so glad I did it! Isn't that always the way though!

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  8. I had been threatened by the doctor recently about upping my blood pressure tablet so I decided it was time to actually do what I've been threatening to do for the past few years and actually joined our local council gym! Not only did I join, I now actually go three times a week! Do I enjoy it? Not really. Has it brought my blood pressure down? Yes. So, it looks like I need to keep going for the foreseeable! I'd probably enjoy it more if the scenery to get there (I walk) was half a pretty as your walk. I'm taking it pretty slowly though as I refuse to add to my usual aches and pains with gym aches and pains lol. x

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    1. Good for you! Three times a week is impressive. I bought an annual pass to a local gym as I like the weights but found I wasn't going often enough to justify it. I mean, you can instantly forget June - August as it's too hot, but I'm hoping to get back to at least once a week and pay-as-you-go maybe this Friday. It's quite telling that it's already brought your blood pressure down though isn't it. Well done to you! And I'm sure Scotland has some beautiful scenery to walk in, even if the weather can be a bit daunting!

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  9. Replies
    1. I just get back in the swing of things and then the snow or the heat comes and I have to start all over again! That's no excuse though - you should see the people round here. They're like mountain goats! And North Wales has some beautiful hikes ...!

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