Grottes de Réclère
15 km
Elevation: up 463m, down 225m
Min altitude 658m, max altitude 917m
Active hours: 3h50m
Steps: 30075


I woke up in a cloud with blue sky above it, that was weird. I was in no hurry as I wanted to visit the caves, which wouldn't open until 9.30. When I got there, the first visit turned out to be at 10.45, so then I had to wait. By now the sun had won the fight with the mist cloud, so that wasn't bad.
The cave was nice, not very big but with beautiful stalagmites and stalactites, and my new camera made quite acceptable pictures.
Then I packed up my tent (I had left it to dry some more) and left in the direction of the next village, in the hopes of finding a store there. It took less than an hour, through nice forests, which for some reason do look different from the ones in France.
I don't yet have a grand plan for my route in Switzerland, so I just have to decide which destination to follow next on the signposts. So I looked at the signs and map, then I decided to just ask someone if there was a store. I heard some people in a garden so I went over to ask; the answer was no, there was no place to buy any food to bring along. But then they invited me to join them as they were just starting lunch. I had walked less than an hour and hadn't wanted to take a break yet but there was no way I was going to say no to that. And it was entirely worth it.
I spent a very enjoyable two hours eating grilled vegetables (actual vegetables!), rice salad, bread and apple pie and having lots of conversation with four people around me. One of them especially I could understand very well, so that made conversation easier. Before I left, they wanted me to have their addresses so I could send a postcard, a phone number in case of emergency, the offer of a place to sleep in a city further on in case I pass there, and any food or water I needed. They even wrote messages on the paper with their addresses and a child present made a drawing on it. So I left with the leftover rice salad, half a baguette, a bag of chips, some cereal bars and even a tube of jam. And I left all happy and bouncy because it had been so pleasant and they had been so kind to invite me and share all their food. And they thanked me for meeting me!
So yes, it cost me two hours but it was so worth it.

That did make this day a very short one in terms of hiking, because it was 16.00 when I left again, and I had to find a place to sleep before it got dark (which happens around 21.00 now). First, I lost the markings, realised it when I was walking south and back into France, then used the GPS to find them again. On a forest road, which at first would have been quite doable for a normal car, but bit by bit turned into something only a jeep (or a tank) could manage, and then there was a tree right across it. But on foot it was all fine. Climbed up to 917m, teen descended again to 858, and by that time I had decided that my plan of reaching the next campsite would fail - if only I hadn't stayed so long for lunch, but eh, worth it. There should be a Nature Friends House at about half an hour, and after my previous experience I decided to look it up online; it was supposed to be open in weekends. So I went to look for it, found it sooner than I expected, and there were actual people too. And yes, I could sleep there, and join their fire if I wanted to grill some food. One of them got out a map of Switzerland to help me plan my route, which was very useful and welcome. Then somehow I got invited to dinner ('do you want some sausage?'. 'no thank you, I don't eat meat'. 'oh we can make some eggplant and zucchini!'). So again I was invited to a meal, with baked vegetables, bread, salad, and pie (blackberry and raspberry this time), and wine (which I had declined at lunch because of hiking). It's Switzerland here, but close enough to France that they have some of the French customs, like the simple pies, which are a layer of dough (often store-bought) put in a pie form with fruit on top and baked.
We watched mice and a very beautiful red and orange moonrise, and there were French chansons being played on a radio.
This was very much a half day of walking, if that, but I did have a great time, so no complaints.

Geschreven door Jewaontheroad