Word of the day: Randonnée / Randonner

Our arrival in Chamelet was at dusk, in a rental car.  While the countryside was gorgeous, and just what I imagined, I didn't see any walking paths.  I worried that I would be forced to walk on the extremely narrow, shoulder-less, winding, often cliff-hugging roadways upon which cars zipped along at breakneck speeds.

Colin shot me a look and said, "I don't think I am comfortable with you walking along here... Look at the speed limit: 70kmh! In Canada, this road would be 30kmh. Plus, there is nowhere to go if a car comes."  I shared his uneasiness, and hoped that I just could not see the walking paths I knew must be there.  

The next morning, I explored the inside of the gite and found a stack of pamphlets the owner had left for guests.  Jackpot!!  My heart lept as I discovered a detailed map labelled "Rhone--Le Pays du Bois d'Oingt: Promenades et Randonnées."

Word of the day: Randonnée / Randonner

feminine noun

1. (= sport) hike, hiking (no pl)
   faire de la randonnée to go hiking
2. (= excursion) walk, ramble
   une randonnée pédestre a walk, a ramble
   une randonnée à vélo a bike ride

intransitive verb

1. to go hiking

Map in hand, I was set, and eager to head out.  However, after two days straight of plane travel, I was still extremely jetlagged, so I decided it was proabably not smart to wander too far from our property on my first randonnée.  I compromised: explore the grounds of the gite, and take a short local hike with Colin. 

Our gite is called La Muzetière (if you follow this link, click "voir les 41 photos" or click on the right side of the main image to see more photos).  It is typical French style with stone and wood beams, and set in a wooded area. 

The first thing I noticed upon exiting the gite was the songbirds.  My friend Nihan had dreamed up a scenario of my trip to France that included sitting in the sun with wine and cheese, listening to the songbirds... yet I still didn't expect the number and variety of songbirds right outside our door. (Nailed it, Nihan!)  

One songbird sounded something like a human whistle, so just for fun, I thought "I'll try to talk to it!  Let's see if it will answer me."  Well, we conversed back and forth a half a dozen times!!  

There are also cuckoo birds here. I've never heard a cuckoo before, much to my hosts's amusement. I like how the webpage I found describing cuckoo says "whatever you are doing when you hear a cuckoo, you should repeat throughout the year as the call was a sign that the particular activity will be beneficial."  I could handle that! ;)

Perhaps the most remarkable detail of our environs is the presence of the sheep.  Our host Alban told us they are imported from Brittany, the smallest breed in the world.  I heard them bleating outside our door on the first day.  When I peeked out the window in our front door, I could see them making themselves at home on our patio.  However, when I opened the door, they bolted for the hills. 

Our host told us he bought the sheep to eat his grass, but then lost track of them for a while. He surmised they "went on vacation to the next town."  However, they have been a pretty constant presence since we've been here. I soon noticed they had a little route that went from the stone staircase to the left of the red picnic table (pictured above), along a path parallel to the driveway, and came out in a tiny clearing near the end of the driveway. 

I'm really curious about how friendly they are.   As I discovered immediately, the cat is extremely friendly.  

The sheep have approached me a few times, which gives me hope they would like a little petting; but then I've also seen them butt each other pretty hard, and I don't want that!

Our first randonnée was short but extremely rewarding. We started out fairly close to our own driveway. Then travelled towards "Le Grand Bola."  We had no idea what that was, but it was marked on the map, so it must be good!  ;)  Then, watching the clock, because Colin had to be back "at work" for a meeting, we headed along the road towards Létra. Once the clock hit 4:30pm, we turned around so Colin could make his meeting. 

You can see by my face that I loved the randonnée right from the first step. This is what I was born to do!  :D

We headed down a path, then across a field, then we joined up with a pebbled path, which changed to a dirt tire track.  The terrain was actually quite varied, which was really neat.  There were vineyards, cow pastures, trees... even one magical little forest! 

We finally made it to Le Grand Bola. It turns out, it is just a signpost listing the distances to various local villages. 

At one point, we heard some really loud squawking, and Colin asked: "What is that?? Ducks??" so we followed it and there was a tiny pond teaming with frogs and tadpoles!!!  It was the frogs making those noises!!  I didn't know they made noises like that!

 
The views were beautiful, and it was hard to tell whether it was the altitude or my exuberance that had my heart pounding in my chest. 

As we got near the vineyards, Colin realized he had to be back for his Skype meeting earlier than he calculated, so we started running up the hill back to the gite... well, first down, then up again, because that is the terrain here. 

Of course when we got to the top of the hill, his cell phone buzzes and he says: "My meeting got bumped to later..."  Aiya!  Why didn't they message 5 minutes earlier?!  :p  On the bright side, I will have buns of steel by the time we leave here!  :D

It was a wonderful first randonnée, and only gave me the itch to explore more!  Next trip: Létra!!