moulin de la pipe

i mentioned our happy go lucky approach to accomodation this year already and there were moments on the trip that i had no idea what i had actually booked and what to expect. the print-out from the booking and a good sat-nav meant we were sometimes totally taken by surprise, and often just happy how great our places were. moulin de la pipe was one of those places where we were just lucky. a great old hotel now run by the jazz loving owner who holds concerts for 2000 people twice a month it has breathtaking scenery and a wealth of interesting places to go to. check it out!

magical moments

Just back from a couple of days in Belgium where the days were sunny but the nights already close to freezing point and as we caught the last sun rays i had to think of what must have been the most beautiful moment of the entire summer, a long and relaxed lunch with dominique and michel in lagrasse, in a little farm belonging to their friend. After we conquered lagrasse on horse whe crossed the river over the mighty bridge and walked just along the famous abbey to an old farmhouse, where dominique served one of the best meals we ever had. i don't even really recall what it was - some roasted veggies, and a ratatouille, plus an apple tart for dessert, some wine...Deac said later he felt like being in a film, in one of these fantastic french films, where life is small but beautiful...sheer magic!



le plo

le plo in montlaur is one of the places we dream of going to more or less all the time and as much as we try not to compare it with our beloved geronimo it is hard to resist. in the end i decided that it's better to list the things they have in common: very special people, fantastic horses, and spectacular landscape. it was beautiful to see that all the horses we rode six years ago were still there and happily coming on the trail, and after a little bit of checking deac got dulce, rike rode the gorgeous zuccador and i ended up with the lovely apache. day long rides took us deep into the corbiere mountains, to lagrasse, montagne d'alaric, and other places steeped in history and with stories to tell.