The Hausmen Hikers returned to the Jura Ridgeway this year, picking up from where we left off last year, at Le Pont. Those taking part were Andreas, Philippe, Norval and Michael - who flew in especially for the hike from the UK!
The route this year, should have been about 37Km in total, with 20Km to the Col de Marchairuz and the balance the next day to ST.-Cergue. However, there was still a huge amount of snow on the ground that we had to plod our way through. This took quite a bit of energy out of us so we opted to cut the trail short and head down to ST. Georges, where we could get the bus to Nyon (for Andreas, Philippe and Norval) and ST.-Cergue, for Michael, where he was planning to stay before flying back from Geneva.
Before setting of in earnest, we stopped at one of the shore-side restaurants, where we all enjoyed a hearty risotto. This came in really handy with the task we soon found that lay ahead. When we finally arrived at the Hotel Marchairuz - nearly two hours later than expected - we were in for another gourmet treat.
With the planned itinerary calling for a packed lunch on the Sunday, we all had a "little extra something" in our packs: Andreas, the Linzertorte; Philippe the drinks; Michael the Whisky; and Norval the pasties. We were able to really enjoy this in the middle of what would have been a ski slope just a few weeks previous, looking out over Lake Geneva towards the Rhône Valley, the Dents du Midi and Mont Blanc (the last unfortunately masked by the low cloud base).
Timing was a little too perfect at the end, with the bus stopping especially for us in ST. Georges and us arriving at Nyon Station just in time to run for Lausanne train, with shouted "Good-byes" to Michael who was rather unceremoniously left to fend for himself, poor fellow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Santé! Cheers! Zum Voll!