Out for a solo nature bimble from the gîte. Lots of lovely wildlife and flowers, nothing very eventful until I stopped to say bonjour to some sheeps and lambs. They were quite noisy so I started to video them…then became aware of heavy feets thundering towards me…
I know that these guard dogs can clear fences if they think their flock is threatened, so I made a hasty exit. Luckily he stopped and sat down and only eyed me suspiciously as I admired from a safer distance! 😅
Today we set out on our postponed two-stages of the Cathar Way (we might finish it eventually, one stage at a time!) in the Pyrenees. No rain on our walk, more importantly none of the thunderstorms that have peppered our days here, and a goodly amount of sunshine.
We reached Comus well ahead of schedule just after lunch and had to wait for the only establishment to open.
We’re staying in a gîte d’étape (hostel) and I’m slightly out of my comfort zone! Beers are helping!
Another lovely walk…another day playing with thunderstorms! A 15 km walk from Rennes-le-Chateau to Espéraza (where there’s a quirky market on a Sunday - great stop for lunch and gift shopping). ‘Weather’ was forecast for late pm but storm clouds rolled in just after lunch so we hoofed it back to Rennes. Some big fat raindrops, thunder rumbling and lightening flashing on the next hill over. But as we reached Rennes the sun came back out again and we enjoyed a beer on a sunny terrace.
After thunderstorms and almost biblical downpours I got outside for a bimble near my gîte. So much wildlife here. Saw red-backed shrike, cirl buntings, and heard a number of warblers, cuckoos and turtle doves! No pics but I did manage to photograph insects (and flowers).
Had a bit of a ‘sound of music’ moment in this wildflower meadow. In beautiful sunshine we watched the thunderstorms roll over the Pyrenees where we would have been walking today, pleased that we’d changed our plans…
Then got caught in the middle of our own thunderstorm! Running hell-for-leather through another meadow feeling very exposed as the storm was right on top of us. We got absolutely soaked to the skin. The paths down the hills were running like small rivers. Quite exhilarating though!
The early birds get into the chateau before the ticket office opens 😁.
We had Lastours to ourselves which was fantastic. Very glad we postponed our walk in the Pyrenees as some naughty looking clouds over in that direction. It’s possible that they even had snow ❄️.
From yesterday’s walk the biggest moth EVER! Ok the biggest moth in Europe maybe…the giant peacock moth. Difficult to get a clear photo without disturbing it - hand in one photo for scale!
We had big rains today and I needed a rest, but after a lazy morning and a leisurely lunch the rain let up…so we had a local bimble…and saw bee-eaters!