Summer….where did you go?
Erm…where did summer go? I don’t know about you but as the children have returned to school, it feels like summer 2016 was the quickest summer ever. As sometimes happens, I’ve not blogged anywhere nearly as often as I had hoped. Life kind of took over a little, but I think I’m back on track now! Whilst Mother Nature has blessed us with a late surge of warm, hazy summer sun this September, the leaves on the trees are rapidly changing colour, the nights are inevitably drawing in and Autumn is definitely quickly approaching.
I love Summer! If I could live in a country that offered all round summer sun, I would be a very happen woman. The summer warmth makes smile inside and out and my bones and joints ache less (is that just me that notices more aches appearing as the seasons change?). Alas, moving to the other side of the world is not a dream shared by the other members of my family and so I am trying hard to embrace the certainty of the oncoming (more) unpredictable and chillier weather. But, chin up, hey, winter’s not here yet and the countryside locally is looking beautiful with an abundance of wonderful warm orange colours appearing. Autumn is a lovely time to take to your bike and really notice and appreciate nature at work.
Summer adventures and disappointment cycling in the French Alps
Sometimes life just gets in the way…
This summer we ventured to the Alps for our family holiday. We were looking for outdoor adventure, exciting activities and some rest and relaxation and stunning mountain scenery. Now, those of you who visit OCG regularly will know just how much I LOVE to cycle whilst travelling and I was so looking forward to taking to the Alps and having a blast with some downhill mountain biking. Well, as sometimes happens, life gets in the way of fun. Two or three days after arriving in Samoens, I developed a horrible virus that had me down with a sore throat, earache, chills, headache, loaded with cold and achy limbs! Why does that happen!? You look forward to something so much and when it arrives you’re struck with the lurgy and feel like you could quite happily spend the whole time in bed!
Mr OCG did sample the downhill runs whilst I nursed my virus in the hope I would be well enough to try it myself in a few days. He had a great time returning to some of the challenges he had experienced during the Pass’Portes du Soleil in 2015. He had thought from his previous visit that our two children would be old enough to cycle the green runs, but the trails were extremely gnarly for the very wet weather which had been quickly followed by hot weather and he felt our two, aged five and nine, wouldn’t have managed, so on top of my illness, that rather limited our plans! Typical right! Plus, to be fair, he had seen so many people who had obviously had mountain biking accidents with one limb or another in plaster.
Lessons learned
Yep, sometimes, life just gets in the way. Nine year old girls try their best, but fear overcomes them. Five year old boys are stubborn! With the cheek and backchat of a teenager! And an incredible and instant dislike for ANY suggestion of an activity that isn’t what they immediately want to do on waking for the day! And they will speak to you like you’re their absolute worst enemy even though you’re trying to give them a day filled with fun! This holiday was not what we were expecting. It was a challenge to say the least…and not the kind of challenge we had hoped for. And of course between booking our trip and flying out, Brexit happened and the arse has dropped out of the pound, so it was expensive too.
I got through umpteen toilet rolls attempting to rid my head of snot and clear my ears…but it kept on flowing, even though my head and ears felt completely bunged! Pleasant, I know. Sorry.
Here’s to the next one instead
So, whilst I’d love to be able to wax lyrical about the family holiday we had mountain biking in the alps, sadly, I can’t. It wasn’t all disappointment cycling in the French Alps; we did manage some other more sedate activities, just not the fantastic mountain biking adventures we had planned.
I did stand up paddleboarding on Lake Montriond near Morzine, which was breathtakingly beautiful! And after some SUP yoga the savasana was pretty blissful surrounded by the Alps. And we did do some family cycling along the Sixt trail in Samoens, where we discovered some really pretty spots, so not all was lost! The scenery was incredible!
Sadly, for us though, on this occasion at least, life got a little bit in the way. This is most certainly one summer holiday to return to when the kids are teenagers or just with us grown ups in tow….and definitely without the lurgy!
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It’s such a shame you got ill on your holiday, I would have hated it! But yes, sometimes we just have to accept not everything can go according to our plans and we just need to make the most of the situation.
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Poop! How rubbish that you were so poorly and it all went a bit pearshaped….And Expensively pearshaped. The pictures of the stand up paddleboarding are amazing though!
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Your photos are beautiful but I feel for you. It actually happens a lot – getting ill on holiday. Bummer eh. Still, you got to do yoga on a paddle board – not many can say that 😉
such rotten luck! at least you got a couple of days of holiday. Alex is right, people with fast pace, busy lifestyles are prone to getting ill when you stop and take a break. Annoyingly your immune system takes a break too! Hopefully next time you can enjoy your whole trip
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Ah, yes, I think you’re right about the immune system also seeing it as permission to take a break. Sometimes it’s just your body telling you it needs the rest…I should have taken an extra break the week before so I could have been all sorted for this Alpine trip!
Ha! Same thing happened to me last year during our sojourn in Florence. Missed out on some downhill biking in the hills to the north as well. To be expected at some stage I suppose.
Glad you were able to regroup and still enjoy your break. Thanks for sharing! Love our blog – great to see you showing that ordinary people can still have extraordinary adventures.