Hiking with the host family

Me and my housemate, Pearl, before we started our hike.

The day after my trip to Dijon with Katie and Miranda, my host mother took my housemate, Pearl, and I for a hike. We went for about and hour long drive until we got to the top of a trail that led to la Source de Loue—the place where the water that feeds the river Loue comes out from the mountain. The day was pretty cool, and the hike was beautiful. Pearl and I talked back and forth while Astrid (our host mother) charged ahead. The trail cut straight through the woods, so it was an incredibly serene walk. There were tire treads from bikes that had gone down the trail recently, and I was so jealous! It would have been the perfect trail to do some mountain-biking on.

The painting of the Source de la Loue. 

When we got to the bottom of the trail, I was met by the sound of rushing water—not quite the roar of a waterfall, but much louder than just a normal river. There was a poster of a painting (I think a Courbet piece) that depicted a person standing on the rocks at the mouth of the cave where the water came rushing out. Astrid told Pearl and I to look at the painting first—before we looked at our actual surroundings. She told us that the painting was one from the beginning of the art period where painters started to make more realistic works. And sure enough—the painting was a pretty accurate depiction of the cave that stood before us. The entire scene was simply stunning.

And the actual Source de la Loue.

After that hike, we drove to another area near by to have lunch and then to hike to a cave where smugglers had once hidden counterfeit coins—or, Grotte des Faux Monnayeurs. This hike was a little more interesting. Most of the hike was what I'd normally expect from a hike—following a trail as it wound through the woods. But then, just when we got to the cave, it got a little bit trickier (at least for me). The clear-cut trail came to an end and we had to navigate down a steeper incline and across rocks at some points. It hadn't really been raining that day, but the rocks were still slick from the last time it had rained. I was so afraid I was going to slip! But I made it down that little set of rocks without incident—only to be greeted by this little metal ladder we had to climb to get to the mouth of the cave.

The ladder was a rickety little thing, or that's how it seemed to me as I shifted my weight from one rung to the next, holding onto a shaky railing for support. The cave was cool enough to make up for the less-than-perfect approach. There were little wells at the opening of the cave that had been gradually worn away from the rock as water dripped onto those spots. The cave itself was immense. In fact, I've no real idea how big it actually is, since we never made it to the back, and none of us had strong enough flashlights to light everything up. If I had to guess, I'd say that we probably made it about halfway to the back of the cave, carefully hopping from rock to rock to avoid the water, using cell phones to light the way. But we finally reached a point where we couldn't keep walking—there was a veritable pond that kept us from going any further. It was nearly impossible for me to imagine someone hiding false silver there—but it was so removed from civilization that I could also see why it was such a good spot.

The cave opening, as seen from halfway back.

After we visited the cave, we hiked further down to another 'source.' I can't remember what it was called, but the water rushed out from what looked like a gash in the side of the mountain. The waterfall was impressive, and the sound of the waterfall and the small river it formed echoed through the forest. We walked around there for a bit and then returned to Astrid's car to drive to another hiking spot. We drove for about another hour to get to a hiking spot that was near the hike to the summit of one of the mountains.

The hike was a pretty easy one, just a little steep, with a lot of stairs. But as we climbed, the view got better and better. Finally, at the very top, the whole valley spread out in front of us. There was a beautiful, panoramic view that honestly took my breath away. There were three different peaks grouped together, and I hurried from one to the other to see the best view from each of them. It didn't really matter; each view was absolutely amazing. Thankfully, that was the last hike of the day. I was so exhausted, I'm not quite sure how I managed to stay awake for dinner.

The view from the summit of our hike!

On the way back to our house, our host mother stopped at a little village called Ornans. There wasn't much to see, but we stopped to look at the river, which runs right up against the houses. There's one house where the woman that lived there marked the height of every flood that's come through. Some were quite small, just average flooding after a little more rain than usual. But some of the marks were up to my waist or even higher! It was sobering, to realize that, where I was standing, there was a point in history where the spot in which I was standing would have been completely covered in water. 

My favorite part of the little stop at Ornans was when I was standing by the river. On my right hand side, there was a gate at the end of a driveway. The wall that's up against the river wasn't blocked by the gate. As I was standing there, this dog poked it's head around the gate and just stared at me--and it was an adorable little husky!! I was so happy to see a doggy of the same breed as my little Koda. 

Overall, although I was completely wiped out at the end of the day on Sunday, I'd had a wonderful weekend--especially since I got to see a little siberian husky! It was truly and excellent weekend.