There were two car loads of Gintlemen, one from France and one from Switzerland, signed up for this iconic hike up the Môle that was clearly described in Janet Norton’s book. When collecting his two “French” colleagues, the leader of the hike (Mark 2R) immediately asked them how to get to the start point and renamed his title as organiser.
In fact, getting to the start point was the biggest challenge for both parties as neither Chez Béroud, Bovère or even St Jean de Tholome were recognised by the car satnavs.
Thanks to Phillip’s paper map, the French group arrived at the start point just before 10h00 and noted a new restaurant had been built and was open for coffee, which was most welcome since it was cold and cloudy (4°C) outside.
The Swiss group arrived a few minutes later having mistakenly inserted Bogève instead of Bogère in their satnav. Sadly this was below a different mountain (echoes of Rum Doodle) but happily only 23 minutes distant from Bogère. Nevertheless they had to resort to Google Maps on a phone after finding the same finding Bogère problem as the French party, but who were better prepared with a paper map.
Shortly after croissants aux chocolate provided by le organiser had been devoured (merci Mark, Ed.), we (Richard, Phillip, Peter, Stephen, David, Mervyn and Mark) set off for the 720m ascent of the Môle. A fine day had been promised so the leader/organiser was relieved when the sun was seen to be penetrating through the cloud and it wasn’t long before we had a clear blue sky with views of the mountains showing above the clouds.
We made the sun-drenched top of the Môle (1863m) in good time for our traditional picnic lunch starting with a champagne toast to Mervyn on his 75th birthday. The table/bar and bench combination was taken over for our relaxed break and fellow hikers were welcomed with the offer of a glass of wine. The views over the mountains were now a fantastic 360° of mostly clear summits, including the Mont Blanc range – and ever reducing cloud cover at the lower altitudes.
Summit Bar Lunch
Mervyn read us a poem about That Try from a carton of Welsh whisky, which can be seen here
and explained herewith :-
Penderyn « That Try » Bottling Note
Unveiled in 2015 as part of Penderyn’s Icons of Wales series, That Try honours the spectacular try scored by the Barbarians against the All-Blacks in January 1973 at Cardiff Arms Park. It’s a peated Welsh single malt whisky from Penderyn, with elegant notes of coastal breeze, orange peels and a hint of smoke. This comes presented in a black bottle featuring an illustration of Gareth Edwards (who famously ended the great passage of play with an incredible diving try) and a presentation box with black and white stripes to match the Barbarian F.C. kit.
Much refreshed and after grappa and That Try Welsh whisky (we perhaps wisely abstained from Paul’s ambulatory absinthe again) we wended our way down towards the Petit Môle, including a rocky and steep part that was the only slight difficulty of the hike.
The two youngsters took the optional trail to the Granges and back but were still amongst the first to reach the restaurant for beers on the sunny terrace.
Signposting for the return home was no easier than the outward journey, but at least we knew where we wanted to go!
Thanks everyone for a most enjoyable day out. (Actually a stunning day out in fantastic weather, with a fine celebration of Mervyn’s birthday. Ed.)
