Author: Peter Taylor

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 75^th 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.)

16 Sept 21

This hike was advertised to run come rain or shine. And in the main that was what happened, with perhaps much more rain than shine. Attending were 8 :- Richard S, Mervyn, Andrew (Neivens, welcome to the group Andrew), Rob, David, Mark 2rrs, Stephen, PeterT (leader).

We assembled à l’heure at 10 am at the parking at the station at L’Isle, a place worth visiting for its magnificent chateau. First then some culture:-

“Also known as the “Petit Versaille de l’Isle”, this magnificent château was built in 1696 by Charles de Chandieu, a Lieutenant General in the Swiss Guard. It was the first regional monument of classical architecture.

Built in 1696 by Charles de Chandieu, the Château de l’Isle is a monument steeped in history. Originating from around 1700 during the classical era in France, this building greatly resembles that of the architectural movement of the time, where the Château de Versailles was built.

The, “La Vénoge” river has enabled the Château to benefit from a beautiful French garden, as well as a river basin bordered by two tree-lined paths. At first the Chandieu family lived in the old residence until the end of the 18th century. François Louis Roulet of Neuchâtel was the first to live there in the 19th century, and then it was handed down through marriage to the Cornaz Family of Montet Cudrefin.

In 1876, the commune of l’Isle bought and restored the château. Today it houses the municipal department of housing and classrooms. Since 1941, the château has been a listed building.”

The weather forecast seemed not too bad but as we skirted the lawns of the fine Château we donned anoraks, only to remove them soon after. A gradual line of 7.5 km and 750m deniv or so, making it roughly a 10% slope which would lead us in a WNW direction just south of Combe à Berger past Grand Chardève to the Chalet de Châtel at 1400m for lunch. (Yellow path).

Passing the water Source for L’Isle (members I think were more intent on beer sources), we skirted pasture land and moved on up into the forest.

All to soon the rains came and all but Stephen re-donned anoraks. Had he painted himself with some form of water repellant ? In any event he got to 1400m in persistent rain in a green T shirt.

This was the first rain after a long dry spell, and the autumnal leaves were beginning to appear underfoot.

We made steady progress up the 10% trail eventually turning left in a southerly direction on the final slopes to the chalet. Andrew was finding his sugar levels on the low side at this point and Richard provided some essential glucose. We arrived on time at 12.30 at the Chalet, dripping wet but inside it was warmer and our table was set out in a pleasant and newly furbished room with sound baffles in the ceiling. We each showed our COVID certificates and then were allowed to move about maskless.

Cold beers soon arrived. From Appenzell.

A clear 50/50 split between those having Fondue and those having Röstiflette was established and we proceeded to enjoy a very fine lunch indeed, white Tartegnin wine supplementing the beers.

Our discourse followed the usual threads. Scottish independence, the possible definition of “woke”, problems of nasal hair, anti-vaxxers, what pivoting means, roasting absent friends, dogs, enjoying a meal with wet underwear, Boris, future hikes, etc, all the while checking that it was still raining outside. A fine camaraderie persisted among the damp diners.

The Chalet was short on their dessert of the day, tarte aux framboise, but there were 4 left so we partaged and very tasty it was indeed. Time for some furtive absinthe and Scottish fluid with our coffee before we flowed out into some unexpected but reviving sunshine.

We traversed the ridge to the N towards Mollendruz then pivoted back down towards L’Isle. It kept dry despite ominous grumblings of thunder to the south.

We arrived back at the cars reasonably quickly, the time seemed to pass quickly anyway, perhaps it was the digestifs…

Thanks to all attending. Sorry we missed Mark, Thatcher, Philip, Richard W, Peter D and others who missed a fine meal with a gentle hike, oh, and er, rain.

Mike Hempstead organised his fine debut-leader hike from the Col de Marchairuz followed by an excellent lunch at the restaurant terrace there.

The weather was not looking great – lowish cloud over the Jura, but it was dry and had the benefit of providing a very pleasant temperature.

Mike seemed to think we were ten, but in the event 11 of us turned up, one with a large dog/small golden bear. Despite following others, Mark W2tts took a holiday route to the start via Rolle after missing the Gland exit. He and Mark W2rrs were chatting intensely together.

Our leader arrived with his sports limo, but without his boots. In the event he cruised the route in his hush puppies. Rob had a close shave with the bear who tried to head butt his nose.

Attending : Mike H (Leader), Drew, David, Richard, Stephen, Rob, Thatcher, Philip, Peter (with Kobie) and Marks 2t and 2r. Apologies – Mervyn, Keith and others.

We set off on Mike’s planned 13km hike with 250m deniv – which in the event was more like 11.6km and 350m deniv – an anticlockwise loop to La Neuve and back. The going underfoot was mostly dry and pleasant, and with a fairly easy downhill start there was much crack. Kobie patrolled up and down the file of Gintleman hikers to keep us in order. The crux of the outward leg involved passing through two herds of cows intent on getting a close acquaintance to our small brown bear. Happily teamwork, fine dog-handling and some stick shaking prevailed and we hurried unmolested through the stampeding heifers.

We turned to return just before La Neuve, at which point Kobie decided to hoof off into the distance following a scent trail. That gave Mike the cue to provide some Swiss apéro wine to the patiently waiting team, while Peter went off to find his hound.

All reassembled, we headed back to the restaurant at the Col without incident arriving on time at 13.00 with a large table on the terrace for us all to fit around. Fine beer arrived. The usual banter included some reference to Scottish independence with the usual arguments. Indeed it was a most pleasant lunch with the majority going for Steak Tartare, even the sun appeared a little. Kobie managed to slip his leash and ran inside the restaurant to meet all the indoor diners, some of whom seemed to like him..

A fine day, nothing too hard but very convivial. A fine debut Mike.

Next hike – Stephen will organise a 700m ascent at Morgins if the weather allows on Thursday 2 Sept. With a mountain restaurant terrace lunch if so.