Richard's blog

Category: travel

  • A walk Above the Woods

    A walk Above the Woods

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    richard
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    Reading Time: 2 minutesSometimes a walk above the woods is easy. I don’t mean walking while flying hanging from a parapente. I mean walking at an altitude where there are fewer trees. The walk from the transmission mast of La Bariellette to La Dôle is an easy walk that I have done many times. Sometimes…

  • Half a Million Steps in July

    Half a Million Steps in July

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    richard
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    Reading Time: 3 minutesIn July this year I took half a million steps as I was banned from driving. I’m using that phrase for comedic effect. As I had one arm in a sling driving was out of the question for a few weeks and then it was out of the question because my tendons…

  • The Phone Box library Walk

    The Phone Box library Walk

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    richard
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    Reading Time: 2 minutesIf you’re looking for a reason to walk from one village to another the practise of using old phone boxes as free libraries are common in Switzerland. This means that if you’re shopping around for books in Switzerland you can either go to the shops and buy them with the car or…

  • A forest walk by Chavannes Centre

    A forest walk by Chavannes Centre

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    richard
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    Reading Time: 2 minutesWhen I cycle towards Geneva i often pass by a forest near Chavannes centre. Usually I only skirt the exterior of the forest but I have twice passed through it on a bike on my way back from Geneva. Yesterday I drove the scooter to Chavannes centre and parked it where scooters…

  • Climbing to La Barillette

    Climbing to La Barillette

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    richard
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    Reading Time: 4 minutesThe first time I climbed up to La Barillette on a bike it took me two and a half hours. This time it took one hour and sixteen minutes. I was going so slowly that I had to work to keep the bike upright. Since then I have gone from a mountain…

  • La Via Ferrata Farinet

    La Via Ferrata Farinet

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    richard
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    Reading Time: 2 minutesFor a week or two in April the weather was nice but since then the weather has been bad. We had new snow, high winds and rain. Yesterday rain was announced yet again for parts of Switzerland but luckily only clouds were announced for Saillon where the Via Farinetta is. I expected…

  • A Sea-like Lake

    A Sea-like Lake

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    richard
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    Reading Time: 2 minutesIn the middle of summer you may go sailing on the lake and find that there is no, or very little wind. On such days you may spend long periods of time hoping for the wind to pick up and get from point A to point B. On other days the lake…

  • Spring and summer are playing with us

    Spring and summer are playing with us

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    richard
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    Reading Time: 2 minutesSpring and Summer are playing with us. A few weeks ago it was warm and sunny. It felt as if summer was finally here and that we could start planning outdoor activities that don’t require enormous amounts of fossil fuels, like skiing and snowboarding do. 😉 We had the rain and the…

  • Via Ferrata Jacques Revaclier

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    richard
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    Reading Time: 2 minutesThe Via Ferrata Jacques Revaclier is located on the Salève a short drive from Vitam Parc and within easy driving distance of Geneva and Nyon. The Via Ferrata requires scrambling over a few metres of rock to get to the start. This via Ferrata has two parkings. The first of these is…

  • Cycling in Spain

    Cycling in Spain

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    richard
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    Reading Time: 3 minutes When people think of cycling in Spain they think of the seaside and they think of the coast. They think of long flat roads and short climbs. I made the mistake of thinking that so when I arrived in Spain I went cycling but every direction I tried involved climbing steep gradients.…