Day 15 - Parnans to Montmiral

Saturday and another easy day planned, after a 30+trek yesterday, the horses spent a good night with a mixture of hay and grass so they were well content, and ate up their brekkie as usual with great enthusiasm. We left on a track directly from the gîte and set off across beautiful meadows that haven't been weed killed to within an inch of their natural lives, I remember fields like this from my childhood in England.

There had been more tree felling here as well, but this time the path was clear.

Past this barn that looked as if it might take a tumble at any minute

And more snow capped mountains in the distance, the Vercors I think

The horses were slow to start, Gigi refusing to canter the first time she was asked, but had slightly more enthusiasm the second time. We don't canter much, partly because the terrain is rarely suitable, but also to conserve their energy. But we figure that it's good for them to do a bit, to use different muscles , and also because they like it. And they are both sensible enough to choose wether or not they do up the pace.

 We've seen plenty of signs for the first time, but this one was really amusing

We reached our destination in good time, Relais de la Forêt in Montmiral, Martine had fashioned a fly deterrent on Flurry's headpiece, and it worked really well, there are a lot of flies here. I will have to follow suit tomorrow.

It was great to be finished up early, the horses had a shower and were turned out in a grass paddock for a well earned rest, and we set off for Bourg de Péage , to look for some new hoof boots as our repairs of the previous day had not worked. We found a pair of Cavallo horse boots which look good, tomorrow will tell ! We could have spent the rest of the day in the Sellerie Baude but finances and lack of space in the car prohibited this ! The prices were reasonable, and the selection fantastic. Western 
saddles galore, ah if only...


This was the view from the gîte, it's a great place, tables on the terrace with this fabulous view. And a pool, as it was really warm George decided to take a dip, but quickly changed his mind when he felt the 
temperature of the water.

Aperitifs were taken on the terrace, a group of very sophisticated bikers had arrived, and we all partook of orange wine, walnut wine, yes this is a huge walnut growing area, and various other wines. A dinner of couscous was quickly demolished by all, and during the repast the proprietor phoned to say there was a big storm on the way, stables were quickly made up, and the horses brought in, and they had new neighbours, the motor bikes were also broght in.


And a big storm it was, the chalet we were in rattled and shook and leaked. Martine discovered the water seeping through the door, just centimetres from her laptop!  

Storm clouds gathering

Today we hit the 300km mark, that's the little loop at the end of the trail, we wanted to be sure !

We are doing Le Big Trek to raise funds for Assistance dogs for families of children with autism. If you like our blog please take the time to donate at http://www.mycharity.ie/event/martine_greenlees_event Thank you

Day 15 parnans to montmiral at EveryTrail
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