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It was a stunning day. The kids had been invited to go canyoning with some friends, so we thought we'd make the most of it and take the dog for a picnic walk. Dogs aren't allowed to walk in the French National Park area so we drove to Col de la forclaz. A road very popular with road cyclists, just over the boarder in Switzerland. Before setting off for the walk we stopped at the hotel and sat outside to have a cup of coffee, watching the bikes go by, reminiscing about our motorcycling days. Fuelled up on caffine, we set...

The weather was a bit cooler, so we thought we'd head to Le Tour for some mountain biking. The bikes are allowed on the gondola to the mid station and then up on the chair lift, to Col de Balme. Unfortunately Basil, our dog, isn't much good at mountain biking and he's not allowed on the chair lift. We all travelled on the first lift up together, but separated for the second. I walked up with Basil while the others rode the chair with their bikes. Basil was so pleased to be reunited with everyone again at the top.      ...

It was a lovely, hot sunny day in Chamonix. We decided to walk up to the Chapeau, perhaps to treat ourselves to a pudding after our picnic on the way up (with our Ordnance Survey PACMAT of course). It's a very pleasant walk through the trees, in the shade a lot of the time, up from the picturesque village L'avancher. As you get closer to the Chapeau the path opens out, crossing a small waterfall stream, getting steeper until you arrive at the Chapeau. .   We were ready for some picnic pudding, but not having reserved a place, it was...

We all LOVE Myrtille crumble. The weather looked glorious and we had a multi generation group - so berry picking seemed like a good plan to involve the young and old. After finding a good spot for base, with a magnificent view, we all set to work. Even Basil, the dog, joined in, although not many of his made the container.  Once the containers were over flowing we sat down for a picnic baguette and cheese before heading home to get cooking the pudding. It always tastes better when you've picked the fruit yourself.   Basil: When he wasn't munching, he was...

A great thing about having teenage kids is that you can get out for a little morning adventure and be back before they know it. Over our summer time in Chamonix we developed a bit of a habit of getting out with Basil for a walk/run up to the Rocher des Montets. It's a steep woodland walk up rewarded with fantastic views over Chamonix town one way and up to the Dru the other. Although we love to picnic, the friendly buvet does a very nice line in crumble and myrtille tart (almost justified by the walk up). After a little refreshment we would...