It's the journey that matters...

...and what a journey we have been treated to at La Taillede these past 2 weeks! 

Pumpkin harvest, donkeys, pool, wild walks, wine, hallowe'en delights, amazing food, hot tub, sauna, did I mention wine?, chilly river dip, yurt yoga, scuba diving (!) the list goes on...

And the biggest journey was our 2-day trek up the mountain to a little refuge called De Lavesa. We set off with 4 adults, 4 kids (human not goat), 3 donkeys and 2 dogs, walking 7.3 miles, climbing 2,750ft up Mt Canigou.

    Preparing to leave La Taillede

The trees are on the turn here so we were treated to a stunning array of colour - rising in altitude you felt like you were walking into Autumn - and when the wind blew there was a chance to catch a lucky falling leaf. We spotted vultures circling the minute we sat down for a break and cows with large tolling bells round their necks reminding me of walking in the Alpes in Summer with my family.

Nearly there...

Ali prepared delicious foot long baguette tuna mayo sandwiches for us for lunch which we all thankfully devoured mid-way, then it was back on the trail. 5 hours after setting out, the little cabin came into view. De Lavesa is constructed and maintained by the commune and is free to stay in but you can't book and it works on a first come, first served basis. We were therefore relieved to find it empty otherwise we would either have had to brave it outside, walk further to another possible refuge or walk home. Neither option would have gone down well with the kids, or us! 

The cabin in our sights

First job was to find firewood so a search party was deployed. We quickly found a few fallen trees and dragged them back to camp to be sawn up by Mountain Man Matt. The fire was lit, the wine poured and restorative hot chocs prepared for the kids. Beds were made, the fire stoked and hearty food cooked and enjoyed. 

We enjoyed a cosy evening in the cabin playing games before settling down for the night. 

The night was 'eventful'. Buzz's snoring was confirmed by Ali, dogs were in and out and there was one particularly 'memorable' toilet run with Trevi which I will spare you the details of but the upside of which was the clearest view of Orion that I have ever seen.

The morning brought a simply stunning sunrise. Fire was quickly re-stoked and we eased into the day. After a good breakfast we loaded up for the journey home. 

A slightly quicker route took us through avenues of beech trees raining leaves like confetti. 

We got back and collapsed in a satisfied heap. Well the Buzzas did, Matt & Ali had a quick turnaround to welcome new guests arriving in the gites so had to switch quickly into host mode. We are so grateful to them for making time to give us such amazing experiences - thank you Matt, Ali, Olea, Simi, Rocco, Tai (dogs) and donkeys Martin, Maurice and Melvin for their company and for carrying our dinner up a mountain! Thank you also to Nathalia and Vincent, workaway guests at La Taillede, who held the fort to allow us to go on our big journey.

La Taillede is a beautiful place to be. Perched in the foothills of Mt Canigou in the French Pyrenees there are 4 gites of different sizes and specs plus a yurt to rent. The larger gites have wood-fired hot tubs and recent additions include stunning pool, sauna and plunge pool. Check it all out at: lataillede.com / IG: @latailledefrance / FB: lataillede / plus new promo vid on YouTube...search for Lataillede.