Although we are real 'nature'-persons we once in a while tend to visit a city for just a few days. This time we went to Paris and we have to admit it is a great city with lots to see and do and also..... a lot of people . It is such a big city that you just can't see everything in 3,5 days so here a just a few highlights of our visit.

We visited the Notre Dame and The Louvre. This museum is so huge you really need to make choices what you want to see. Elgar only was interested in the glass pyramids which form the entrance to this museum.



And what is visiting Paris without

Today I went for a hike with my colleague Eef from work. We opted for the Brunssummerheide which is nearby. Completely dressed up for this winterwalk we headed off only to discover 15 minutes later that we were somehow lost as we were unable to follow the track instructions as all tracks were covered in snow and thus not visible for us. Damn. So then we decided to just follow our instinct and to find the restaurant, which should be halfway this track, on our own.

And.....we made it to the Restaurant Schieversheide in about one hour and 15 minutes. Hot chocolate was our reward. We grabbed ourself a booklet with available walks and map of the area and opted for the darkgreen route........but ......we could not find a darkgreen colored signpost, only a blue and yellow and light green one. Oh well, we managed to get here, so we will manage to get back to the parking lot...won't we?



We are able to pick up the darkgreen track after about 20 minutes and are definitely on our way back. Unless you oversee a signpost somewhere and end up at a spot we had been 1,5 hours ago. Duh.........



Somehow we make it back to the parking lot afterall. We have been walking for almost 3 hours on snow covered grounds (instead of the 2 hours we anticipated). But....a great walk full with creativity, LOL.

wow....This year our winter is a real winter. With temperatures dropping at night below - 10 Celsius and during daytime an average of - 4 Celsius. And the last 1 week we were presented with lots of snow........... we just love it.

Here some pictures taken on January 3rd, 2010:



and one week later we had this very cold winterday with gusts and lots of snow. Despite those weather conditions we went for a walk and took the following pictures:

It is a beautiful sunny day when we, together with Sue & Stewart of Homefarm B&B, go for a walk in the glen of Strathconon. As we have to cross a river this is not a good walk when it has rained a lot or when it is raining (difficult to predict ofcourse in Scotland)

Good to know:
Distance: 9 kms
Rate: easy (a bit of stone climbing when crossing the river)
Map (incl. elevation information): Strathconon walk
GPS-track available for download: yes

As always photo's (but not all of them) can be enlarged by clicking on them.

First you will have to drive to the end of the glen, where there is a parkinglot. Here you have a lovely view over Loch Bennacharian.



Walk along the loch and past the estate mansion. We spotted a herd of deers and ofcourse other wildlife.....