Rain, sleet, snow ... nothing can stop us!

After a week of Bruce being sick and us being closed up in our apartment, we were ready to get out in the fresh air, no matter what the conditions.  ... Berle & Cyndy to the rescue!  Berle & Cyndy are some new "old" friends we have here.  We all lived in Clermont-Ferrand 15 years ago and had only seen each other once since that time.  It's fun to be reunited and "grow" our friendship.  Berle & Cyndy spend lots of time outdoors hiking, so they came up with a plan to get us out.

We began with a great lunch and time to just talk and catch up on our lives.  It's funny what you remember (or don't remember) after 15 years.
As we ate lunch, we noticed that the sky kept changing from patches of blue to dark and windy, back to patches of blue.  So in keeping with our plan, we headed out to our hiking site.

We chose a short hike close to town - Le Quartier des Caves.

It began in the middle of Aubiere, near the church.  We had a little trouble trying to read the map because just as we began the hike, it started raining.  With our hoods covering our heads, our vision was somewhat limited trying to find that crazy blue line to mark our path.  It gave new meaning to the expression, "What in blue blazes!"

 

We finally found our way out of the village and headed up the mountain just as it began to sleet with a little snow mixed in.  We were not discouraged and kept right on hiking.

On the way to the top, we found the highlight of the hike, the wine caves built into the mountain.  The caves were built up on the mountainside instead of in the basements due to excess moisture.  The caves were then covered with dirt.  All the chimneys you see sticking out of the ground are the ventilation chimneys from each of the separate caves to help regulate the temperature and humidity for good wine.

We continued our hike to the top and were rewarded with clearing skies and a wonderful view back down at Aubiere and Clermont-Ferrand.

Here are some of the views along the path.

As we returned to our car back in the parking lot of the wine museum, we had just enough time for a couple of posed photos before the rain started again.  It was such a great day, and I think all the moisture we endured definitely helped "grow" our friendship!

The dark skies at the end of the hike.

I think my roaming gnome gives this hike a thumbs up!