We are so fortunate to live so close to both the French & Swiss Alps. While in the winter, the skiing is fabulous, we are coming to realize just how amazing these mountains are in the spring & summer! A couple of weekends ago we went hiking in the Fer a Cheval in France for the first time. The Fer a Cheval is the largest mountain cirque in the Alps. (Per Wikipedia a cirque is a steep amphitheater-shaped valley formed by glacial erosion.) This place is breathtakingly beautiful, with dozens of waterfalls cascading down the huge walls of the cirque!
Around every bend there was something even more beautiful to discover. It was a magical place for my adventure seeking and beauty hunting soul! These pictures don't even really do it justice (all taken with my iPhone and of course it died before we got to the cool rope bridge and ice cave).
The wind and noise created by the force of this waterfall were so loud that these sheep snuck right up behind us without us even noticing. It was amazing how cold it was close to this waterfall ... we were actually shivering on this very hot day.
Between the initial hike to a dead end & back (a tiny village where we happened upon locals eating lunch on their patio in their underwear due to the heat), the big loop into the valley, and the various little detours we took up streams to different waterfalls, we hiked over 14km that day. While the girls were exhausted by the end, and I feared we might not make it the last 2 km back to the car, they were great little hikers for most of the day. Their favorite part was crossing the creeks using rocks and logs and getting to stand behind one of the waterfalls. It is such fun that the girls are now at an age where we can explore like this together!
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