A Short Climb to Chalets d'Oche...

Even in the depths of summer a period of  prolonged rain in mountains starts to give a sense of decay. Some sycamore leaves fall slowly and silently like large butterflies and come to rest on the long leaves of lilies hanging heavily over torrents. 

Reminiscent of spring the sound of tumbling streams in full flow echoes throughout the mirky woods. 

A beautiful dog-rose illuminates the dark of its surrounding foliage. We are alone on the descending path; the long lines of hikers still climbing their mountain, others heading down out of the cloudy summits to lunch.

Our path continues with a view across the pine tops towards Mont Benand and its dotted chalets. The bluer sky lighting the lake some distance away, we are still under the misty clouds and watch as a large bird of prey, brown with light golden feather flash along the tail, no real fingers of splayed wing-tip feathers. But neither the spread tail of a buzzard, more the closed thinner type of a kestrel. Mental notes made to check it out later, we continue down and head home after a well earned enjoyable Léman bière at La Fétiuière.