If you feel like taking a walk after lunch at Saint-Cergue.. there is a walk you can take, called 'le sentier Ballade à Béatrix'. It is welll indicated, with 16 points of information. It starts with a little steeply, but the forest is very pleasant, the views from the old castle are impressive, the invisible ruins, and it goes through a series of rocky formations with interesting caves.

A simple route, strongly recommended, with very little uphill.

It starts very calmly near the 'Lac de Joux'. There are quite a few people, but these tend to be people that respect and love nature. At around the middle of the lake, you must climb a little to arrive to 'Le Lieux', where we continue touring the lake but this time at a higher altitude. In this route we have been fortunate enough to sight two deer or 'chamois' and they haven't shown themselves to be shy.

We start at the camping place of Vallorbe, with a strong vertical slope untin we cross the col. From there, we descend through a minor road until Vailion. After crossing the village we enter once more at the forest, where we cross a defensive system (the toblerones) where we start once more to descend, following the river. In the last part, we walk next to the river and cross wooden bridges several times.

My work brings me to many places around the world. Lately, one of these frequent destinations is India. The city I visit is very close to New Delhi, and the large Himalayan mountains are not too far, only around 400 Km away. But in India, this means 10 hours of driving. Last time I went, I had a monday free, which gave me a three-day-long weekend and the perfect excursion for me to escape to the mountains.