After our short walk yesterday, we were up early to beat the crowds to Cascades des Herisson (Hedgehog Falls), setting out at 0830h for the 40 minute drive south of Besain. But when we got there, we joined the queue of vehicles already waiting to enter the parking area. Given that this was a Tuesday, we can only imagine what it was like on the weekend. But it is summer holiday time, so perhaps I shoudn't have been surprised by the crowd. There is no charge to enter the Cascades area, but there is a 3euro/hour parking charge, so they get you one way or the other!

We had come here in 2018 with Sarah and Albon and their kids and Ruth Worland from the Pans on Fire Steelband, but it was during a dry spell and the falls were not all that impressive, but given the recent heavy rains we were looking forward to seeing what they looked like now.

And we didn't have to wait long as we started the climb up to the falls. The water racing over the rocks and the first view of the Cascades indicated that everything was different today.

The views from the same spot at the first lookout shows the clear difference between 2018 (at left) and 2021 (at right)

Walking a bit further up gave an even closer look at the Cascades, which I couldn't resist converting to a long-exposure photo using the Apple Live Photo function. Not sure which I prefer!

As we walked higher, we encountered more falls that we had not noticed as much in 2018. Many of these started to be used as picnic places and swimming holes as the day warmed up.

Just before arriving at the top of the climb, we came across the balancing stones garden, which I had almost forgotten from our 2018 trip. It was still as impressive as I now remembered it, and undoubtedly had collected a few more pyramids over the past 3 years. A good example of "Community Art".

We had a leisurely picnic lunch at the top of the hill, and then started the climb down - easier on the thighs, but harder on the toes! On the way up, we had passed through a bit of a bottleneck where up and down flows collided. But the increase in walkers over the course of the day meant that it was even more congested in the afternoon. It seemed to me like an ideal place for traffic lights, since French walkers are just as bad as French drivers, with everyone thinking they can join in from any direction, with the inevitable result. This photo shows just the queue in the downhill direction - there were almost as many still wanting to go uphill!

Finally, we got to the bottom of the hill and enjoyed a cool drink. Then as we were walking to the parking area, we saw a sign saying that those paying with a card could do so at the souvenir store. So Rita joined a queue of about 10 people. Thirty minutes later she emerged with a receipt for 15euro that we had to show at the exit gate. So we jumped in the car and headed for the exit, only to find that the payment machine was broken, the boomgate was lifted, and there was no one there to take or check payments. Talk about French efficiency!

On the way back to Besain, we stopped at Lac de Chalain, where Rita went for a long swim and I had a long sleep on the grass in the shade. We both felt better after our two activities. Then home to Besain to a relaxed apero and dinner, and to find out from H2O that most of the repairs in the boat were done and the final one might be finished this Friday. So, if the rivers and canals have a drop in water level, we might get away early next week, after we spend the weekend cleaning the old girl (Kanumbra) and getting her ready for some cruising.

Finally, as night moved closer, I couldn't resist trying to capture the opening of the yellow flowers on film. So I set up my iPhone on time-lapse mode and let it roll until the flowers had opened. The video below is the outcome. Neat!