We had come to Deluz again because last year, when we were here, we went for a walk in the nearby hills which we greatly enjoyed. On that walk, we met an older lady who told us about a walk on the next hill which led to a small chapel with great views. At the time, we said we would do that walk when we were next here, and now we are here so it's time to do that walk.

We rose early to get the walk started early in the day, before it got too hot, and were underway by 0900h. As we walked through the village, we noted that some roadworks were underway, and soon came across the machine doing the work. It was amazing just how quickly the machine could scrape the old bitumen off the road and dump it in the back of the truck. By the end of the day, they will have removed this entire road, ready for resealing.

We soon entered the forest and started the climb up the hill which, as we found last year, was not all that strenuous. Having reached the top of the hill, we looked out at the River Doubs far below.

Having reached this spot, where we turned right last year to return to Deluz, this year we turned left to continue the walk along the ridgeline around the bend of the river. The path was rocky at times, but not too difficult. While the day was starting to warm up, we were in shade for much of the time, so it didn't feel very warm. Along the way, we encountered various wildlife, including this lizard sunning itself on a tree stump.

After a few hours, we reached the chapel at the top of the hill, and took a well deserved rest. As we sat there enoying our lunch, we were joined by a very colourful beetle (it looked like a Christmas beetle from back home). As it moved around, the sun caught it from different angles, and its colour changed from one iridescent colour to another.

From here on it was downhill all the way (literally). The walk down the hill was much quicker than the walk up, but when we reached the road along the river at the foot of the hill, we realised that we had left the shade behind. From here on, the 3km walk back to Deluz was in the full sun, and we started to feel its effects. At one stage, it all became too much for Rita and she jumped into the river for an impromptu swim. When we got back to the boat, we were knackered after the 10km walk. So I really appreciated a cold beer and an afternoon nap.