172. A Little Adventure (a new take on country walking)

There are many people who have, recently or not, taken to walking and discovered they can't get enough of the open air. Our area in that corner of Northern Europe, where the land is flat and the weather never scorching, is no exception. Walks along canals, amongst the marshes or the forests, above clifftops or on beaches ... alone, in pairs, in small random groups or in large organised clubs ... in boots or wellies, with sticks or without sticks, with step-counting gadgets or specially designed water-packs; it's all here - right under our noses. 

Yet - as we end our 3-hour noisy ramble along canals and down forest lanes I can definitely be certain that we are the only ones (but please let us know in the comments below if I am wrong) to end our walk by popping the Champagne.

This time, again, the sun was out for us and the clouds had cleared off. Again, we found an almost empty out-of-the way carpark. Again, we walked for around three hours, chatting all the way (none of this silent inhale-exhale serious stuff) making us miss a turn now and then. Maybe we just keep on walking because we know that the best is still to come ...

Back in the parking lot we stand gathered around the open hatch of the car like some hunting party and watch in expectation as the sommelier in our group (or Champagne girl) gets the perfectly chilled bottle out of the cool-bag and pops the cork. This is for me one of life's small yet profound pleasures to see the cork unhindered soar and reach for the skies. This is of course accompanied by loud cheering and recorded on video by the youngest of the group who will also turn the cheering and the chinking of glasses into a 'boomerang'. I can then properly impress my kids and maybe even my husband. 

There is a brief flutter of disappointment when we realise that the re-usable plastic flutes have shamefully been tossed in the trash and replaced but paper cups. Immediately a unanimous decision is taken to buy glassware for our next outing. 

Then out comes the food:  

- foie gras canapés (tapenade for vegetarians)

- tomato chaussons à l'italienne with basil and Parmigiano

- honey and spice cup cakes

- almond and pralin cookies

- coffee

- more Champagne 

    It is only the cold that gets us to pack up and go home but not before planning our next adventure. (We don't do walk, nor hikes, we go on adventures!)