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5th October 2014 Hiking - Walking: Les Baux circuit Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny periods Max Speed: Distance Covered: 8.5 (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Saturday 4th October – sightseeing and relax - sunny We set the alarm and got up soon after 7. Got ready quickly and headed down through the Alpilles back to St. Remy le Provence to see if we could see the bull run. We parked in the Intermarche car park and had our breakfast then did some shopping and walked up through the town to the Tourist Information. Our first doubts set in when the lady at the desk really didn’t know any information about the ‘fete’. She explained what she knew to another English couple with us listening in. Whatever the parade was was leaving the lake outside town at 11 and getting into the lower square of the town around 12. We had a couple of hours to kill so set out on the Van Goch walk around the outskirts of the town which takes about an hour. It was a pleasant walk and took you round 21 boards with Van Goch paintings which he had painted while in the mental hospital here. He was allowed out to do his paintings which was very unusual in those days. The most famous one is of the starry starry night. Must look up more information when we get back. At the end of the walk were a lot of Roman remains called the Site Antique Glanum – a large arch and statue were the main things. Walked back into town and through the old walled town which was very nice and we didn’t even know was there. It was certainly more compact and flowed better than Avignon! A few people were gathering and the police were shutting off half the road so we stopped and waited for the ‘bulls’ to arrive. At about 11.40 there was a big bang and the people opposite got into the protection cages which are placed at various points up the street and the shop keepers started to pull their cages across their frontages. Some horse and carts arrived, one with a brass band inside. Then there were some people on push bikes, then some joggers and then bringing up the rear a large group of riders on camargue horses and looking like they were out of a western but absolutely no bulls:( We moved up the street and got talking to another English couple who also thought there were going to be bulls but nothing else happened. Even the locals didn’t seem to know what was going on or why this pageant was taking place. It was something to see but quite disappointing. On the way back to the van we saw the horses all in the square waiting to be loaded into their horse boxes and people were having a drink. There were a lot of photos up that people who were involved could buy and some of them were of the proper bull run which was obviously earlier in the year. Must look up when that is when we get home too!! Back in the van and back up to our parking space up in the Alpilles for a lovely relaxing afternoon in the sun reading and knitting. Went for a walk round before tea and played phase 10. Sunday 5th October – hike ***** Les Baux circuit, sunny periods – 8.5 nautical miles. We got up about 8.30 and were just getting ready when our little parking area was swamped with the hunters! Orange clothing and dogs with bells and tracking devices! There were about 5 4x4s here and more down the road including the one with the trailer for the dogs! They all disappeared up the track at the end of our lane. After breakfast we went on the hike shown on the board just down the road from where we are parked. You had to follow the orange stripe which in true French fashion proved to be difficult! We set off up the road towards the point where we have been watching the sunset and then along the track towards St. Remy – the national route GR6. We saw several hunters dotted about in the trees and rocks down to our left and heard a couple of shots. After getting lost at a few junctions where there was no sign of an orange stripe we asked various hikers and mountain bikers and found the right way and made good progress. We met a swiss lady walking her dogs. The youngest one had a bell round its neck and we got talking to her about the hunt and asked her how they ever caught anything when they make so much noise, shouting and the dogs bells ringing etc.. She said they don’t catch anything except small birds and there isn’t anything much to catch around here anyway! We were amazed how much ground we covered because at one point we were right at the top of the hills and could see our path down to the valley and it didn’t seem to take us long to be down there looking up! We could now see the castle at Les Baux and got to a flat piece of the walk which took us through olive groves on both side – there were a lot of almond trees too so we took the opportunity to have a few to keep us going! Stopped for lunch in a handy gateway which was away from the road and had a good view of the castle. No orange stripes at all down here so we headed up to the castle and then round the rock it stands on to the roman chapelle Des Tremaie, which was also a sentier botanique. Arrived at the steps going up to the medieval village which stands just under the ruined castle and walked up there to have a look round. It was the same merchandise and restaurant style place as Avignon, Mont St. Michel and Rocamadaur – white clothing, waving madonna’s etc.. It was a pretty place though and some lovely squares to eat etc.. Walked down from the village and started the walk up the hill. Thought we would have to go round by the road but suddenly the orange stripe appeared again and took us up the most vertical path of them all! We were very hot and bothered at the top and even more surprised that it had brought us in above the van! Had to walk back down the hill for our well earned cuppa and cake – it is Sunday after all!! 4 ½ hours and over 8 miles! Played cards in the sunshine and also up on top of the hill with the sunset:) Sad knews from home today, Gary Aldous a big name in windsurfing in the 80s has passed away in his early 50s. |
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