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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2882 |
13th May 2013 Hiking - Walking: Ravin Des Arcs Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: hot and sunny Max Speed: Distance Covered: Monday 13th May - walk ***** Ravin Des Arcs – hot and sunny :) Woke up in our lovely spot under the Pic St. Loup and spent the whole morning reading and Mag doing her rug in the sun. It is an absolutely glorious day nothing but deep blue sky :) We didn’t go anywhere until 12.30 when we drove back to the Ravin Des Arcs where we stopped for our coffee yesterday afternoon. There were lots of people about then but today we set off on our own to do the walk. Unfortunately the red and white stripes for the walk let us down a bit and when we got to the river we stomped off in the wrong direction :( We retraced our steps and went over the river on a bodged up bridge made from concrete pylons! The walk after that was virtually vertical and really really tough rock climbing! Then it was the same down towards the river again. We really should have had our walking boots on but we didn’t realise it was that kind of walk! We were glad to get to the bottom of the gorge and have a rest by the river! We scrambled down a bit further so that we could sit in the middle of the gorge on a flat rock and have our lunch. I even went in the water – skinny dipping! A young couple arrived just after us but must have gone a bit further up the river because they disappeared for a while then came back. We read our books and spent about an hour down there. All the rocks were worn smooth by the water and there were some massive holes making really deep whirlpools. I dropped my tomato and it rolled down the rock and into one of these holes and we never saw it again! Just as we were getting ready to climb up the way we had come two men came down the other way, on the other side of the river and Mag asked them if that way went back to the car park because we didn’t want to go that way and end up miles from the van. He spoke a little English and said it was very tough but you got to see the ‘Arch’ We had already been talking about what Des Arcs meant (thinking of the ski resort) then it became obvious – the Arch! Despite what he said the walk up on this side of the gorge was nowhere near as bad as the way down :) The Arch and the caves were really spectacular so we are pleased we found out about it otherwise we would have missed the whole point of the walk!!! We got back to the van a lot sooner than we expected and it was a very good path after an initial scramble at the foot of the gorge. We drove back to our lovely spot from last night and spent the rest of the day outside, reading, playing cards, eating tea and washing up. We saw a new bird – pretty sure it is a subalpine warbler (could be Dartford warbler but don’t think it is the right sound). Had a very quick walk along the road running underneath the car park after tea. Still haven’t discovered what this car park is for but don’t think we will now! Tuesday 14th May - relax then travel/sightsee - sunny We finally dragged ourselves away from our lovely spot about 11 and drove round the Pic St. Loup to St Matthieu de Treviers where we visited the Tourist information and got lots of leaflets on the area for when we come back! Also got a leaflet about a series of crazy marathon style races over the peaks including the ravine we walked the other day which are taking place this coming weekend. One of them is 120km!!! They start at 5 in the morning and some are expected to finish by 7.30 at night. The heights of some the mountains they are going to cross are scary and the paths are rough too. They must be bonkers! www.fesatrail.com Went to the Intermarche then drove through some great scenery finding a nice spot on the river Gardon for lunch near Anduze. There was a submersible bridge and an auberge in an old mill with a wheel which was actually working! We sat on the riverbank and while Mag finished yet another book I went for a walk with my camera. I was sad to see a snake shoot out and grab a frog which had jumped into a pool as I passed and proceed to strangle it :( Drove on along a surprisingly and sadly touristy small road towards St. Jean du Gard passing a bamboo plantation and a couple of nice bridges over the Gardon. Stopped at the second tourist information of the day at St. Jean but didn’t spend very long there. Drove along the Corniche Des Cevenne road which has very spectacular scenery with peaks as far as the eye can see but it is a main road and there were lots of trees in the way:( We stopped for a cuppa above the village of St. Roman de Toursque and decided to turn off the corniche and see if we could find somewhere nice to park up. The road was pretty hairy with hairpin bends and very steep and narrow but before long there was a very small parking space clinging to the edge of the hillside with a row of bee hives on a track leading off it. We decided to stay here with the magnificent views and went for a walk along the bee hives and then down the road to a small waterfall. Lots of chestnut trees and signs of wild boar here! Oh dear its started raining again!! |
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