Tuesday, June 2, 2015

A Week of hiking with Mary-Beth and Chuck

A week of hiking with Mary-Beth and Chuck along the trails of Provence.
Here's a photo taken at the end of the week, across the impressive rock-slide formations of Mont Ventoux.





During our warm-up walk, to the viewpoint below - le rocher des deux trous.




Though you can visit the crowded village of Les Baux, we prefer the view from the secluded crest of the Alpilles mountains:





Climbing up to the perched village of Sivergues in the Luberon mountains:




Companula:




A Provençal picnic complete with the sweetest strawberries I've ever tasted. And I've had lots.




Reaching the village of Sivergues:




flowers along the trails:




At  the Auberge des Seguins, thirsty after a long and satisfying hike:





The Fort de Buoux, 3000 years old.




The (not so) secret staircase...




frolicking in the wheat fields, and into:




...a borie: a dry-stone hut, without an ounce of mortar and still standing after centuries:





Visting the medieval village of Lacoste, crowned by the ruins of the Marquis de Sade:




Nothing sadistic about my café gourmand however:





Poppy fields and the Luberon mountains:





Atop the crest of the Dentelles de Montmirail mountain range;




From the Dentelles:






The medieval village of Séguret;




Vaison Romaine by night:




Climbing up to the ruins of the medieval castle in Vaison after dinner, followed by some yoga:




The Northern slopes of Mont Ventoux:





The summit of Mont Ventoux:









Celebrating a week of walking together in Provence:


Friday, May 15, 2015

Atop Mont Ventoux with Charlotte and Peter.

 Yesterday's hike took me to the summit of Mont Ventoux with Charlotte, Peter, and their group.




Charlotte and Peter admiring the view from the summit.





Inspiration: a one-legged cyclist finishing his climb - photo taken near the summit...




The hiking trails and the views toward the north:




The serene forest on the northern slopes, laden with larch, spruce, and fir.




On the way down I stopped to cheer on Betty Kals, who was attempting to break the record of the number of bike ascents from Bedoin to summit in a 24-hour period. She had already completed 5 ascents when the pictures below were taken. The number she needed to reach was 9, with a total of over 14 000m of altitude gain over the day. Crazy. Hope she did it.  










Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Vercors - le Grand Veymont

Last week we were in the Vercors mountains -- and to its summit -- le Grand Veymont, for incredible views of the entire chain of the Alps.  

Our self-guided walking holiday: click here !





One of the many Ibex on the rocky crest. Reintroduced in the Alps in the 20th century, ibex had become extinct in France due to hunting. Naturally unfazed by human presence, you can get to within inches of them, and sometimes need to skirt around them if they've decided to camp out on the hiking trails...




The wild and grassy plateaus of the Vercors range, a playground of open pastures and hiking paths, and in a fairy-tale setting:




The Mont Aiguille - literally "needle" - reserved for climbers...


Thursday, May 7, 2015

Alpilles : new signs along the trails

New walkers' signs in the Alpilles mountains = escape from the office, and a 60km mountain bike reconnaissance of all the trails along our self-guided Alpilles walking holiday

Phew! All done in one day's work. And paid to ride my bike!

As we currently have walkers out on the trails, we need to ensure that our world class Roadbooks are 100% accurate and up to date!

Below is one of the new signs, replacing old wooden signs. Most of the new signage just replaced the old ones, while there were also signs in new places.




On the crest of the Alpilles: cistus flowers in bloom




the month of May, rich in poppies along the trails...




A well-deserved lunch at the Café de la Fontaine in Maussane les Alpilles. Yes, I realize that the Coke all but spoils the aesthetics of the French café picture. But after a few hours of bike riding it's hard to shake off the call for gratuitous sugar...




A hidden trail behind the village of Les Baux de Provence, almost too overgrown to walk, let alone to ride my bike...




valerian in bloom:




It's interesting how a few missing letters can change the meaning of things...


Thursday, April 30, 2015

Mont Ventoux

 Hiking to the summit of Mont Ventoux with Anne Wood from Mountain Travel Sobek
































Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Les Alpilles

A hike along the crest of the Alpilles mountains with Anne Wood from Mountain Travel Sobek