Cirque de St Amand (Suzette Ring Walk) {Welcome a French Hike!}

My Aunt Arlene has shared many hikes, but none like this before.

The major different… she is in France! I’m so happy she and my Uncle Norge are having such a wonderful vacation. France, vineyards and baguettes… how could you not?! Thanks for taking a sec to share this beautiful hike with us Arlene!

Hike: Cirque de St Amand (France)
By Arlene

For the first time in my life I faire une randonnée (went on a hike in France). Fortunately pour moi I found a good guide (Walking and Eating in Provence by Lasdun and Davis), map (Carte de Randonnée #3040 ET), and hiking companion (Norge). Also I learned to use France’s system of colored blazes for trail markings.

The red and yellow blazes indicating we were on the G4 route

Norge and I chose a hike near the town of Suzette, a little village near Beaumes de Venise in Provence.

The Village of Suzette

The hike gives a view of The Dentelles de Montmirail which are spectacular. Dentelles (lace) is the name given to the very worn (and lacy) Jurassic limestone mountains.

Les Dentelles

Besides some great views, this hike was filled with new smells; wild rosemary and thyme perfumed much of the open paths. We got some welcomed shade through a stretch of pine forest, but most of the hike was in the bright sun which made the smells of the countryside (the garrigues) even more intense.

Herbs de Provence on the Trail

Besides following brightly colored markings on trees instead of signs, there were a number of differences in today’s randonnée compared with hikes in the Pacific Northwest. First, we got to start and end our hike walking through the vineyards. This is truly the land of the grapes, and there are vineyards everywhere (even beautifully terraced around the town of Suzette).

Vineyards at the end of the hike

The other big difference is in the trail food. At home, our packs have canteens of water, nuts, and fruit. This is France, so more care is taken for the dejeuner on the trail. We carried fresh baguettes from the local bakery, olives from Nyons, goat cheese from the farmer’s market, and grapes we picked at the farmhouse we are renting.

Norge looking for the perfect location for lunch

We decided to wait until we got home for the requisite glass of red wine; we needed all our wits for figuring out the color codes on the trees to make it back to our car in Suzette.

Arlene

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