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.
Norge and I chose a hike near the town of Suzette, a little village near Beaumes de Venise in Provence.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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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0 comments
This is so pretty! What excellent pics 🙂
Arlene
This looks like a wonderful experience. Thank you for sharing.
Elaine
I’m trying to imagine walking around and running into random and beautiful wine vineyards! How amazing! Thanks for sharing your hike with us 🙂 I hope the end of the hike wine was delicious (I’m sure it was).
How incredible lovely,wish I was there I would be the one way behind. How very different than Maine and Washington and they are both beautiful.
[…] you catch her last french hike? Well here’s one more from her trip there this year. It looks seriously gorgeous, don’t ya […]