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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3071 |
23rd April 2012 Hiking - Walking: Trigance Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny periods and breezy Max Speed: Distance Covered: Sunday 22nd April 2012 – sightseeing – sunny but breezy I went down into the town and bought 2 more of the wonderful almond croissants for breakfast and some bread for lunch and had a little wander round for the last time. After we had eaten and packed up we drove down towards the lake. We stopped at the bridge which is where the gorge enters the lake and had a look then went on to Les Salles Sur Verdon but unfortunately it was very new, had no character and no easy access to the lake. Everywhere had a height restriction and it didn’t have a very friendly feel :( The lake is definitely better to look down on than in reality :( We had thought we might spend a night near the lake but we gave up with that idea and drove up to Aiguines which has a very bright chateau and an old town. It also has the customary Chappelle on the top of the hill :) We walked up to that and through the old town then back to the van to drive along the Gorge road on the opposite side to before. This road is called the Corniche Sublime and gives a different view of the places we had seen before but doesn’t have the places to stop. We were able to look down on the two walks we went on earlier in the week and marvel at how far we had walked! Right in the middle of the Pont de l’Artuby where a bridge spans the Artuby gorge there was a stall trying to attract people to bunji jump! We ate lunch there but there were no takers – several went to have a look but nobody was brave or rich enough! There were lots and lots of motor bikes today and we think it is probably quite a thing in motor bike circles to do the roads on both sides of the gorge as fast as possible! We thought we would go and have a look at Trigance and were really pleasantly surprised to find a really nice aire with electric hook up, water and a loo just on the outskirts of this old medieval village which is in the process of being really tastefully renovated. At the top of the village is a castle which is a hotel. There is no access to it but the photos of the inside look wonderful – 4 poster beds and suits of armour :) We had a good walk round the village and really liked it. We saw quite a big, really bright green lizard and there was a lovely donkey too, making a lot of noise at times! There was another English camper in the aire and we got talking to the lady. She is travelling through Europe on the way to see her ‘other half’ in Hungary. She was doing a bit of washing so we thought we would do ours - we have got lots and were thinking we would have to find a launderette. It got virtually dry before it got dark. There are 5 other campers here and although we are not actually in the aire but parked next to it we can plug in and give everything a good charge, run the computer etc. Shame there’s no internet then it would have been really perfect! The lady came round about 7 to collect the 5 Euros. It would have cost us twice that to use a launderette and they charged 6 euros at Castellane with no facilities! If we are going to pay we want to make sure we get a lot for our money! Oh no, the gas bottle just ran out. We put this one on in La Franqui last October and have worked out it lasted 48 days – we have 54 left!!! Have to cut down the hot drinks!! Monday 23rd April 2012 – walking **** sunny periods and breezy I changed the gas bottle first thing so we could have a wash and breakfast. We are out of nearly all our food supplies so breakfast was very basic! Decided to walk here as it is a beautiful day and it seemed a shame to spend it in the supermarket and driving! We set out up through the village and followed the sign to the hamlet of Entreverges which is on the GR49 hiking route. It was a really good path but pretty steep where it went up and across a col and onto the plateau just before the village. There were only about 4 houses and we said bonjour to two ladies who were chatting outside their houses. We reached the signpost which surprised us by having a different route back to Trigance because we didn’t know there was a circular route. We always prefer these so decided to go back that way after going on a little further to see if we could see Rougon (on the other side of the gorge). We couldn’t so had our chocolate bar and set off to follow the alternative route to Trigance. It was a really beautiful path, quite easy and sloping down which is always good! After about half an hour the trees we were walking through opened up to a brilliant view of Rougon and the Point sublime so we got our view after all! We continued our walk and were getting pretty tired by the time we finally saw Trigance in the distance! We had been walking for 4 hours and covered about 7 miles shame I didn’t take my gps:( Had cheese and crackers for lunch back at the van while watching a Swiss couple in what we think must have been a brand new ‘camping car’ trying to manoeuvre it to park and discover how to pay for the aire. They looked terrified! The camper was massive so we were not surprised. As we were packing up to leave a group of about 6 lads on mopeds arrived in the car park and although our natural reaction was to think the worst they were really lovely lads and teased us about making them a cup of coffee – we said – no milk have to go to the shop and we had some banter with them, making our Dutch neighbour laugh:) It was a really good stop, nice village with good facilities for the van and we now have completely full batteries and water. We drove down the last bit of the gorge back to Castellane and made our third visit to the tourist information for free wifi. Went to the Casino supermarket and did the shopping and bought a kettle to try and reduce the amount of gas we have to use to heat water. Drove out of Castellane and to our nice spot on Lac Chaudanne for the night. Plugged our new kettle in for a cuppa and it instantly blew the bloomin fuse so we will have to take it back tomorrow as it is obviously too high a voltage :( Back to the drawing board on that problem! We had splashed out on a rotisserie chicken for tea so that didn’t take very much organisation which was just as well because we are shattered. Oh and it is raining again – it was raining last time we were here! Moving on to the south coast tomorrow. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3318687598670.2140694.1012660562&t ype=1&l=112c704a5a http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3245995981425.2139602.1012660562&t ype=3&l=1bf5305e7c http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.3129837677540.2137243.101266056 2&type=1 Tuesday 24th April 2012 – travelling the walk **** sunny but very windy We packed up and headed back to the Casino to take the kettle back. That all went fine, we left Castellane and headed south along the Route Napolean which was very scenic and there was nobody else on the road. That all changed once we got to Grasse and Antibes – we saw more cars in 5 minutes than we have in 5 weeks! It was very built up and not very nice at all so we thought we would just head to the Cap d’Antibes where there was a lighthouse symbol, have lunch and move on! But we were amazed yet again because we found this little road which had several camper vans parked on it already (obviously staying the night), right on the beach overlooking the azure blue sea with Nice and Italian mountains with snow on in the background! We had our lunch and I did feel a bit better. There was a sign for a walk along the coast right next to where we are parked so we set out and it was a really pleasant surprise. The path went right along the edge of the rocky coastline for a couple of miles or more. The waves were really crashing up because it is tres vent today! I think it must be the Mistral wind and I don’t think this coast works will with this wind??? It is really how the other half lives – lots of massive houses with high walls and security gates. There were lots of beautiful pink succulent flowers too. We walked for 3 hours and were shattered when we got back! We had tea, watched the world go round then went for a bit of a stroll as the sun went down. Had a look at a posh hotel at the top of the road and in the high season (with no sea view I might add) a double room will cost you 680 Euros!!! We are getting it for nothing and when I turned computer on there was free wifi too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unbelievable :) |
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