A Sunday hike up Mont Ventoux with Judy, Gary, Michael, and Jamie

Climb of Mont Ventoux

 Kerry, Lisa, Denise and Françoise at Mont Serein, getting ready for our climb...

...which was through the fog but nevertheless spectacular.

After lunch, our descent toward Chalet Reynard, the summit now becoming clear:

Views toward the Rhône Valley:

Entering the beech forest:

Hiking with friends on the forestry track:

Clouds hanging over the village of Crillon le Brave:

Vercors: high plateaus and magical forests

This past week I was lucky enough to spend three days hiking in the Vercors mountains, just north of Provence. We are planning on launching a new self-guided walking holiday there for 2014.

Anne-Charlotte and I began our reconnaissance below the Vercors mountain range in the tiny village of Les Nonières, timeless.
We plan on ending the self-guided walking trip here:

The Vercors mountains seen from below: a gigantic limestone plateau culmintating at 2340m. We'd reach the top two days later...

Atop the plateau our first stop was Villard de Lans. We scouted the local hotels and restaurants, enjoying the ambiance of this mountain village, set at 1000m in altitude. Our self-guided walking holiday will most likely spend the first two nights here.

Anne-Charlotte and I found a gem of a B&B in the tiny village of Saint Martin, the second stop for this holiday:

The view from their gardens, as seen experienced by Anne-Charlotte, who didn't feel much like leaving...

But enoough of visiting hotels: we came to scout the hikes too. Leaving Villard de Lans the hiking trails climb upwards to the high plateaus:

Anne-Charlotte spent much of the time in front, much more fit than I am...

Magical spruce forests:

On our second day of hiking we thought we'd be ambitious, both for ourselves and for our future walking guests: we tackled the very summit of the Vercors Mountains -- Le Grand Veymont -- the mountain seen in the background in the picture below. The walk begins through the open fields and forests of the protected natural reserve, an absolute paradise of open plateaus and cragged limestone formations.

After traversing the foothills the real fun begins, climbing up to the Pas de la Ville pass, set in the centre of the photo below:

And from the pass you now have a view eastward, of the entire chain of the Alps. The Vercors Mountains are far removed from the rest of the Alps, and as such offer spectacular vantage points over the entire chain.

Campanula flowers growing from the bare limestone:

The high plateaus of the Vercors mountains seen from the crest of the Grand Veymont: though the westward slopes are soft offer safe trails, the cliffs heading down to the east are jaw-dropping and leg-shaking.

The Grand Veymont is a playground for the ibex, a species that was reintroduced in the 80s:

Strong and agile, the limestone cliffs are where the ibex feel most at home:

As humans we tend to avoid the jagged cliffs -- at least I do. The safe walking trails are better.

In the photo below we are at the very summit of the Grand Veymont, with wisps of cloud rushing up from the valleys below (Anne-Charlotte, who's been up here many times, likened this to being above an erupting volcano).

Heading down from the summit:

Houseleeks in flower:

On the way down an ibex was blocking the walking path, with no intention to get up to let me pass.  They are naturally unfearful of humans, which led to their demise before being reintroduced...

Magestic.

We humans may not be as quick and agile as the ibex, but we're able to write walking notes:

Heading down from the summit, with the high plateaus of the Réserve Naturelle extending out into the horizon. As a guide Anne-Charlotte leads groups through the reserve, camping along the way.

Waymarking is not abundant throughout the reserve: it's the park's way of limiting the number of people entering the heart of the protected area.

One of the very few signs along the way:

After 7 hours of walking, the Grand Veymont now behind us:

Sainte Agnès & Gorbio

This past weekend I battled temperatures of about 35°C hiking between the villages of Sainte Agnès and Gorbio, tucked behind the Riviera town of Menton.

Our most popular self-guided walking tour this year passes through the village of Sainte Agnès, seen below.

Picturesque and authentic, we were looking to suggest an extra night's stay in the village, and so I scouted a loop walk starting and ending in Sainte Agnès.

Old granite and cobbled streets pass under archways, while a tight labyrinth of streets make their way up to the top of the village, from where you stand 800m above the sea, but only 3km as the crow flies: it's the highest coastline village (oxymoron?) in France. Sainte Agnès is also listed among the most beautiful villages in the country.

Wild lavender in bloom as I made my way along the trails.

bell-flower:

And somewhat unusual for the region, we have:

Tibetan prayer flags:

And a gorilla:

The town of Menton seen from the trails:

After about 2 hours of walking I reached the village of Gorbio, here framed by passion flower.

ssshhh: the old limestone village of Gorbio is far off the tourist radar, its two restaurants separated by a 300 year-old elm tree, and the rest of its streets soothingly shop-free and timeless.