Sarah made a surprising discovery at our last LIDL shop and that is that LIDL in France do not sell Greek Yoghurt. Our favourite breakfast on this trip has been Greek Yoghurt, fruit and muesli. This tragic omission from LIDL France’s stocking policy has meant only one thing: croissant and baguette for breakfast!!! I am wearing a groove in the pavement between Basil and the various boulangeries. I go three times a day. Baguette’s are only good for an hour or so after they are cooked.
All these carbs means exercise was called for. So with the help of Tourist Information, which shares staff and offices with camping reception, I found a decent walk through the Provence countryside with the benefit that the final destination, Baux-de-Provence is a well known, and beautiful village. It is even mentioned in my Rough Guide.
Rocky outcrop typical of Les Alpilles
We made up sandwiches, in case food was as expensive in Baux-de-Provence as it is in our little village, and water for both us and the dogs and set off with the Tourist Information map in hand.
Baux-de-Provence
As we made our way out of the village we kept seeing a French couple with the same map in their hand apparently trying to follow the same route. On three occasions we saw them take a wrong turn and then reappear on the correct path. On the final time they took a left when they should have turned right and we never saw them again! In fact if they had managed to get out of the village, the walk was actually well marked with little yellow painted lines, including yellow crosses warning of wrong turns.
Once out of the village there was a short section on a minor road and then the route turned off onto farm tracks. The weather was a pleasant 20 degrees or so, but with a strengthening wind so thin fleeces were required for the first part of the walk and then t-shirts and shorts sufficed for the rest of the day.
The land, at this time of year, is brown and dusty, with colour introduced by the hardier trees, including olive trees and the tail end of the grape vines, which will soon turn orange and then drop their leaves. The grapes have already been picked.
Vines with Baux-de-Provence on the far left
Once we had walked a mile or so we had a clear view of our target in the distance. This part of Provence, les Alpilles, consist of rocky outcrops and Baux-de-Provence was build on top of one of these outcrops for defensive purposes.
The walk through the countryside was slightly uphill most of the way and then when we reached the foot of the rock on which the village is built, there was a steep ascent until we reached an old gateway and entered Baux-de-Provence.
The door to Baux-de-Provence
The village has party be carved out of the rock on which it sits and the rest is built using the same stone, so the whole settlement has a the sandy grey colour of the surrounding hills. It is now clearly primarily a tourist attraction and Sarah felt she could not really get a feel for the place because nearly all the buildings are either tourist shops or restaurants.
Baux-de-Provence
We were fortunate being here in mid September, because it was not too busy, but I can imagine in the height of the summer it might be unbearable.
Baux-de-Provence
The whole place is only small and so it didn’t take us long to wander the few narrow atmospheric streets, but before we left we found a quiet spot to eat our sandwiches and then treated ourselves to a rare, but delicious ice cream, before setting off home.
Church Square
The journey back was much quicker, being mostly down hill. Mabel found the barren countryside less stimulating than the lush woodlands she has been walking in for the last few months and Melek, as usual, just plodded along in my footsteps. Whether he enjoys his walks or not it is impossible to tell. He certainly enjoys marking his territory as often as he can get away with it!
Sarah and I have played some more Cribbage today and have decided we are proficient enough to start keeping score from tomorrow onwards!
We have no particular plans for tomorrow, so we will see what the day brings.