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Published: July 30th 2011
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Lookout over Gorges Oppedette
The narrow, deep, almost waterless limestone gorge of Oppedette. It is a protected park with many walking trails along it. For breakfast we required some nice fresh French bread from Cereste about 6kms away. It is a small friendly village with the usual shops and cafe’s and most delicious bread which we hungrily devoured for a late breakfast at 10am and into sandwiches for lunch.
The Gorges Oppedette is not too far distant so we went there on small secondary roads. The gorge is a deep rocky ravine with lookouts and many tracks to walk on. We may return depending on time permitting.
We went onto Salte which is well known as the centre for lavender growing. You look out from Salte over the valley floor which is patterned with crops of lavender, sunflowers, wheat, and grapes with the scrubby low mountains with rocky outcrops in the background. It is very picturesque. We bought some typical Provence souvenirs for our families at home.
From Salte we drove onto the road to Mont Ventoux where we encountered many cyclists reliving their experiences of the Tour de France. It appears to be a “must do” for cyclists to bike up to Mt Ventoux and down the other side. It is a fascinating landscape. As you ascend you come out of
Lavender everywhere
No explanation required! the forest and into rocky slopes of prostrate conifer plants. Then onto the top which is devoid of vegetation and from a distance is white in colour so it looks like it is snow covered all year round. This is because the mountain is covered with shattered limey mudstone. The view from the top is a panorama of Provence in all directions. It is quite superb despite the cold and wind at the top.
From Salte we drove to Malaucene and on to Entrecaux on a back road where we took a photo of a most impressive castle up on a hill. Finally we drove onto Vaison la Romaine which is a famous 12th century town in Provence with an interesting history. We guess the fact that it was owned by the Papacy at one stage accounts for the Romaine name. We walked our way uphill through arched gateways, narrow cobbled paths, quaint narrow houses, up to the ruined castle on top of the hill. It has an impressive sight out over the town. Down in the more modern part of the town the street was busy with markets of crafts and food. There was a wonderful variety of
Mont Ventoux
Mt Ventoux is bald and white all year round because there is no vegetation and the limey mudstone makes it look permanently snowclad. goods in the way of baskets, pottery, clothing, local food, cafes and people. It is a place well worth visiting. Strangely, we have found that the places we have visited, you cannot get inside the churches or cathedrals. In Italy we found it was the opposite. These building were always accessible and usually quite beautiful. Amazingly, I was able to get an Italian hot chocolate – that wonderful thick brew brew that you can stand a teaspoon in. I took a photo to prove the point. Diego would have approved.
Finally, it was time to head back to the Gite via Malaucene, Carpentras and Apt. We arrived at 8.15 and still had to make our dinner.
Today has been a great overview of Provence. We saw typical towns and countryside. The towns are ancient, often on hill tops or hill sides. They consist of dry stone buildings with orange tiled roofs. The houses are narrow and mostly joined to each other with narrow streets and paths in between. It is common to see potted plants and cats in the alleyways. The countryside has broad valleys which are relatively fertile with crops. Behind these are rocky plateaus and on
Pottery in Romaine
A bright scene of pottery in the street market. This is the same place I was able to get a real Italian hot chocolate which the spoon could stand up in up to higher hills and low mountains covered with low forest and scrubland. You could say that Provence is essentially a Spartan landscape with an austere beauty about it. There are shades of Central Otago about it, but only shades – gorges, rockiness, scrub and stone buildings but without Otago’s tussock, colour and broad skies. It certainly is a long way from the Swiss landscape. I can only imagine that the cyclists enjoy this area for the uninterrupted landscape views and the kudos of Le Tour. The roads are certainly not designed for cyclists as they have to share it with motorized traffic and the verges are mostly non existent. However, there is a network of roads especially for cycling and these are mostly off motorized traffic roads or small rural roads.
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