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From Moustiers D952 ,D957,D19 to Aiguines,D71 to Comps sur Artuby ,D955 to Pont de Soleil,D952 to Castellane.
Wow what a day .Left Moustiers by 9am in wall to wall sunshine with no wind. Thunderstorms & heavy rain last evening.
Climbed to about 1225mts, the highest point of our whole trip, to the top of the gorge which was tough going I felt like one of those pack animals that the roads were built for but we were rewarded with amazing views all the way up, we could clearly see where we had come from. Mount Ventoux was still visible but in the far distance.
The plateau was scrub land the only animals were goats with bells on.The road was still up & down even at the top winding it's way along the top of the gorge. We stopped around 1pm in a restaurant perched on the cliff on the cliff edge for a drink & piece of cake which cost & arm & a leg to reward ourselves & used up the last of our cash, their 'phone lines had stopped due the to the night time storm. We still had lots of miles to do( don't do
them on a full stomach)! By now we had cycled 25 miles with another 25miles still to do !
Unfortunately as happens quickly in the mountains the thunder clouds started to gather & the rest of the afternoon was spent in the rain with the claps & flashes to go with it reverberating around the mountains,not very pleasant. We stopped three times to shelter ,once in a WC, the others in a cake shop,tabac and campsite.
It didn't abate so we just kept going this time to the floor of the gorge where we cycled along the river bank for 10 miles.We met other cyclist in the tabacs who were waiting for taxis to take them home they had been caught out by the weather in their lycra & no waterproofs.
The steep sided walls of the gorge overhung the road in places & the moisture in the valley had caused fog to form .The sides of the road were thick with hail stones as were some of the rock faces ,thank goodness we didn't have that to contend with that as well. We arrived at our destination (very cold & wet ) at Castellane at 6pm
after 8 hrs in the saddle ! I felt like Forest Gump & just had to keep pedalling.The hotel was overbooked so we then had to cycle back 2 miles the way we had come to another hotel .
The most striking aspect of Castellane is the Chapel Notre-Dame built in 1703,sitting high above the town on its own rock plinth dominating the skyline.
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James D
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Nearly there !
Well done views looked amazing !!!