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| Provence mountain scenes |
This is a walking holiday designed for accomplishes hill walkers
with day walks of up to 5 to 6hrs and with ascents of 300 to 700 Metres
on well established paths. Our walks take place in an area famous
for wine, olives, hill villages and wonderful climate. Our walks take
us to numerous summits between 1200 and 2000m where there are excellent
views of the southern Alps. The paths are good but rocky underfoot
so good footwear is essential. With luck you will see eagles, European
vultures, deer, chamois and wild boar. You will certainly taste the
best of Provence - wine, cheese, olives and excellent evening meals
with wine.
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Provence mountain scene
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Itinerary - Rémuzat,
Villeperdrix, Montagne d'Angele,
Nyons, Buis,
Mt Ventoux and finish on the Dentelles de Montmirail.
| Saturday Day 1. Clients collected from Marseille Airport
at 1pm and Avignon TGV at 3pm. Drive to Remuzat to a cozy
family run hotel in the village. Settle in, welcoming drinks,
briefing and supper. |
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Day 2. From the village a steep walk leads up via a short
ladder to the top of a wonderful cliff viewpoint ,La Croix.From
here we are guaranteed to see the famous european vultures soaring
straight in front of us with a wing span of 2m and more. A gentle
ridge with good views leads up to the summit of St Auban at
1048m and a wonderful picnic spot with views to the Alps .After
lunch its all downhill ..through wild herbs , lavender fields, almond
and apricot orchards to the tiny chapel of the old Abbey of Bodon.
Our minibus will then transport the group back to Remuzat in time
for a beer before supper in our hotel .A 5hr walk with a climb of
500 gentle metres!
Day 3. The Mountain of Angele,1503m..This is a fine ridge
walk starting from the old village of Villeperdrix ;old farms ,
goats ,lavender ,old ladies in black,tiled village houses.The climb
up onto the ridge is quite long but with outstanding views to the
Alps in the east and Mont Ventoux in the west.Return by the
same route. A 20 minute drive takes us to our next hotel in
Nyons .6hrs and 600m ascent.
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Day 4. The famous GR 9 leads from Nyons up through
lovely forest to the Col de la Croix at 709m,delightful views
of Nyons en route .The path then meanders down to a Romanesque
Chapel before continuing through olive orchards and yet
more lavender fields to the Col de Mirmande at 850 m. |
| There are outstanding views of the wild provencal
mountain country here.We then begin the long descent into the
valley of Buis les Baronnies..7hrs .17kms,600m ascent in total
. Please note that this day can be reduced in length..Arrive
in the old market town of Buis with its colonnaded 15 Century
shopping square..Time for a very welcome beer before settling
into our hotel in Buis. |
Day 5. Wednesday is market day in Buis so this morning
our walk starts at 11am after clients have had time to visit
this very provencal market.Buis is famous for its herbs so do take
this opportunity to stock up .Our circular walk today again follows
the GR 9 up through delightful orchards to the famous St Julian
cliffs , famous amongst rock climbers .At the col we stop for a
picnic and there is the opportunity to scramble to the summit for
those with a head for heights ..From the col the path contours around
along a ridge with outstanding views of the giant of provence ,
Mt Ventoux . We stop for a drink at a path junction and then descend
down through delightfully shaded forest to the Chapel of St Trophime
,good views of Buis from here . A leisuredly walk below the St Julian
Rocks leads back to our vehicle . In the late afternoon sun the
rocks glow with an orange tint and are very photogenic ..A delightful
evening is then spent back in Buis enjoying the shaded cafe terraces
and the local wine .
Day 6. Ascent of Mt Ventoux , 1900m..A 30 minute
drive takes us through Malaucene into a secret little valley full
of cherry and apricot orchards . The walk leads up through very
varied terrain , forest, contouring mountain paths and then
bursts out into the alpine forest and pasture of Mt Serein
at 1500m ..Here our vehicle will be waiting with a superb picnic
and cold drinks .After lunch we continue the 2hr ascent of Ventoux
by a really outstanding mountain path which has everything
..cool alpine forest , delightfully inclined mountain paths and
then bursts out onto the wind swept summit plateau ..What a panorama
of the Alps from Mt Blanc to the Alps above Nice .After a
welcome drink we descend through alpine meadows full of flowers
to our vehicle waiting for us at Mt Serein .Night spent in pleasant
hotel in Malaucene which is a delightful small town
......6hrs plus 700m of ascent but well spread out .
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Day 7. Les Dentelles de Montmirail...A 30 minute transfer
takes us to the start of this our last day but possibly the
most photogenic as we pass over and through these famous rock
spires so loved by rock climbers .From the Col du Cayron we
ascend up a rocky path to a col where there are good views of
the two rock spines making up the Dentelles..Dentelles as in
lace not teeth by the way. The path follows the base of one
of these spines and then traverses across to the second one
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| We then descend through delightful forest to the
Farm of Cassin with its excellent Gigondas wine before making
our way slowly back up to the start .No visit to the region
is complete without a visit to Gigondas to taste the most famous
of the Cotes du Rhone wines . Perhaps you will want to buy some
to take home as a lasting souvenir of this holiday in the best
of provence ! Return to Malaucene to our hotel for final evening
in our hotel there. |
| Day 8. Depart after breakfast for Avignon TGV at 10am
and Marseille Airports 11.30 noon. |
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Access. By road. 30 Minutes from Bollene on the A6 Lyon
/Aix/Marseille autoroute.
By air. Cost of collecting clients from Nimes Airport (Ryanair)
or Marseille is included. Transfer time of 1hr45.
By Train. TGV/Eurostar to Avignon. Collection included in price.
Price: E700
based on two sharing twin/double room.Price includes maps, guide books , some guiding if required,transport links during the week, half board in small family hotels and B and Bs, 5 evening meals and 4 picnics.
Dates available for 2009..11 to 18 April. 30 May to 6 June. 4 to 11 July .. 29 Aug to 5 Sept.
Other
dates available for groups minimum 4.
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