a walk to the top

We do quite a number of walks when in the south. There is a decline in the distances we are able (or willing) to put into these excursions and perhaps a reluctance to go uphill for protracted periods (we like being uphill rather than toiling uphill). So a walk to the top might come as a bit of a surprise, but I think it goes down as my star walk of the autumn stay, 2021. 

First off, it was in Les Alpilles. These delectable miniature mountains with their distinctive ravines, valleys, views, vegetation and brilliant limestone crags have been calling us back for thirty years. They were damaged somewhat by fires around 20 years or so ago I think it was, so that the authorities close them to the general public for summer seasons now. Luckily the land is seemingly recovering quite well where scorched. The hills have several roads through them from which one can get a good impression of the limestone wilderness but to really experience it one has to get off the tarmac. Not in summer though — it is strictly interdit, monitored, watched; it needs to be. It is all protected now. 

Before such restrictions came into operation I had one of the most memorable and difficult solo trips of my short life into that interior, a ridge ascent/traverse and staggeringly harsh scramble through garrigue strewn limestone ridges and spines. To the highest bits. Very long views, complete isolation, solitude, yet within sight of civilisation, roads even.  I'm sorry to say the simple old style 1:25000 maps I used back then (1996!) have gone missing so until such time I buy an updated but less convenient modern sheet, I have only the transparency snaps I took to relive that trip. Les Opies those hills are called or is it Le Grand Brahis? The highest has a hut on its summit for reasons that escape me (although the views from it are startling, jaw dropping even: go and see!). Rest up, because after that it gets hard going. I did it in temps around the 30° mark. It aged me.  

Distances on the ground are not excessive, heights are modest. Some valleys and ravines are completely inaccessible, trackless and remote. Often the going is tough and rough although there are tracks.  I still bear the scratches (well sort of).  Since then we've come back several times, preferably not in the closed season, done some track walks, explored other bits. For birds and flora the Alpilles is hard to beat. Sorry, I am going on and on about this area because it is unanimous in this family: Les Alpilles is five star, limestone country par excellence.

But this time we stuck the car in a big but fortunately quiet car park on the northern edge of the area, south of St Remy-en-Provence and took ourselves onto one of the more popularly frequented walks. We didn't have it all to ourselves but the higher we got the less we saw of others. The ridge traversed back in '96 was visible, marking the edge of Les Alpilles to the east. 

We generally try not to road-walk, but there it was: a road, and given the French skill at grading inclines we were happy to follow it this time, because it is closed to public vehicular traffic and because it was going where we wanted to go. It took us an hour and a half to reach the plateau.  I can report that we enjoyed the ascent, the potter along the plateau (now off road and on track) to a second minor mast and the return back down the way we came (Mme Melling leads the way as, you may discern, above). Good views, good air – fragrant with herbal and tree odours and not too much wind. Very satisfactory.

And do you know? I wasn't entirely pooped when we got back down! Perhaps I've finally arrived at the new reduced limits of my capabilities hill-wise …… but we took some lunch in Mme Melling's favourite town in these parts, Maussane-les-Alpilles, and then visited these three (but you can only see two) towers, 12C, as you'd expect. On another limestone ridge of very modest height indeed, south of the town. 

After which… we drove back to 1rFB. 

The sky was blue. It's very nice you know, very. Tops in fact. House prices? Beyond the reach of most, and most certainly us.