Walk 21 (Fontaine-de-Vaucluse)

Because we were expecting warmer weather and a fairly long hike we got up early, had another "american" breakfast and headed off to the village of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.  We got into the village as their day was just starting and walked up to the source of the River Sorgue (which comes right out of the side of a hillside).  The source has been traced deep into the limestone cave (over 1,000 feet deep).  When we got there some scuba divers were preparing to dive into the cave - not for the claustrophobic I'm sure).

Walked back into the village and began our walk (described as "medium" in our trusty hiking book).  The path took us up through a valley with shear rock walls on each side.  About an hour into the hike (all uphill so far) the book states "...this is a long straight path which seems to be endless, but take courage, the view at the end is worth it!"  We easily walked another hour all uphill - which indeed did seem endless.  Along the way we saw a pickup with men and guns - real comforting when you are out in the middle of nowhere.  Turns out they were hunting for sanglier (wild boar).  As we continued our never-ending upward climb we spotted several places where they had thrown squash and gourds for the boar as bait.  And we also came across platforms where they sit and wait for the boar.  Here is a picture of part of the path:

After 2 1/2 hours of walking uphill and 1700+ feet of elevation change we finally reached the top.

On our down-hill trek we had some great views and also walked along the "Wall of the Plague" which was built to stop the population fleeing from the plague which had broken out in Marseille.  Needless to say it did not work.  Also saw some old roman ruins along the way.

Parts of the trail heading down the hill were little more than worn-out dry creek beds (at the best).  Several of the sections were difficult to navigate.  But after about five hours we got back to the village, where we had lunch, checked out a few shops and watched them make paper by hand.

Headed back to the gite for some much needed pool time and then off to a wonderful dinner in town.  Charlotte had sole and Steve had entrecote (steak) from Argentina (no good beef here apparently).