Up early this morning to get a good breakfast and drive to our starting point for our hike. Our GPS (and Steve) took everyone on a very "scenic" route, especially through Cadenet. We were exploring streets that were barely wide enough for the car. Never trust the GPS.
We arrived at our destination shortly before 10AM - the Barrage de Bimont. The dam holds back water which feeds the Canal de Provence which provides irrigation water throughout the region.
We started up the trail (the definitive word being "up" as that was the only direction we would be going for the next three hours). The majority of the trail (if you can call it that) was rock and in some cases quite difficult to navigate. We had just gotten started when a French military jet came roaring up the canyon at a very low elevation and flew by the cross. It was very cool and Judy let out a big shout. We got about half way and seriously considered turning back but we agreed to press forward (and we are really glad we did). Even though the hiking was difficult we were rewarded with some incredible views and an unforgettable experience. In 7km (4.2 miles) we went up 3,100 feet (about an 8% grade) all the way to the cross. A few hundred meters from the cross is a chapel that was originally built several hundred years ago and has been restored starting in the mid-1950's. The remaining stretch was pretty much straight up and we were climbing over rocks to reach our final destination (the cross). The mistral wind was howling at the top but the views and the experience of reaching our destination were incredible. They say if you have not kissed the La Croix de Provence you have not experienced Provence. We can now say we have experienced Provence.
The walk back down was much easier than we expected because of all of the rocks. It was nice to get back to the house (after a stop to buy something for dinner) and let the legs rest. The ankles, calves and knees got a real workout today.
There are people much younger than us who basically run up to the cross and back. Their age is their advantage but I can't imagine what they are doing to their joints - they will pay for it one of these days.
Charlotte figured out the total age of the four of us is 266 years for an average age of 66.5. We are all pretty proud of our accomplishment today.
Tomorrow we shift gears and start thinking about our next destination - Chamonix and the French Alps. The weather forecast looks good so far so we are hoping for another good week. We head there on Saturday.
Until next time - au revoir.
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