Gorge de Regalon, Petite Luberon

I have been in France for six months now, but hadn't really explored further afield than the local area. Public transport had served me well and there was a bit of a deep-breath required for the next stage. Last weekend I plucked up the determination and went and hired myself a car. Idiosyncratically, in Marseille, hire cars are cheaper from the airport than within the city. To the point that I paid just over half the price at the airport, oh and being a British 'resident' I got a cheaper rate than as a French resident(!!).

So Saturday morning saw me heading off into the wild driving a car on the right side of the road for the first time in 18 months and the first time outside of a little Greek island. My goal was the Foret du Luberon between Avignon and Pertuis in Provence. More specifically I had identified a nice region for walking and this was the second goal of the weekend after practising my driving. One hour or main and secondary roads, umpteen roundabouts and no near misses I arrived at the parking area.

The Gorge de Regalon (here) is quite a popular destination, but was previously unknown to me. I just picked somewhere nice looking from the map i had bought the evening before!

 
Maps:
Carte de Randonee IGN 3142OT - Cavaillon (1:25k)
or Carte de loisirs de plein air IGN 'Balades en Foret du Luberon' (1:20k)

Time: 3-3.5 hours

Moderate walking, rough underfoot and a need for boots and to use your hands. Don't go after heavy rain as the gorge is likely to be impassable!

Water flow

I can't find a good representation of the route I took online, so in brief I went North from the parking area following signs to Gorge du Regalon (ignore coloured marks, these are wooden signs). Once past the obligatory 'this is a hazardous place' sign and slightly more ominous depth of water indication I was into the gorge itself. The narrow file through the rock (limestone I think) is generally wooded with deciduous trees and ivy common. The path and floor of the gorge shows signs of considerable water movement in places and you come across various cave openings at intervals. Gradually the gorge narrowed and I was using my hands to balance along, including using stepping stones in places. At one point the path appears to go into a large cave entrance, which is actually a short tunnel.

This IS the path, with 5cm of water
on the ground, but stones to step on.

The path continues along a narrow passageway which isn't actually dark, but gloomy and open to the sky. Claustophobic people who can't cope with something just over shoulder width wouldn't be happy, but I didn't have to take off my bag or go sideways at all. Gradually the file opened up and went back to wide gorge, large caves and scrabbles up rocky steps.

Eventually the path splits at a sign post. I took the left side heading for Vallon de la Galerie (top of the google map). Ten minutes later a wide forest track is joined (turning left again) and the path is followed up the twists and turns of this valley to the Galerie.

From Vallon de la Galerie

Vallon de la Galerie climbs slowly from gorge level up to the foot of the higher peaks behind. The path climbs up and gives a wide view over the surrounding landscape. It does feel like a wilderness with few or no roads or buildings in sight.

At the northern tip of the Vallon the track doubles back on itself and climbs up to reveal the view. A signpost at the top for 'Le Mayorques' shows the southerly path back over the top of the plateau. The farm at La  Mayorques itself appears to be a centre for groups to come and learn about traditional farming, but also has a room for hikers to spend the night. There are several places like this within the Luberon, most marked on the map.

From the farm the path is marked across a rough scrubby area to the plateau edge. Here a view over the Durance valley and a steep winding path take your down through the forest on sandy paths and then back to the car.

Across the Durance Valley with a break in the clouds

It was a pleasant walk and good to stretch my legs. Back to Marseille is a 1.5-2 hour drive from here through scenic wine country. A young French lad benefited from a lift to Aix-en-Provence too.

Ouvrir la Creativite

As regular readers with know i have been lacking the blog-writing spark recently. The same has also applied to my photography. I haven't taken many photographs in the last six months. I haven't done anything with those I have taken, bar the few posted in here, and I haven't known why. Phases, lack of inspiration, other things taking your attention, call it what you will. I don't want to force what will come naturally given time. Maybe I have been being all scientific and not needing my arty side... or the art is focused on learning a language. Je ne sais pas!

Today there was a spark of life, wandering along the quayside this morning I spotted several potential 'kodak-moments' to coin a strawberry (frais, phrase....!) from a friend. Not having my camera with me I could do little at the time, but had the opportunity to come back later and with a little pushing decided to head back into town after lunch and see if anything caught my eye. It wasn't going to cost me anything other than time and was worth a wander.

Cathedral major, the sight greeting everyone entering the docks, but not the grandest cathedral in the city

I have wondered if the light in Marseille, being very bright, is putting me off taking photos. Again I don't know, but I decided today to experiment with black and white for a bit. Normally I am a take-it-in-colour-and-I-can-make-it-B&W-later-if-I-want sort of person, but today I didn't care. A few of my images from today should accompany this post. After a while the sun was dropping in the sky and there were a few clouds about and I started taking a few more colour pictures interspersed with the black and white. All in all nothing special, but better than I have been doing and I was quite enjoying being out in the golden hour by the end.

What have you done to my city?

Three statues inside the main arch of Cathedral major

Finally the Mistral is blowing strongly at the moment, preventing the planning diving, so I may have a poddle (pottering-wandering-toddle) tomorrow and see if i can find some moody seas and pretty scenes. Maybe the spark is back for a bit. If I can just shift the backlog of images too.....

Far far away, in a land unexplored...

Since my PhD ended I have stepped back from work a little and started to relax, moved house etc. Coupled to this the need to blog appears to have diminished, although whether this is a good thing is yet to be clarified. Anyway today will be the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.

Firstly I've posted minutes from six years of Swansea Uni Hiking Club into the university archive. The minutes had been passed down to me and had spent far too long in my flat before I finally got round to preserving them. As far as I know the hikers are the only club to have put material into the archive. Sad really, but in 50 years time there won't be records of any other clubs in the university. UCS Ramblers, UWS Hikers, SU Hikers... and nothing else :(. History isn't just about finding out about what happened. It does rely on those in the present to preserve material for the future.

Secondly today should really mark the end of my PhD... I'm taking a break from university. I've sent off all the material I can to journals for publication and I'm taking a break. Hopefully I'll be appointed to a short-term position in a couple of months time, or a permanent job somewhere else, but in the mean time a holiday is required.
Plan - drive to Scotland.
Destination - Isle of Skye.
Activities - Walking, scrambling, possibly climbing, exploring, sitting, looking, cycling, relaxing, and photographing.
Staying - nothing booked - camping, bothies, bunkhouses, hostels, B&B if I feel the need for creature comforts.
Aim - to discover the magic of Skye.
Nervous - a little.
Care - required.
Enjoyment - assured.
Weather - unpredictable.
Records - photos and a notebook.
Contact - minimal.
End point - uncertain.
Looking forward to it? - of course!

See you later ;)

Ship aground

Thinking of climbing,
anything but work.
Why today?
Why do I shirk?

What am I doing?
Is the way not clear?
Don’t I have a deadline
of which to fear?

Decisions Decisions
writing or data,
the one unchosen
must surely come later.

For later is better,
Thoughts run clearer,
as the objective
draws ‘ere nearer.

For now I’ll try
a different tack.
May the winds blow fair
or strength I’ll lack.

And so back to climbing
thoughts come around.
Progress little,
Ship run aground.

(c) Martin Lilley 16/3/10

Inspirational Music

Music has the power to inspire and absorb. A friend recently reminded me of Pink Floyd. To me the Division Bell album contains some wonderful tracks. Two of the best, in my opinion are included here:

Solitude

At moments like this one at Rhossili the other week I really empathise with these surfers.  Peace, space, solitude and a sense of sharing with any companions.  Does everyone need a time like this or is it just me?  I think this is what draws me to the hills, to sea and to islands. To have a chance of being at one with nature - Bliss.