When returning from our first winter vacation in Les Saisies the snow situation in the French Alps was not too good. We did not want to risk another week in a ski resort without anything to do — with too little snow for skiing, or too much ice, slush, or mud for hiking — so we tried to figure out where within a reasonable driving distance we could find interesting outdoor activities and good weather for the last week of 2020. At the time it seemed that somewhere near the Mediterranean is the best potential, so we booked a week in Aix-en-Provence (neighboring Marseille) in Bouches-du-Rhône department in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. It wasn’t a bad choice — only towards the end of our week the weather turned bad.
Instead of exploring the town on our first whole day we headed out for a hike outside the city to ‘Parc départemental de la Tour d’Arbois’ (9K in 2h 35mins, D+/D- 235m). It was an easy walk with sun on and off, but with strong chilly wind (the mistral).
Next day, Monday, we spent in Aix-en-Provence. We thought we were smart when deciding to leave the city touring for Monday when everything will be closed, and thus supposedly less people around. We couldn’t have been more wrong. Aix-en-Provence was very busy city despite the distancing rules and assembly restrictions. Even restaurants were open, serving customers drinks and food from their patios for “takeout”. This tour (from Visorando, 9.5K in 2h 46mins)) took us all around the beautiful and colorful — facades of all shades of yellow, orange, and pink were present — historical center and particularly to the two buildings in which the painter Paul Cézanne was born and had died.
The next day we were out of town for another sunny hike ‘Le Tour des Infernets et de la Petite mer’ (10K in 4h 12mins, D+/D- 455m). The hike left at Moulin Cézanne, and first took us on a steep uphill to Barrage Zola and then on various more or less steep trails up and down in the forest with stunning views to the mountain Sainte-Victoire. The sun stayed with us for the whole hike, and there was no wind.
The last hike before the weather turned bad was ‘Le tour de Roques Hautes’ (8.3K in 2h 45mins, D+/D- 276m), and it took us to Barrage Bimont. We started in the sunshine but gradually more and more clouds gathered, and it actually rained a bit in the end. The wind was also rather nasty. Again we had splendid views to the mountain Sainte-Victoire.
Our last two days in Aix-en-Provence were spent in miserable rainy weather. Except one morning run, we stayed in our Airbnb apartment working on our research projects.
The weather forecast for the Sunday looking slightly promising, we decided not to drive home directly on Saturday, but booked one last night on our way, in Vallon Pont d’Arc. We found a cozy, but quirky, one-bedroom apartment in the outskirts of the town. We got there late (because of Google Maps glitches), so we just cooked dinner and planned for the next day; the idea was to visit Pont d’Arc and then drive through the gorge of river Ardeche. There were 11 specifically built sightseeing platforms in 29 kilometers, and we stopped at every single one of them. The scenery was magnificent, but the weather was not: midway through the valley there were even some snow blizzards, and in general it was very cold and windy.
We were stunned by the size of Pont d’Arc. We had seen a lot of pictures of it, mostly from Summer time with people kayaking or canoeing below it, but still did not realize that the bridge is quite tall. Knowing that Pont d’Arc is very popular Summer destination, we’ll probably visit it again later in the Spring when the weather is nicer but the place is not yet too crowded. Driving through the gorge is just worth it, and it is not too difficult a drive. À bientôt!
