Monday 11th July 2005 - Day 2

Well today was a killer! I set off from le Bez at 9:20 and got to Thines at 6:30. Fortunately there were spaces in the Gite and I was able to have a shower and get some things washed. Now I am in the Auberge awaiting my meal. So things are ending better than they started.

 

Path through the pine woods	Still in the woods	Loubaresse and what lies beyond
Loubaresse	The Church at Loubaresse	The GR4 in the Pratauberat Forest

 

Last night was pretty awful. I am too old for thin air beds, barking dogs, meowing cats, gusty winds, passing cars. I eventually was able to get some sleep but it was too little, too late.

Gosh, wasn't I depressed! I think sore feet were mostly to blame. If I had been feeling better I am sure everything would have been better

 

The view from Pratauberat Forest	Walking west in the forest.	Looking south from Pratauberat Forest
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Flowers in the forest	Looking back at the forest.	Back in granite terrain.

 

I washed in the Restaurant and hit the road. The people at the auberge were actually quite helpful, letting me make use of their toilet facilities. And the meal last night was actually quite good.

The local geology is granite gneiss and gives a very blocky rock debris, just waiting to twist ones ankle. And there was a lot of uphill which took it out of me.

Later in the afternoon I made the mistake of finding the distance from where I was to Thines - and it was only 5 miles - as the crow flies. But the GR4 was not designed by a crow and the track distance is a lot greater. And the last 2km is very steep, with lots of loose blocks just asking to be tripped over. Also here the route marking is bad. It is easy to get off the approved track - although you will notice when you do. Getting back on the track is less easy, usually involving going back uphill.

 

Granite hillside near Petit Paris.	Old house at Petit Paris	Old house at Petit Paris
New house at Petit Paris	La Borie	View near La Bombine

View near La Bombine	A cock at La Bombine	View from the Roman Road
Walking along the Roman Road with a "Pierre Plantee" near the centre of the picture.	My first sight of Thines - the "wide-angle" view. A somewhat isolated village	Thines - the "telephoto" view.

 

But there were some positive points. The countryside is beautiful, varying from woodland to wide open ridges. It is a dissected plateau. The ridges tend to be fairly flat but the valleys are steep sided. One is often looking down onto the hills.

At Loubaresse the rocks become more phylitic and the path quality improves considerably. The granite (igneous, in this case) returns as you start the descent out of the woods and there are a couple of villages built out of granite blocks. They could be any age from Neolithic to Victorian. But this is what is wrong! I am too busy thinking about myself to think overmuch about what I am walking through.

 

The ridge down to Thines.	The Romanesque Church at Thines.	Looking down the valley from the Gite at Thines. The road access is less than 100 years old.
The graveyard at Thines	The frieze over the church door, Thines.	Statues guarding the entrance to the church, Thines.

 

Thines is a beautiful spot. It is the middle of nowhere with more people on the war memorial than are in the village. The road got there in 1910 - until then donkeys were the optimum transport choice. The gite is right next to the church and is surprisingly good. There is a simple auberge in the village which supplies good food and a warm welcome.

 

The roofs of Thines.	The gite and the church, Thines.	The view from the gite
The view from the gite.	The Gite d'etape, Thines.	The church door, Thines.

 

I will have another think when I get to Les Vans - I do not think I can walk to Salavas in one day. Or do the walk down to Pont-St-Esprit. I might bus it to Vallon-Pont-d'Arc and spend 2 nights in Vallon looking at the Pont and the river.

That’s all for now.

 

	Route walked on Day 2 Here is a larger version. and Here is a huge version.

 

Here is the actual GPS track superimposed on Google Earth

 

shows where today's photographs were taken.