Hiking in France - Day 11 (GR4 Rougon to Castellane)

August 17th, 2006

Read previous "Hiking in France" posts:
Hiking in France - Day 1 (Paris)
Hiking in France - Day 2 (Paris, Marseilles)
Hiking in France - Day 3 (Marseilles, Cassis, Calanques)
Hiking in France - Day 4 (Cassis, les Calanques)
Hiking in France - Day 5 (Marseille, Manosque)
Hiking in France - Day 6 (GR4 Manosque to Greoux-les-Bains)
Hiking in France - Day 7 (GR4 Greoux-les-Bains to Riez)
Hiking in France - Day 8 (GR4 Riez to Moustiers Ste-Marie)
Hiking in France - Day 9 (GR4 La Palud to Chalet de la Maline)
Hiking in France - Day 10 (GR4 Gorges du Verdon)

Our last day on the GR4 brought us to some unique scenery above Rougon and on the north face of the Verdon River. We left our house at Rougon at 9:30 and began a long, steep ascent out of the valley for about thirty minutes. When we crested the hill, we found ourselves on an empty, open plateau that reminded me strongly of the western United States (think Wyoming). A herd of sheep were grazing in the shade and we explored the ruins of a farm that sprawled along the middle of the plateau. The rest of the day was spent on the north side of the Verdon River valley, winding in and out of ravines and eventually making our way to Castellane, a tourist town on the banks of the river. Kayla convinced me to stay at this huge campground complete with twp heated pools and what seemed like about a thousand campers from all over Western Europe. We spent part of that evening climbing yet another impossible cliff on which the local medieval church was built.

I was sad to finish our stretch of the GR4 (not sure Kayla echoed those sentiments). It was a great hike and we saw a lot of very interesting scenery. All the hikers we encountered were very friendly and a “Bonjour” in passing became an ingrained habit. The trail was well marked in most places and all but the initial stretch from Manosque was through secluded, quiet scenery.