Hiking in France - Day 7 (GR4 Greoux-les-Bains to Riez)

August 16th, 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)

Our second day on the GR4 was the toughest of the trip. We were tired from our first full day of hiking with fully loaded packs, and the distance we covered was quite a bit longer than the first day. We walked out of Camping Verdon Parc around nine a.m. and began the trek to Riez. Our first stop was the village of Saint-Martin de Bromes, a tiny hamlet perched on a hill that was largely empty on a Sunday morning. It was here that we witnessed preparation for that important French tradition, the Sunday afternoon family dinner. At several homes I saw the owners setting up large tables in their garages or downstairs rooms in anticipation of this weekly event.

The rest of the day is a blur of ascending one hill only to descend on the other side—lots of stony, dusty trails. Finally around five o’clock in the evening we came into town. My feet were really sore—I remember it was an agony even to walk from the town out a quarter mile to the campsite. The matron of the campground was amused at our state—my question of “Where are the….” was cut short with her response of “… the showers?”

We stayed at the Rose du Provence campground and I slept for two hours, after which we had a late dinner in town. This might be a good time to note something about our experience with French food. I am probably the world’s most boring eater—I tend to stick with the tried and true, easy-to-prepare foods that I can lay my hands on quickly. When I lived in Russia I subsisted for two years largely on white bread, jam, and oatmeal (I’m not kidding). Prior to our trip to France, my Belgian tutor would sit me down and we would practice having conversations about meals. I think she got bored after most of my responses to “what do you like to eat?” kept revolving around bread, potatoes, and dairy products. So imagine my surprise when I get to France—and I love the food! You see, I’ve always thought that expensive restaurant food usually doesn’t taste well (according to my taste, anyway). The amazing thing about France was that you could sit down in a restaurant and get fancy, expensive food that tastes great! It made every restaurant experience I’ve had in the States look like McDonald’s in comparison.

The crazy thing in France is that every little town we stopped in had at least one restaurant, and they were all good, every one of them. The only time we encountered fast food was in the really large cities. I was blown away. I couldn’t believe the utter poverty of my own country’s big city culinary scene compared to that of the most humble French hamlet.