The Gorges du Verdon.. It is a region that has been fascinating me every time I visited it, and it still does.. It is like falling in love, and I am falling in love with it over and over again.
So last Saturday I went back to the Gorges with my friend and old camping colleague Vanille, we went to the market, bought some herbs, I had the BEST time driving through the gorges, around the virages, I LOVED it! We did a little hike in Rougon, met a very cute donkey, had a picnic on the most epic place I could think of (on the edge of the canyon with vultures flying above and in front of us).. We hiked back, did the touristic hike to the Notre Dame of Castellane, had a little drink and went back to Draguignan.
The following morning I decided to drive back to the Gorges in stead of going back home to Aix-en-Provence. As a passionated photographer and traveller I wanted to first. Photograph more and get better pictures of the vultures, second. I wanted to discover more with my little beautiful car. third. I had a long easter weekend, it was nearly my birthday so I'd better listen to my heart and enjoy my weekend! So that day I had an amazing time driving, I went to the camping, saw the owners, had a nice talk. I went photographing the vultures at Route des Cretes, where I always used to go with dad in the summer to photograph them, ofcourse they are a lot less active in winter, I had to have a lot of patience.. But.. I saw them, in formation, flying just in front of me. I made lovely photos, and also 2 vultures landing at the same time, which was for me a very lucky shot, as we say in Dutch 'Two flies in one clap'. But most of all.. I enjoyed, the view.. the serenity.. the nature.. the rawness of the mountains.. as a total.. The art made by Mother Earth ❤.
After that I went to the Lac de Castillion where I noticed it was very empty and that people were actually walking in a certain part, I was flabbergasted.. But apparently they empty it the winter so it won't overflow when all the snow in the mountains is melting. I drank something with some people I know from the neighbourhood and they told me the old story about Castellane, how it was build where the lake now is and how it risked flooding over every time and how eventually they build the city some hundred meters further and make a barrage lake on the old place, that is also why we are seeing amongst others a bridge and ruins when the lake is empty in winter. So concluding, a very beautiful and interesting day!
The next day we discovered that the anterior wheels of my car where in a bad shape (oops) and that I had to get them changed quickly, however, it was Easter Monday so everything was closed. So I decided to drive slower and make a little road trip to Lac de Chaudanne, a beautiful lake that was earlier a subject in my blog, it is hidden by the mountains and mostly only known by locals, why? Chaudanne is very difficult for parking and bathing and Castillion is not. But chaudanne is beautiful as a little driving activity and for photography.
When having done that I went with Nina on a 'little' hike. The hike went steep up, and we thought we were going up this little mountain that was standing in front of us. However, we went all the way, steeply up, around it and there was
this big mountain, hiding itself and it's snowy tops behind the small mountain. It was a beautiful hike with the most amazing views, and after 18 years Provence, and many hikes I finally saw my first Chamois, it was running on this extremely steep mountain on the other side, we could hear his little hooves ticking to the stones... How fascinating is it that an animal can be so athletic to run so quickly on such a steep mountain without falling.. We went up and up and up, until eventually there was snow, we wanted to go all the way to the top, but the snow was frozen, which made it too dangerous to continue. So this is one that is on the to do hikes for the summer! After that we walked the same route back and I drove back to Aix-en-Provence in the beginning of the evening.
I had an amazing weekend and I am very happy with the photo's I made.
"It is not the mountain that we conquer, but ourselves"
XOXO Lisa
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