This was our day to tour the Gorges du Verdon - the Grand Canyon of western Europe Starting near Castellane, the gorge was formed by the Verdon River and ends with the Lac Sainte Croix. The first thing that struck me about the gorge was its colors - blue, green, and grey. So many have compared it to the the United States' Grand Canyon I had subconsciously expected the desert color pallet to go with it. Frankly I like the Verdon's colors better. :)
We saw tourists everywhere - hiking, participating in water sports, driving fancy cars, and taking scenic photographs. Amazing to think that this place was only "discovered" 106 years ago. I guess that really didn't surprise me when you factor in the roads. They make a challenging drive - narrow and right next to the edge at many locations. They must have taken years to care out, and at great expense!
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| Cindy and Me |
We stopped at a scenic location by the Tunnel de Gloige (at least that is where I think we were). Dr. O'Brien let us borrow her flashlight so we could explore the tunnel. Several of us went in together as a group. We had to be careful as part of the tunnel floor were covered with about two inches of water in some spots due to the recent rain. We made it to the first couple of windows without needing a flashlight too much, as those openings provided fairly good light.
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| L-R: Muaamar, Cindy, Tim, Erica, Minda, Michel |
Some of the group wished to go beyond the second window with the flashlights, so I joined them. I'm not a huge fan of the dark and underground, but with a group it was fun. My feet got a little wet, but not too bad. When we got to another window, I stopped to enjoy the view. Alas, I was promptly left behind without a flashlight. Thanks guys. Bryce, Minda, and Erica caught up to me, as they too were left behind in the dark when David went on a head without them. Decision time - stay and wait for them to come back or start wandering along in the dark. There was no way to get lost - the tunnel was straight, but plenty of little holes to trip on. After a brief discussion, the four of us decided to head back in the dark. Amazingly we did make it - some nice French hikers helped us get through on large puddle (and probably thought we were crazy without a light).
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| Point Sublime |
As we continued to drive, it was one amazing view after another. We even saw some people rock climbing - something I'm sure my brother, sister, and brother-in-law would love to have a chance at.
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| Climber in Red on the Right |
The road back down the other side of the mountain ridge made me thankful for good breaks and Stephinie's good driving skills - again narrow roads, few guard rails, and several steep drops. We saw le Lac Sainte Croix du Verdon as we decended the mountains and entered the village of Moustiers Sainte-Marie in the early afternoon. More on that village in my next post!
For more photographs of Les Gorges du Verdon click here.
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