Our last night in Anduze, its been raining all day and now the thunder is rolling round the hills. But its been a good few days with mainly lovely weather and lots of special events over the Easter weekend.
On Good Friday Jim decided he needed to spend some time on his dissertation, so Margot and I cycled into Anduze and caught the little 'vapeur' up to St Jean du Gard. Going through the tunnels in the open carriages wrapped in steam and occasional beams of light was very psychedelic, definitely the way to travel and with lovely views as we climbed up the valley.
After a quick tour of the town we set out to climb a nearby hill with rock outcrops overlooking the valley. A stiff climb but well worth it for the view but with thunder rolling around the hills we were lucky to get back for a beer before the rain set in. The town was being set up for a music festival the following day so we decided to revisit.Saturday started sunny so we decided to attack the ridge across the valley. About 7 kilometres but with a steep climb up to the ridge. There are some lovely old houses on the road up but most seem to be holiday homes. A very pleasant pine forest along the ridge where we had a picnic with good views back across to our house.
Sunday started sunny again but this time it stayed that way as we went to Pont du Gard (website), using the season tickets we had bought last September. Apart from the bridge itself there were lots of activities put on for the Easter weekend. We had our picnic overlooking the bridge to the sound of chanson a la Edith Piaf and an acapella choir. Just beyond was a farmers market with ice cream flavours that would have done Heston Blumental proud - fig, lavender, thyme, rose, abricot and mint. After lunch we walked up the river and along the old aquaduct and into the Memoires de Garrigue which is a patchwork of fields representing the various traditional crops. Dotted around were dozens of animations including a fabulous storyteller, a children's hairdresser who wove flowers into the most exotic styles you could imagine and a roundabout made up of wooden animals carved from trees - each of which would have been a work of art in its own right. It was powered by a see-saw operated by conscripted parent. Great stuff.More photos on https://plus.google.com/photos/100479903138288883757/albums/5729885650804705633
Jim was using his fancy camera to great effect with some fantastic night shots and the clever panorama feature.
The weather held out on Tuesday so Jim and I decided to start the day with a run, repeating our 7k assault on the ridge oposite. Then we headed off for the Corniche des Cevennes and Mont Aigoual (in the van this time). The Corniche is a beautiful winding climb, a motor-bikers dream. At the top there is a monument to the resistance fighter so the second world war who managed to hold off the SS in the rugged terrain. Interesting that it included a number of German anti-fascists some of whom died here and were commemorated. There is some fantastic walking country and I would like to come back, perhaps to follow the new Grand Randonne following Robert Louis Stevenson's ride with his donkey.
We were at Mont Aigoual last September, in fact it was were we got the call from Jim that we should come home fro Becca. Then, it was shrouded in cloud and we couldn't even see the ground from the observation tower. Today the weather was perfect and the view astounding. You can see the Alps, the Pyrennees and the Med as well as the whole of the Cevenne. Its a meteo station and we went round the museum which had a huge satellite screen of Europe's weather. It was satisfying (schadenfreude) to see we were the only spot not covered by a huge swirl of cloud but don't worry it has caught up with us now.
Having brought his new bike Jim was determined to have a final bike ride, so next day, while Margot went to the Musee du Desert (link), we headed up into the mountains in the drizzle. We went up past the Grottes du Trabuc to tiny hamlet at 1500 feet. The hills are no steeper than in Yorkshire but they just go on and on.By now the rain was torrential and we were soaked to the skin so we headed back to Anduze, abandoning our plan to go over another col to St Jean. Its so unfair that a couple of hours solid climbing can be undone in 20 minutes of free-wheeling, but fun though.
Off to Avignon tomorrow but with the weather getting even worse Jim doesn't fancy camping so we are booked into a family room at the local 'Etap'. A bargain at 60 euros total. It will also give us time to do a bit of sightseeing before putting Jim on the train and heading to Narbonne.
photos on Picassa https://plus.google.com/photos/100479903138288883757/albums/5729885650804705633
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