Road to the Grand Canyon
On Sunday we drove 212 miles across Provence to an aire at Sète, on the eastern edge of the Languedoc-Rousillon region. It’s good to travel on a Sunday in France; the lorries are all off the roads.
Route to Sète
We drove first to Castellane, a small town dominated by a chapel perched on a huge rocky outcrop.
Parking at Castellane
There is a good aire in the village, well placed at the foot of the rock for those who have eaten too many boules of ice cream and need a bit of exercise. The aire is €6 for 24 hours; we just stopped for a couple of hours.
We walked through the town square and then up the rocky path to the chapel, along the remnants of the old city wall.
Road to the Rock
Path to the Top
Looking Back at Castellane
View from the Top
Castellane is placed on the banks of the River Verdon and is known as the gateway to the Verdon Gorges, the dramatic limestone canyons which were next on our itinerary.
Notre Dame du Roc
Inside the Chapel
Colin
When I went inside the chapel Colin sat down and wouldn’t budge until I reappeared. He likes to keep his humans together. In particular he has to keep an eye on the guy who feeds him each morning. He’s not stupid.
Towards the Verdon Gorge
We moved on east alongside the River Verdon and along the Gorge, marked on our map as the Grand Canyon.
The road is wide enough, the only problem is that vehicles coming the other way tend to cut the their left hand corners and a few had to move swiftly back to their side of the road. There’s not a lot of wiggle room.
Point Sublime
We stopped briefly at the Point Sublime, one of the higher points along the road by the gorge.
Lac de Sainte Croix
At the head of the Grand Canyon the River Verdon turns south and widens in to this lake.
Moustiers Sainte Marie
After a slightly white knuckle ride through the Verdon Gorge we stopped at the cliffside town of Moustiers Sainte Marie.
Known as the village of waterfalls, it is built on either side of a ravine heading up the mountainside.
Main square Moustiers
Looking Up
There is the standard church at the top of the village. We walked up…another boule of ice cream worked off.
Moustiers
There is a good view down from the top. A few other hillside paths were signposted; we were running short of time by then and they have been left for another day (if I can ever persuade Nia to let me drive her motorhome along the gorges again).
The Path Down
We set off again at 4 for the long drive east to Sète, arriving at about 8. We had spotted the aire here on a cycle ride along the Plage de la Corniche a few weeks ago. The aire is on a strip of land running between Sète and Agde; you can park facing south east to the Mediterranean…a lovely aire (N 43.338944, E 3.578428).
Tomorrow we drive a little further south to Port Vendres, close to the Spanish border.
Rambling about Europe with the Kray Twins (Colin and Penny).
Travels with Mavis 
What a fabulous trip you are having, we are going to have to copy this one one day! Loving the photos and blog as always.
We are setting off for Spain today. I have been revising my Spanish.
Hasta la Vista
P+N, Great photographs once again. Enjoy Sete, there are some very good fish restaurants along the harbour. It is very autumnal here now and is becoming decidedly colder so keep the mediterranean shots coming. Jim
We’ve had some of that weird wet stuff falling on our heads today….but its still pretty warm. The sun should reappear in a day or so.
Enjoy Port Vendre. I had a holiday there last summer-beautiful. Superb fish market, and the stunning Collioure next door. XX
It’s a good spot…peaceful and a real contrast to the smart upmarket Cannes/Nice coast.
The drive looks very scary…..was it as bad as it seems?
There were bad bits…I hooted going round the bad right hand bends and there were just one or two close shaves, when an oncoming car had strayed over the centre line. There was never a great deal of traffic behind me but I try to pull over if I can to let faster traffic by.
Nia here…
Just for the record; where Peter says in his text above that the road going through the Verdon Gorges is wide enough … can I please point out, that it is just in his opinion? From where I was sitting in the passenger seat, which was facing oncoming traffic, the road did not seem very wide at all!
Crikey….we are planning an extended trip next May….so finding your travels brilliant…..the height of the overhang was the part that really worried me!
We are about 3.1 metres high and were fine. Its handy to have a co pilot in the left hand seat to give early warning on the right hand bends. How long have you got in May? The gorges du Tarn are also worth a visit.
We are aiming initially for 6 weeks…..last year we did the same in Scotland…….aiming for Annecy and the Alps and after that we will go with the flow!
Steve…yes, we visited Annecy this Spring and really enjoyed it. It is probably best visited out of season if possible.