Provence 2021 – the scent of lavender
We had no relationship with Provence before, except that everyone said it was beautiful. Still, we were pleasantly surprised when we got there, and here is a travel letter from there.
Provence consists of green hills and mountains, white limestone cliffs and small picturesque villages. There might be more dramatic nature in Norway, but not the same charm as Provence.
Lavender scent and cockcrow
There is something very special and quite peaceful about the lavender fields, sunflower fields and grape vines that meander into the landscape. The scent of lavender and herbs creeps in and creates a unique atmosphere in each and every small village, and it is charming to wake up to a rooster crow.
We drove in from the north where the highest mountains are located. They rise abruptly from the flat landscape, and the roads become narrow and winding. It was getting late and we plotted a campsite up on the hillside near the village of Bourdeaux on the E4 road. It was quite expensive, of the water park type, but we were tired and found a place overlooking the valley. Luckily there was no room for us more than one night, so we moved on the next day.
Saint-Nazar-le-Desert
When we travel, we set up a loose route plan in advance, and take the details of where we go next along the way. A detailed plan will not work anyway. So now we examined the map and found that to the east there were several small villages along narrow roads, and mountains up to almost 2000 meters. So there we set the course. Wild camping was still out of the question so we plotted a campsite at the bottom along a narrow road among the mountains.
From experience, these campsites are the nicest in our eyes, and that means a relaxed atmosphere, plenty of space and not typical family camping. That is, as close as possible to getting to the wild camp. And just such a campsite we found in the small village of Saint-Nazar-le-Desert. Not the one we had plotted in, but it does not matter.
Get off the main roads
Provence is a tourist area, and August is high season, but still it was not full of tourists when we got away from the main roads. The village had a couple of restaurants, and the campsite a nice little bar with food service. We enjoyed ourselves and stayed just for a couple of days.
If you like to go hiking, Provence is a good choice. Everywhere there are yellow signs pointing out paths. Around Nazar there were hikes in several directions, and I went on a 6 hour hike up a nearby peak. Mountain hikes are quite different from mountain hikes in Norway, since there is dense vegetation to well over 1000 meters. Only the highest peaks of over 1400 meters are free of trees, and there are traces of cultivation of land over 1000 meters.
La Motte-Chalancon
A great trip further from St. Nazaire is to drive through the mountains to La Motte-Chalancon. We camped here for two days also on a nice, green campsite with shady trees right by the village. The village is like a maze and it is fun to try to navigate to the 13th century church in the middle of the city. There are a couple of bars and an excellent restaurant that served a fantastic entrecote with a lovely puree to.
As in the whole area, there are also dramatic mountains around the village that are inviting for hikes.
The villages mentioned here are just randomly selected by us. The whole area is full of small villages and there are many campsites to choose from.
Mont Ventoux
Cycling enthusiasts are probably familiar with Mont Ventoux. One of the toughest stages in Tour de France goes to the top of the 1911 meter high mountain. It is allowed to drive to the top, so we added it to the route down to the Mediterranean where we intended to take a swim before we drove towards the Pyrenees.
The road to the top is nice and wide, steep and FULL of cyclists. Obviously many who have a trip to the top on their bucket list. We saw a guy who was fainting and we where close to stopped and offering help. At the top there were fantastic views in all directions, and a chaos of parked cars. So we did not stay long before we drove on towards Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the Camargue National Park.
The Camargue contains a large wetland area and is known for its flamingo herds and white horses, and we saw a few when driving through the area. If there had been fewer tourists, we might have stopped along the way. But it was hot and lots of people and cars in the parking lots
Skip the drive to the beach
Saintes-Maries de la Mer might be by the sea, but we gave up getting down to it. Queues and huge amounts of parked cars, and I mean HUGE, due to holidays in France. It was entirely not possible to get a bath. So we headed for the Pyrenees. Tired and exhausted we found a campsite up in the mountains above Perpignan, far from the main road. An incredibly nice place with a slightly hippie feel, which you can read about in the next travel letter.
This is the second article about our road trip Norway – Pyrenees.
The others are here: category/spain
