Record of a long walk from the summit of Mt. Ventoux to the summit  of Mte Ste Victoire, 8 - 12 May 2008.

            I had proposed this walk of about 160 kms, to be done in 5 days, to my friends Jean-Yves and Michele Chambon, in January 2008. They had already come with me on strenuous 15-day treks in the Hindu Kush and Karakoram mountains; and I suggested that a long walk between  Mt. Ventoux and Mte Ste Victoire would be an interesting alternative to travelling thousands of  kilometres in search of original trekking experiences, since we lived at the foot of Mt. Ventoux. The dates were decided by when Jean-Yves, still working as a GP, could be free for five days. By the time we set off, three other friends (John Beck, Maxime X…. and Jean-Louis Y…..) had decided to join us for the first day only; and Michel’s cousin Jean-Pierre Artilland  was going to try to complete the whole trek if possible.

          Day 1, Thursday 8 May: Summit of Mt. Ventoux to Sault. Quite fine weather, but hazy - and distinctly chilly at the summit of Mt Ventoux. The total distance was about 24 kms. But since it is downhill nearly all the way (the summit of Mt. Ventoux is at 1,911m; and Sault is at about 780m), it is quite an easy day’s walk that took us about 6 hours, plus half an hour for lunch. The path follows the GR 4 all the way. The only tricky section is the steep descent, on a stony path, from below the Jas Forest where we stopped to eat our picnic lunch, to Verdolier - which gave John Beck some knee-pain. After the three “day-walkers” had been picked up at Sault, the remaining four of us stayed overnight at the Hotel Albion, dining at the Restaurant Provencale.

          Day 2, Friday 9 May: Sault to Apt. We set off at about 09.15, after buying delicious fresh bread and “authentic hand-made andouillette sausages” for lunch. Still good weather, with high cloud, reasonable visibility and quite warm. As we took a short-cut down from the town to the bridge below, I managed to damage my fragile left knee by jumping down from a wall, and felt a good deal of pain for the rest of the day (luckily, this had disappeared by next morning). The walk starts along the GR 4, and climbs up (about 240m) to the ridge at the east end of the Monts de Vaucluse (up to 1020m) before joining the GR 9 which we then followed all the way to Apt. Sweeping views over the Plateau d’Albion towards Mte de Lure. A long stretch followed over the high plateau above St. Jean, sometimes through lavender fields. The descent into the valley between the Monts de Vaucluse and the Luberon, in which Apt lies, is sometimes quite steep. It comes out through a narrow, rocky defile through limestone cliffs. Had the walk ended there, somewhere near the village of Villars which the GR9 skirts, it would have been perfect. Unfortunately, we then had to plod on uphill again, along a small tarmac road over the Colline des Puys, and then steeply downhill into Apt. This last section, which took us maybe two hours, became rather tedious. I had calculated the total distance to be 34 kms, a lot of it downhill; this took us almost nine hours, plus half an hour for lunch. It proved too much for Jean-Pierre’s feet which were suffering by the end of the day. We reached the Hotel du Palais in the centre of the old town, at about 18.40. Their restaurant was on the other side of the square, beside the Hotel de Ville – which was rigged up for Apt’s annual fashion parade that was about to begin, complete with stage lighting and loud music….. So our dinner was enlivened by mannequins strutting their stuff.

          Day 3, Saturday 10 May: Apt to Vitrolles-en-Luberon over the Grand Luberon. Jean-Pierre decided to call it a day and arranged to be picked up in Apt by his son. The busy weekly market was well under way by the time the remaining three of us (Jean-Yves, Michele, and I) set off along the GR92 at about 09.15, with the narrow streets of the old town thronged with stalls and shoppers. The GR92 follows the road uphill for a couple of kilometres before branching off along a pleasant path on up though woods up to Saignon, said to be the prettiest perched village in the region. Then another stretch on tarmac until just short of Regain. After that, the path climbs up steadily, but generally not too steeply (- though there is one short, steep stretch of about 50 m), through woods up to the ridge two kms west of La Mourre Negre. The last part to the summit is along a dirt track to the summit which is crowned by the usual, phenomenally ugly, concrete tower festooned by electronic aerials of various sorts. The view from near here (the actual summit of La Mourre Negre is surrounded by trees through which we could see little) and along the crest to the east, was exceptional. Excellent walking weather, with fair visibility. To the north we could clearly see Mt Ventoux, from which we had set out two days earlier. To the south we could now clearly see Mte Ste Victoire which we would cross two days later –and which now seemed misleadingly close. And to the east/north/east, we could see the whole ridge of the Montaigne de Lure (over which I had walked from Mt. Ventoux less than a year ago). Most exhilarating! The GR92 then dives over the Luberon to the south; instead, we picked up the GR9 again which follows the ridge, by now surprisingly narrow, of the Grand Luberon eastwards to Vitrolles. But before getting there, the path slopes to the north of and below the ridge for a while, before turning south into the Vallat de la Combe d’Apt which drops down to Vitrolles. This is a pretty little village with a fine but dilapidated chateau/ big, fortified farmhouse. We arrived at about 18,30, so had taken about 7 ½ hours (plus the usual half hour for lunch) to cover about 33 kms involving quite a lot of climbing. The Gite d’Etape turned out to be excellent: two dormitories, a communal dining room, and simple shower rooms with separate w.c.s – plus a very welcoming couple running the place who made us an excellent dinner served with generous amounts of wine from near-bye Grambois. Probably the best day of the entire walk. (Our feelings of euphoria may have contributed to our navigational misjudgement next day…..)

Day 4, Sunday 11 May: Vitrolles-en-Luberon to Jouques across the Durance. Another good day for walking: overcast but clear and dry. We knew there was a problem over the best route for this day, since it was not clear where the GR9 currently went. One of our maps (IGN 3243 OT for “Pertuis, Lourmarin”, dated May 2007), as well the latest Topo-guide for the GR 9 and 97 in the area (ref. 905: Tour du Luberon et du Ventoux), showed it going via La Bastide-des-Jourdains to Grambois, and then on to Mirabeau. The other map (IGN 3342 OT for “Manosque, Forcalquier”, and dated December 2006) also showed it starting via La Bastide-des-Jourdains, but then continuing south-east to Beaumont-de-Pertuis before doubling back southwest in a long curve to Mirabeau. So we asked at the Gite d’Etape before setting off which was the correct GR9 – only to be told that the route had indeed only just changed, because some land-owner on the original GR9 south of Grambois had fenced off his land. Rashly, without re-calculating the distances (there was a possible short-cut almost directly from Vitrolles to Grambois which would have avoided going to La Bastide-des-Jourdains at all), we gaily proceeded along the new route for the GR9 rather than risk having to climb over any recently-erected fences round private land. This proved to be a costly error since it was considerably longer. It was not that this route was unpleasant: although there was rather too much on tarmac for our liking, it went through attractive rolling countryside, and both La Bastide-des-Jourdains and Beaumont-en-Pertuis are pretty villages. But it went on – and on, and on… The GR9 goes right through the centre of Mirabeau, picking up a little road at the other side which leads directly down to the bridge over the Durance about 3 kms further. At the other side of the river, we encountered our next obstacle. Since the GR route was originally chosen, there have been massive road-works to accommodate the A51 motorway which passes through a tunnel at this point, right beside the Durance. This seems to have interrupted the original route for the GR9; and the GR markings at this point are far from clear. For a while, we could not find where the path went at all. When we did, it proved a steep scramble up the hillside above the motorway before traversing along eastwards towards and above the beginning of the tunnel. Then the path veered south west again – presumably along the original GR track. All this was complicated by the fact that we had not been able to find any description whatever of this part of the GR9: we had earlier found references to the Topo-guide to the GR9/98: Massifs Provencaux, but this was out of print; and the new Topo-guide to La Monagne de  Ste Victoire did not reach anywhere near Jouques. Anyway, we struggled to the top of the hill and along the plateau beyond it, only to find that we had to walk for a long way along an uninteresting tarmac road. By that time, we were getting tired and dispirited: Jouques, which lies in a valley beside a small river, still seemed a long way ahead…We then made a further error when we reached Bedes, a small village above Jouques. By that time, we were so tired that instead of stopping to consult the map to see where the Chambres d’Hotes where we had booked was in relation to Jouques, we plunged blindly on following the GR9. This curved round to the north and west of Jouques, instead of dropping straight down to the east of the village – which meant an extra two of three kms. we could have avoided for the sake of our tired legs: for La Petite Borie where we had booked was south-east of Jouques – and three kms uphill. This last stretch seemed very long. When at last we arrived, the Lacassie family made us very welcome; and after an agreeable meal en famille, we felt slightly less weary. The whole day’s walk had been at least 42 kms and had taken us the best part of 11 hours, minus 20 minutes for lunch. We could probably have saved about 2 ½ hours had we taken a more direct route to Mirabeau, and then followed the direct route to Jouques from Bedes. This was undoubtedly the most tiring day of the whole walk - and the least rewarding in terms of the views.

Day 5, Monday 12 June: Jouques to Puyloubier, across Mte Ste Victoire (Pic des Mouches). It was raining as we had breakfast. But no sooner than I had unpacked my cape and put it on over my day-sack, than it stopped… Thereafter, the rain we could sometimes see falling to the north of us, left us alone; and it turned into a pleasant enough day for walking, even if the visibility was less clear than we had hoped. We cut across from La Petite Borrie to the GR 9 (not more than 2 kms), before turning south towards the chain of hills to the south, heading up the road (D11) to the col between the Montaigne des Ubacs to the east and Le Grand Sambuc to the west - pleasant enough had the route not been on tarmac most of the time. We had decided before we set off that we were too tired to follow the GR9 all the way to Vauvenargues, then climb up to the west end of the Ste Victoire ridge at Le Pieure/Croix de Provence which would have allowed us to scramble along the ridge all the way to the east end. Instead, we would take a short-cut from Le Petit Sambuc (the point where the GR at least leaves the tarmac road D11) in an easterly direction, leading us directly to the Pic des Mouches, via La Citadelle and the Col des Portes. This proved a wise choice. The path to La Citadelle, an imposing natural fortress/rocky outcrop overlooking the valley that leads westwards to Vauvernarges, was easy and pleasant, through forested woodlands and then rough meadows full of asphodels. The final heave up to the summit was steeper, but not too hard. From the bare crest of the mountain, the view was stunning. Despite the rainstorms to the north, we could dimly make out the misty shape of Mt Ventoux, behind the Luberon chain. However, we did not stay there long: the brisk wind made it chilly – and we knew that the final steep descent to Puyloubier would not be easy. And indeed it wasn’t! The first two or three kilometres eastwards along the ridge were fine, descending gradually. But when we arrived directly above the village, the path turned abruptly south and suddenly became steep, over awkward rough stones and boulders. We had arrived almost within shouting distance of Puyloubier, maybe only 200 m above it, when Michele suddenly tripped and fell headlong, hitting her chin hard against a rock. For half a minute, she seemed as groggy as a boxer felled by a k.o. punch: but fortunately, her injuries proved superficial, and we were able to stagger down to the café in the village square to down much-needed drinks.  Jean-Pierre had gallantly volunteered to pick us up in his car; and before long we were speeding along on the motorway home to the foot of Mt. Ventoux.

Comment. This was quite a hard walk for people, however experienced, of our age (I had just turned 71; the Chambons are some years younger). Since we had arranged long in advance where to stay for the four nights, and could buy food for our picnic lunches as we went along, we did not have to carry much in our day-sacks except a changes of clothes, water, and food for a picnic lunch. Were I to do it again, I might take six or even seven days over it, to allow more time to savour some of the remarkable places we visited. The days on the mountains (Days 1, 3 and 5, on Mt. Ventoux; the Luberon; and Mte Ste Victoire) were by far the best. The first three quarters of Day 2 were fine; but the last part, from Villars to Apt, was frankly tedious. As for Day 4, had we not made two navigational errors, one serious, it need not have been such a slog, though it would still have been long. As it was, however, we were all near the limit of our capacities.