After shifting about 20 todo list items to the "when I get back from the hike" category last night I finally got everything done that I absolutely had to do, the prospect of walking 550km no longer seemed quite as imposing given the whirlwind of the last few days!
We were supposed to set off at at 9AM but Lidia didn't get back from the baker's until ten to 9 and Oliver was his usual unhurried self, so I went with the flow and we didn't leave until 9:45. Then we had to stop in the village for water (Oliver's water bottle having being discarded just before arrival due to runaway fungus growth... eeeww) and money (the ATM machines everywhere else in France not having deigned to work for him). Something about ATM machines at the moment -- when I asked it for money (very politely) it grudgingly gave me a pile of 20s. I mean, it must know that 50s are lighter....
As a result (more of the late start than the pile of 20s) we didn't get to Toni's place for lunch until about 1:45PM (we were expected around 1, so not too bad). Actually I was quite pleased we made it by then since we took a sequence of paths through the Alpilles that a) I had never been along, and b) were not marked. Beautiful though -- particularly after we came down into the plain around Chateau Roquemartine where the broom was blooming and the butterflies (of many different types) dancing.
Toni had very kindly (and foresightedly) prepared a couple of salads for us for lunch, so our late arrival presented no problems. Afterwards he showed us around his studio/barn and good-naturedly listened to our profound observations on some of his works (I descended all the way to Coelacanths, which, you may know, is pretty deep).
But we still had miles to go, so we said our thanks and walked off along tracks and trails to the Neolithic cave dwellings of Cales above Lamanon. Surprised a shapely model doing a photoshoot in one of the rock houses, dressed in gold paint and a bikini... nigh on the first person we had seen all day during the hike. Not sure why -- it was a hot and humid day, with a few scattered raindrops, but not that hot. Perhaps people here just aren't used to the humidity... or perhaps the phrase about "mad dogs and Englishmen" applies.
By the time we arrived at our hotel, the charming if it were not mosquito-ridden Domaine de Mejeans at 6:30PM, after 7 hours of hiking time, I was more than ready for the first day's hike to end. We both seem to have held up well... but I'm a little apprehensive about how quickly we'll be able to stand up when getting out of bed tomorrow morning! Dinner was good (except for the aforementioned beasties) as was conversation.
Tomorrow we cross the Luberon!
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