Castellane has been a great stop on our French town hopping trip. It is a little town in the foothills of the French Alps and very close to Gorges du Verdon. It's neat to see a completely different looking part of France from what we have seen or what I imagined. It's beautiful here.
Town square in Castellane
We stayed in a B&B in the town of Castellane. A Belgium couple owns it and caters to Harley owners. Pretty funny decor in the dining area - all things Harley!
We got to Castellane on Saturday afternoon. We drove from Arles, got to the mountains, then had about a 45 min winding drive through the small roads surrounding the gorge. Happy to be driving bc I am sure I would have gotten even worse motion sickness if not, not to mention having to look at the gorge so far below.
We walked around town and got some food to cook for dinner and make for lunch on Sunday. It is nice to have the chance to actually cook at home instead of eating out, as we are all getting very sick of restaurants. We had a nice relaxing evening with the grill, some wine and the last couple episodes of The Bachlorette! Girls trip!!
On Sunday we set out for a hike around the gorge called Sentier du Pecheur. We drove about 20 mins to a spot where we could leave our car and then waited for a bus to pick us up. 8:45 sharp is what we were told. Well the bus came, it filled up, it left, and we did not make it because there were so many people. So we teamed up with 2 couples and got a cab. Ironically it was the same price and got us there faster than the bus. So big win for us!
Some new friends we met on the road on the way to our hike
Pre-hike group pic
So here we were, at the beginning of the hike, way up on a cliff overlooking the gorge and the river below. The hike said 7 hours, but we had read 5 hours was more realistic. It took pretty much exactly 5 hours and was a really tough hike. Up and down over loose gravel rocks. The scenery must have changed 10 times from desert, to forest, to cliff's edge, to river bank, to a 600m long completely dark cave. It was a beautiful hike but excruciatingly hot. By the end we were all dying. So thirsty and hot and tired. Definitely felt good to be back at our room to relax.
On Monday before we left for Nice, we booked a tour to do something called rando aqua. I think we booked it because it sounded fun, as none of us knew exactly what we were getting in to. All we were told was that we would wear wet suits and be in the river.
We couldn't bring a camera, so I don't have any pics but it was a very interesting adventure. It started with a short hike down to the river. We got about a minute of instructions and then we jumped into the (freezing cold) river. The first part was relaxing and fun. We floated slowly through the different pools of water. We got to a rock about 10 feet high and had to jump off it. Then the rapids started. Anyone who has rafted with me (basically just my family) would know I am not a huge fan of rapids. In a boat. Well this time I didn't even get the boat. It was body rafting. We had a life vest as a flotation device and a helmet. Needless to say my tailbone is bruised and I inhaled about a gallon of water through my nose. I even punched myself in the face on one rapid because I tried to plug my nose and my elbow hit a rock.
It was actually a fun time, but stressful (and a little painful) as well. We got out of the river and had to basically scale a gravel path straight uphill to the actual mountain path. Then had to walk through the caves we did the day before on our hike. This time without a flashlight. Our guide had one really terrible headlamp for our entire group. So we just blindly walked through the tunnels in the dark.
This brings our adventures in Gorges du Verdon to an end. On Monday we drove down to Nice, France for our last stop in France. Then we head back to Milan for a couple nights. I leave on Friday and my Eurotrip will come to a close.
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