Tour des Baronnies - Days 7 to 9

Day 7.  Trescleoux to Serres

A view back down on Trescleoux

This was a relatively short day but one of the most significant in terms of climbing and descending. We reached the highest elevation of the tour (1510 m).  We were high enough to get views of Mt. Ventoux in the distance and couldn’t believe that 6 days ago we were in Brantes, pretty much at the base of Mt. Ventoux. We’d travelled so far, all thanks to our little legs.

This height was also the location of a large communications installation, which dominated the horizon on our walk.

We found another lovely lunch spot and got to taste the Perdigrone prunes although they hadn’t been transformed into Pistoles.  They were very tasty but there was a lot of nut and not much flesh.

The descent was taxing and at the top we had to use ropes in several places to get down some steep, rocky sections.

We were expecting a truly hazardous descent over the final 1 km, but it had been blocked and a sign put up forbidding people to use it.  The alternative route added a few kilometres but was evidently safer.  We ended up finding a short cut and crossing a river, meaning that the detour was not as long as it might have been.

Serres was the biggest town we stopped in, and we stayed at the amusingly named Hotel Fifi Moulin.  When we passed through Serres some weeks earlier on our way to Gap, we had had a giggle when we saw the hotel sign, so we were tickled pink when we realised we were staying there.  Serres was also only one of two occasions when we were able to eat out in restaurants. 

 

 

Day 8.  Serres to Pra Boyer

This was the equal longest day of the hike; the sky was blue, and it was hot.

We started by climbing above Serres and were rewarded with nice views of the town and the Buech Valley. 

We descended into an isolated village called Sigottier, which has two rocky cliff faces as its backdrop.  It looked as though it could be swallowed into a canyon between the two cliffs at any moment. 

From here we had a long and relentless climb for 9 kms.  At first it was along the bitumen road and was pretty boring and hot.  Eventually we entered a beautifully shaded forest and were able to stop and have lunch, still with about 3 kms to climb.

The landscape started to change from rocky ridges to forests and pastured land.  Jocelyne became very excited when we came across a rare wild peony (pivoine).

We descended to Pra Boyer Gite, near Montmorin, where we stayed the night. The last part of the descent was rocky and technical.  We’d done this section as part of another hike about a month earlier and had forgotten how difficult it was.  Fortunately a beer was offered immediately upon arrival.

Pra Boyer Gite was the most rustic and atmospheric place that we stayed.  It is an old farmhouse with amazingly thick stone walls.  In our bedroom there was a large section of original stone flooring.

Our host Claire produced one of the best meals of the hike.  She made a country style chicken casserole with prunes and a range of middle eastern spices.  It was served with bulgur grain.  We finished it all off.  Claire has a deep knowledge of wild herbs, and runs courses where she takes guests out to forage in the surrounding mountains.

Day 9.  Pra Boyer to Rosans

The main theme of the day was rain, but before it set in we were able to wander through the beautiful village of Montmorin.

"One can forget the past, but one cannot avoid the future"

This Peugeot 206 seems to be crouching like a cat, waiting to pounce

As we started the 2 hour, 600 metre ascent to the Col des Pins, the rain really set in.  Fortunately, it eased off a little for the descent on the other side, which was still muddy and slippery.  It was also quite steep so there were a couple of falls, and slides that almost ended in falls, but no one was injured.

We learnt some new works on our hike, such as this one.  It is Mud

As we were desperate to find somewhere dry to eat lunch, we decided to try out an uninhabited barn roof.  It was dry but truly disgusting.  It was covered with hay for insulation, and it took days to get the smell of hay out of our backpacks.

We couldn't bring ourselves to sit down

The decent into Rosans was easy, along dirt roads but it continued to rain heavily.  We were happy to get to our accommodation and spend several hours warming up, showering, attempting to dry clothes and generally relaxing.

We had a lovely dinner at Restaurant Fourchat.  They only had a set menu but were able to prepare the main dish without goat’s cheese for Dale.  The main dish was a tartine of caramelised onion, two cheeses, chicken and bacon.  It was superb.  The chef spent a lot of time in the small restaurant talking to everyone about the dishes and acting as sommelier. 

 

The restaurant ceiling was this very shiny metal.  Say cheese

It occurred to us that one of the things that we really enjoyed about the hike was the food.  We’ve experienced a lot of quality home-made, regional cuisine.  We’ve also enjoyed staying in a range of small accommodation types.