Pilgrim's Progress – Long Distance Walks in Europe and the UK

To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect

Oscar Wilde

In the gite at Cipières the evening before, I made an interesting discovery. The walking times between various stages of the GR4 as described in my Topoguide had so far proved uncannily accurate. This meant that my planned walk from Cipières to Entravaux would take me over 17 hours to complete! Even with the best will in the world, there was no way I was going to achieve that. But one thing was abundantly clear – I needed to change my schedule!

Some hasty research suggested walking 25km to Amirat was a more feasible plan. This would still take me over 12 hours but there was a communal gite. The big question – would they have space for me?

I left the gite shortly after 6am. There wasn’t any coffee in the kitchen and Cipières didn’y stretch to a bakery. I’d just have to hope that I could pick up something on the way.

The day was full of backbreaking climbs and tortuous descents down narrow scree strewn paths that would have challenged an agile mountain goat let alone an unfit 62 old Englishman.

First port of call was a charming little village called Gréolières which clung to the hillside. The village did boast an attractive outdoor cafe (La Vieille Auberge) but there was no sign of life when I arrived.

The little hamlet used to survive on the revenue generated from the lavender harvest in the early 20th century. The lavender was sold to the perfumeries in Grasse.

As I scrambled up the steep path beyond Gréolières I was passed by another walker, going like the clappers. He was heading for Cheiron he told me as he hared past. He was carrying what looked like a motor bike helmet in his backpack. On second thoughts, maybe it was a mountaineering helmet!

The scenery was magnificent and I could make out snow capped mountains in the distance. I was more interested in finding something to eat. Maybe the ski resort of Gréolières-les-Neiges would have something to offer. It involved a 30 minute detour, but it was worth a shot.

The ski resort was deserted when I arrived. Everything appeared closed. Finally I did find a restaurant that was open. It was too early for food but they served me a beer.

Back on the path heading out of Gréolières-les-Neiges, I hit the proverbial jackpot. There was a cafe open which served food! Hallelujah. My schedule was tight and there was another 8 hours to go, but it was the only opportunity for food before reaching Amirat, where I had managed to book a place in the municipal gite for the night.

I was the only diner at the café. I placed my order and within ten minutes my aubergine ravioli appeared. It was delicious!

The afternoon comprised yet more gut busting ascents and tortuous descents down narrow paths which were at times so overgrown that it was difficult to discern them. The scenery from the top eas sublime but the effort required was excruciating. There were times that the path was so steep I could barely put one foot in front of the other.

Part of the problem was that large sections of the path were covered in scree. This meant that descents were painfully slow. Despite my care, I fell a few times luckily without any serious injury.

I finally made it into Amirat shortly after 7pm. It had been a gruelling 13 hours slog but at least I had a bed for the night and the gite proprietor (a morose battleaxe who seemed to resent my presence in the gite and proceeded to read me the riot act about leaving tbe place neat and tidy and ensuring that I used the duvet cover!) had rustled up a frozen microwavable ready meal for supper. What more could I ask for!