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

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.

Emperor Marcus Aurelius

They say be careful for what you wish for. In Castellane I had wished for company in the gites. In Rougon I got that in spades!

There were 20 staying in the gite Le Mur d’Abeilles. It was a noisy throng which settled down to a delicious meal prepared by the proprietor’s wife. I’d chatted with a couple from Lyons who were sleeping in my dormitory but it was difficult to make out what they or anyone else was saying against the clatter of knives and forks on crockery and the quickfire conversation. I soon gave up trying to contribute and instead focussed on enjoying the delicious meal of chicken, mushrooms and potato purée.

Breakfast was an equally impressive affair organised with military precision. There was even two types of honey on offer – lavender and mountain!

There was a fierce storm while I was having breakfast which meant I didn’t head off to the Pointe Sublime and the start of the Blanc-Martel path through the Verdon Gorge until nearly 9am.

As I descended the narrow footpath to the Verdon river, it quickly became apparent that the next six hour walk through the canyon wasn’t going to be a Teddy Bear’s picnic!

I quickly fell in behind a couple of other French hikers who seemed to know where they were going and what they were doing.

It proved an inspired decision. We reached a 650m tunnel through the rock called the Baou tunnel. Thankfully the two Frenchmen infront of me both had head lamps which helped illuminate the rocky and, at times, partially inundated tunnel. Progress would have been hazardous without their help.

The section of the GR4 between Rougon and the Maline chalet is called the Blanc-Martel trail in memory of the two French explorers who first penetrated the canyon in 1905. Noticeboards at the side of the path made it abundantly clear that the footpath was only for experienced walkers.

There were quite a few other walkers on the path who ranged from teenagers to elderly codgers like myself. I even passed one chap was running it like a mountain hare without a care in the world!

After nearly 7 hours of scrambling and walking, I eventually emerged at the Malin chalet which boasted a balcony and a restaurant with panoramic views over the Verdon Gorge below. It was time to get a couple of beers in and soak in the views.

Shortly afterwards as I headed down the road towards La Palud sur Verdon I came across two South Korean couples parked by the side of the road enjoying the view. I struck up conversation with them and chatted about how Seoul had changed since I first lived there nearly 40 years ago.

After I’d found somewhere in town for a pizza I wandered back to the youth hostel and spent nearly three hours chatting away with three Frenchmen who were having supper in the hostel about Artificial Intelligence, French politics and the situation in the Middle East. One of them was an AI developer from Paris who had helped launch a start up company, another was involved in IT in Paris while a third was a retired software engineer from Besançon. It was amazing that we were all staying in the same youth hostel in La Palud sur Verdon debating the future of humanity. Such is the stuff of long distance walking in the South of France!