Weekend in the Gorges du Verdon

For Ismael’s birthday, a few months back, we’d decided to take him on a surprise weekend to the Gorges du Verdon. The timing turned out to be quite appropriate as well, since he found himself a job in Dublin, and is hence leaving the Cote d’Azur in a few weeks’ time.

Our original plan had been to stay at Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, near Lac de Sainte-Croix, at a nice hotel where Youcef and Ouarda often go for weekend breaks. Unfortunately, we were unable to get a room there this time, and actually couldn’t find any at all in the Gorges du Verdon. Eventually we settled on a little hotel in Annot, located in the Var valley (not far from the gorges).

Our first stop for the weekend was Castellane, a nice little village located just where the gorges start. After a coffee on the main square, we decided to tackle the main attraction at Castellane, the aptly named Roc. The Roc is a big cliff overlooking the village, at the looming height of 184 metres. And some crazy locals even decided to build a chapel right at the top – so naturally walking up to the top is a bit of a pilgrimage. In spite of slight difficulties, we eventually made it to the top – from where we were greeted to a rather magnificent panorama over the village and the gorges.

All that walking left us in a state of ravenous hunger – thankfully we found a restaurant with a nice terrace, willing to accommodate us, down in the village. Our apetites sated, we carried on, up the torturous roads taking us through the gorges. A great drive, at least when the weather is good (which is was, for the moment). After a quick stop to take in the views and snap a couple of pictures, we arrived at the main destination of the day, Lac de Sainte-Croix, located at the other end of the gorges.

It’s quite a stunning lake, it must be said, and especially considering it’s an artificial one. It is actually the third largest lake in France, and is one of the most visited lakes in the country (for good reason). We naturally jumped into the lake for a bit of a swim. The water wasn’t the clearest, but the temperature was just right (especially considering it’s already September!). After some clowning around (we unfortunately failed to drown Ismael), and due to some approaching clouds, we decided to head on.

The route to Annot (where we were sleeping) took us back through the gorges. Unfortunately, this time we were overtaken by a rainstorm unlike anything I’ve seen here in the South – with a bit of hails to make things even more exciting. I felt especially sorry for Youcef and Ouarda in their Peugeot 205. After a fair bit of zigzagging around fallen rocks and things, we eventually made it to Castellane for a short conference (we weren’t sure we wanted to deal with another 30 kilometers of mountain roads in this weather). Eventually we decided (mostly due to the fact that there was no accommodation available in Castellan) to carry on.

Thankfully, the weather got a bit better towards Annot, but caution was still required as there were quite a few nasty rocks on the roads. The drive took us past the Lac de Castillon, which looked rather pretty (too bad it was getting dark), down the Valley de Var, until we eventually arrived in Annot. After checking into the hotel, we made our way to a nearby restaurant for a VERY well-deserved dinner (and a few equally well-deserved glass of wine). We continued the soiree with a bit of Texas Hold-Em poker in Youcef’s room. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a bit of a disaster for me – as I ended up loosing. ‘nough said about that.

The next day, me and Mathilde decided to brave the light rain and explore Annot for a bit, after taking in the rather good hotel breakfast. Annot is a pretty typical little Provencal village, with nice cobble-stone streets, pretty houses etc. (I’ve written that a few time on this blog, I reckon?). The grey post-storm water running down the gutters added a touch of originality to the setup…

From Annot, we carried down the Var valley towards Nice, making a stop in Entrevaux. It’s a place I’ve wanted to visit for some time now, having seen some photos of the place. And it proved no disappointment, the site is rather exceptional (Entrevaux is a fortified village by the Var river, with a citadel (built by that very busy citadel builder, Vauban) overlooking the village on the nearest hilltop. It’s like the place was made to be photographed (and photograph it I did).

The thing to do in Entrevaux is, of course, to climb up the hill to the citadel. It was quite a hike, but we all made it (unfortunately we were hit by some pretty bad rain again). We spent the next hour or so enjoying the splendid views over the valley and village, and exploring the nooks and crannies of the citadel (which was actually never completed).



By the time we made it down to the village it was time for lunch ;-) Thankfully we found a nice little eatery serving the local speciality – Secca (thinly sliced, salted and dried beef). The perfect way to end our weekend.

All in all, it had been great weekend. We were a bit unlucky (to say in the least) with the weather, but that just goes to show that the most important thing is to be in good company (and the clichés just keep coming, eh?).