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- 日29
- 2024年10月9日水曜日 13:30
- 🌬 23 °C
- 海抜: 44 m
フランスNîmes43°50’19” N 4°21’24” E
It’s a long way to the top of Les-Baux
2024年10月9日, フランス ⋅ 🌬 23 °C
After our time at the Clinique St-Paul-De-Mausole, we made our way back towards the town centre and retraced our steps out of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence to start the journey to our final destination of this ride which was Les-Baux-De-Provence.
The name Baux derives from the Occitan bauç, an escarpment and, although Les-Baux-de-Provence forms part of the Alpilles massif, its rocky spur is detached from the main chain. This total isolation made the location virtually impregnable and, throughout the Middle Ages, a highly desirable possession. Its military history is turbulent, even by medieval standards, and the Lords of Baux’s motto could sum it up quite neatly: “Au hasard, Balthazar”, which translates to ‘At random, Balthazar’. During the Baux family’s five centuries of rule, its foes and allies included the House of Barcelona and the German Emperor; the titles they notched up between them included Count of Avellino, Prince of Orange and Viscount of Marseille, among many others. Their stories are many and blood-curdling, not the least those of Raymond ‘the Scourge of Provence’ who would make prisoners jump off the side of the cliff if their ransoms were not forthcoming (nice bloke). At its peak, Les-Baux had a population of over 4,000 and today there are officially only 22 permanent residents.
Interesting fact: - the ore bauxite, which is the main source of aluminium, is so named because it was discovered near Les Baux in 1821.
The climb to reach Les-Baux was difficult and not for the faint hearted, and was made more challenging due to some strong head winds. It was a 5km climb on a winding road with cars, trucks, motorcycles and camper vans also using the road. Over the 5km we climbed up to a summit to an elevation of over 310 metres. It was a challenging ride even with an e-bike, and those in our group on manual bikes were just plain loco, but they all made it, even Tim with a wrist fracture. The views up to Les Baux were magnificent and we stopped to take a group shot in front of some marvellous rock formations. The wind was still so strong it was difficult to hold our bikes upright.
We parked our bikes at the base of the village and locked them up. We were then free to explore as we pleased for 2 hours. We went to the tourist office to get a map and then we wandered around the narrow streets and lanes, stopping for lunch near the Place St Vincent. We went up to the top of the mountain to look at the views, but it was so windy we could hardly walk.
We then went and had a drink at a lovely little restaurant on their protected terrace with views of the escarpment. Before long it was time to get back on our bikes and make our way back down the winding road. I was feeling a little anxious, as you had to keep your hands constantly on the brakes and that was not pleasant for me with my arthritis. Luckily, the wind seemed to die down during our descent, which made it a bit easier. I reached speeds of 45kph during the descent. We then traced our steps back to Vallabrègues where we remained moored for another night. Dinner was a Camargue Paella, made with the special Camargue rice and spicy chicken and prawns, several salads, and crème brûlée for dessert.もっと詳しく
