The area around "Lacs Ste Marguerite" was popular with people bivouacing, I saw many tents around the lakes as I left this morning. It was a fine day as I climbed back up to the Col de la Valley Étroite. A long descent followed, in parts steep and gravelly, but mostly on a pleasant gradient over a flat area of streams and through conifers down to Les Granges de la Valley Étroite. At this small settlement there were two refuges and a café where I stopped. By that time the trail was full of people, day walkers who had left their vehicles at a nearby car park, the end of the road up the valley, or else caught a bus. It was noticeable at the café and from people's greetings that many were Italian speakers. "Buongiornos" were as common as "Bonjours", and there were other Italian sounding greetings that I did not recognize. Signs telling you to keep your dog on the lead were written first in Italian and then French. The valley was once part of Italy, and with both French and Italian flags flying in the little village, perhaps the current inhabitants enjoy a bit of ambiguity. Another thing I noticed was that houses were now roofed with panels of overlapping wooden boards, quite different from the traditional stone roofing I had seen up to now.
By now the GR5 had become tired of descending and from Les Granges began a steep ascent, uphill on zig zags through trees perched on the steep mountainside. As a reward there were good views of the Three Magi, a group of grey, rugged, rocky mountains on the other side of the valley. In the grass pasture at the pass which was the eventual terminus of my climb, there was a shallow lake, with too much plant growth for swimming in, a place that seemed a convenient destination for day trippers coming up from valleys each side.
My route took me down another valley on a switchback, gravelly path leading to a walk through pines and larches. Many people were walking up. Some looked to be carrying too much weight around their middles for a pleasant climb on a hot day. I was asked how far it was to the lake. Such questions always worry me as it implies that people have no map or GPS, and may not be properly prepared. The guidebook indicated that I should start to see Mediterranean influence on the landscape, and indeed the vegetation seems sparse, less luxurious, but it could also be the progress of the year, July soon coming to an end. I was also seeing grasshoppers for the first time among the dry grass. The route wound into Roubion where there is a campsite where I am staying, as well as a busy car park, restaurants and modern looking buildings. Having pitched my tent I am being troubled by ants and flies so have retreated to a sheltered picnic table.
No comments:
Post a Comment