Mont Sainte-Victoire

20.4.02 - 18km, 740m - 314 mins

13 Bouches-du-Rhône

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The bus station in Aix

In our first few days in Marseille I had singled out Mont Sainte Victoire as a “target” for a walk. By the time I got around to it I was, of course, anxious to do it strictly via the GR9, which certainly takes in the whole of the most interesting section of the ridge. As usual, I planned to use public transport which meant I had to leave pretty early in the morning in order to drive to Aix in time for the only suitable bus, leaving for Vauvenargues at 8.25. The topo-guide suggested a total time of about 7 hours to Puyloubier, but the only bus back to Aix wasn’t till 7pm, so I had three hours spare to take my time. It was a beautiful, cloudless day though I expected a fair bit of wind on the crest. Two Germans were the only other passengers on the bus, and the driver, rather embarrassingly, insisted on trying to communicate with them in broken English. What little French they managed to slip in seemed faultless to me – certainly better than the driver’s English!

Vauvenargues from above

The Germans got off at Cabassols to get straight onto the track to the Sainte Victoire Priory, while I went the extra 2km to Vauvenargues, partly to see the village and partly to take in that section of the GR9. The steepest part of the climb was probably the first bit, in the woods.

The climb through the woods

As the trees thinned I got out the sun cream and was down to a T-shirt. Halfway up, I passed the German couple – there were quite a few other people climbing as well.

The Croix de Provence and Sainte Victoire Priory from below

The last section approaching the priory was what in Scotland would be taken for a stalker’s path, but in Provence was probably a “pilgrim’s path” – winding back and forth in endless zigzags, making for a lengthy but very easy ascent.

The view north through an archway

The priory was quite interesting – a few buildings clustered in a notch on the ridge crest. One of them was a bothy-style shelter, into which I peeped, disturbing a couple of prone forms. A notice on the door explained that, due to vandalism, it was no longer being maintained, though it looked in normal bothy condition to me

Looking north west from the cross

A short steep climb further on was the Croix de Provence, a massive cross towering 18 metres above the summit and visible for miles around. Like the priory it was a busy spot and, after the statutory photos had been taken, I moved on.

The Croix de Provence

The Croix de Provence

Looking east from the cross

The next section, along the ridge to the Baou de Vespré, was a pleasant tramp, though windy as I’d expected. I stopped in a reasonably sheltered nook to have lunch, only to discover that one of the yoghurts I’d packed had burst and leaked everywhere. Luckily I’d brought a supply of kitchen roll, which was soon used up in cleaning the mess.

Looking back westwards - the Croix de Provence is in the distance

Looking back westwards - the Croix de Provence is in the distance

The Pic des Mouches from the Baou de Vespré

I wasn’t really out of the wind so I didn’t sit too long but pushed on towards the Pic des Mouches, where I hoped to stop for a second lunch. On the way I came to the “passages aériens” mentioned in the topo-guide – nothing too hairy, in fact, especially as there were chains in the rock at any bits that were at all tricky.

The Baou de Vespré from the east

The Baou de Vespré from the east

The Pic des Mouches and Pic de l'Aigle from the west

The Pic des Mouches and Pic de l'Aigle from the west

Yes, that's a Mars Bar I'm stuffing in there...

Arriving at last at the Pic des Mouches I staged a photo of the “celebratory Mars Bar”. I then tried dropping down out of the wind, only to discover the “mouches” which the peak was presumably named after.

The summit of the Pic des Mouches

I retreated back onto the windy summit and chatted briefly with some other walkers who were debating important issues like whether the summit was 1010, 1011 or 1012 metres, and whether I came from Italy or England.

Puyloubier from the Pic des Mouches

Puyloubier from the Pic des Mouches

Wild thyme on the walk down the ridge

Wild thyme on the walk down the ridge

The Oratoire de Malivert

The walk down the ridge to the Oratoire de Malivert was very pleasant and easy – not steep enough to give my knee any real trouble. After the Oratoire, however the path got steeper and I slowed right down. By this time I’d barely managed to lose any time as compared to the times in the topo-guide and I was beginning to wonder whether death by boredom might be awaiting me in Puyloubier.

Puyloubier from above

Puyloubier from above

A wild orchid - one of the more successful attempts

I pottered around experimenting with taking close-up photos of flowers and a large grasshopper. The grasshopper didn’t come out.

The ridge from above Puyloubier

The ridge from above Puyloubier

The main street in Puyloubier

Finally I came down into the village, bought a can of Gini lemon, and drank it while eating the rest of my sandwiches in a little square. My main problem now was to find where the bus stop was. I’d thought this would be obvious but it wasn’t at all. In the end I went into the little tourist shop, bought La Provence and asked where I should wait for the bus. The woman directed me to an unmarked shelter opposite the Place de la Mairie. I sat in the Place reading the paper and contemplating the presidential election posters. Election day was the next day, and the paper suggested that “4 in ten French still don’t know who to vote for”. As it turned out, a surprising number seemed to pick M. Le Pen on a sudden whim. The bus came at last, and I was the only passenger. It amazed me that they used a normal sized bus on such a run – the road was narrow, very winding with several hairpin bends, and I couldn’t really imagine more than a handful of passengers ever using it. I got back to Aix at twenty to eight, picked up the car from the Traverse du Cirque (a free day’s parking!) and was back home by 8.30.