June 2 & 4 Hiking

Provence is full of excellent hiking opportunities.  On Sunday we tried a simpler one to get the hang of it and see how well marked they were.  We parked at dam called Barage Bimont crossed the dam and hiked down to a second smaller dam, Barage Zola (named for the father of Emile Zola as he was the engineer who had it built).  The dams contained water to supply communities in that area.  The circuit goes around a scenic gorge and involved quite a bit of steep up and down walking.  But that was nothing compared to our second hike two days later when we hiked up to the Croix de Provence on Mont St. Victoire, elevation 945 metres (3100 feet).



Lac Bimont (Mt St Victoire in the background)
(43°32'29.9"N, 5°32'09.7"E)

Lac Zola (43°31'53.8"N, 5°30'57.3"E)

Base Camp, One third of the way up, Cindy pointing to the cross (43°32'17.9"N, 5°33'52.0"E)

The final assault (43°31'35.4"N, 5°26'48.8"E)

The summit (43°31'49.3"N, 5°34'48.5"E)



The church near the top - of course (43°31'53.7"N, 5°34'42.2"E)

Looking back on the path of ascent to Lac Bimont dam (43°31'49.3"N, 5°34'48.5"E)

Half way back to base camp on the descent (43°32'02.1"N, 5°34'25.1"E)

Here's the alternate way up.  These guys arrived at the top just after us then passed us on the trail on the way down.