Momo came over early this morning. He and Andréa worked on provisions for lunch while I tried to find the right thing to wear for our hike. Today was the visit to Provençe's "Colorado." It took about 2 hours for us to get to the area. The scenic route took us through small villages and rocky passages. We were on one road called "Routes des Chateaux" which promises lots of small castles and wine caves. I'll have to come back to that later!
When we arrived at the location it looked like any other forest parking/picnic area. There was no entrance fee for the trails but if you want to park your car it costs 4 euro. Andréa, Momo, and I threw on our backpacks and started the trek. Andréa asked Momo and I if we wanted to do the 1, 2, or 3 hour trail. Momo and I independently decided on the longest one. The three of us looked at the map together and agreed on a trail. I was hoping for something more like 8 hours roundtrip which is the norm at home. The first designated area we came across was okay. Clay hills, nothing I had never seen before. For some reason, I expected the formations to be much bigger--Colorado-sized.
After the first stop, we were on the trails again. They were starting to get more difficult as they were going up-hill. We had been following the red trail since the beginning and I saw a sign for "belvédère" on an extension of the trail up ahead. The word means 'scenic view' so of course I was heading for it especially since it was on the red circuit. Andréa stopped me while I was halfway up there and told me that we were turning right to follow the trail signs put up by the tourist office--ATC. I got irritated because we had collaboratively decided we were going to take the long route--the red route. Not only that but a tree next to the ATC sign had all of the trails marked by color in X's meaning that once you fall into the tourist trap--you'll no longer be following any of the circuits...Meaning in whatever manner you'll be "hiking", it'll be more of a walk. I tried to explain this to Andréa but he wouldn't let me get a word in and he kept on insisting that we follow the signs because that's what the park ranger told us to do. I kept on thinking in my head "God, this kid has never hiked in his life." He was set on his decision even though I wanted to go see the belvédère which he insisted we would see it on our way back. I took off in the direction that he pointed while huffing and puffing. I knew this was wrong. I didn't come out today to walk on leveled grounds...That's for wusses! I'm a damn hiker!!!
Instead of walking at a leisurely pace and staying with the group, I marched on like I normally would with my friends from home. The guys tried to keep up but they were so far behind I just didn't care. It was so obvious that we were on a tourist trap, it was packed with people!
Andréa obviously knew I was pissed off. He told me that we could turn around if I wanted but honestly, we had moved so far ahead that I just wanted to keep going just to show him how idiotic his decision was. I was upset, yes. But I was under the impression that we were there for ME. So you can understand my irritation when it was Andréa who was calling all of the shots even after he asked Momo and I what WE wanted to do. It was a trip taken on MY behalf as well as Momo's because Andréa had already been there before. We got into a disagreement because Andréa says that I always have to be right. And yeah, I wouldn't open my mouth if I wasn't going to make an argument on facts. He should know that much about me by now. I know what I'm doing. I was born and raised in the Appalachian mountains. I've been hiking since infancy basically. Hiking is a bi-weekly ritual with my friends back in Virginia. Seriously, who does he think he's dealing with? Andréa lost his cool and yelled at me so I took off in the other direction. I wasn't in the mood. I was going to do the trail on my own because I wasn't going to let someone who has maybe hiked once in his life to tell me what's right or wrong. As I passed Momo he grabbed my arm and wouldn't let go. The guy sure has a tight grip! He told me that I wasn't going off on my own, and yeah, he was right. You should never hike by yourself. So I turned back around, passed Andréa, and continued on the stupid tourist promenade.
When we arrived at the location it looked like any other forest parking/picnic area. There was no entrance fee for the trails but if you want to park your car it costs 4 euro. Andréa, Momo, and I threw on our backpacks and started the trek. Andréa asked Momo and I if we wanted to do the 1, 2, or 3 hour trail. Momo and I independently decided on the longest one. The three of us looked at the map together and agreed on a trail. I was hoping for something more like 8 hours roundtrip which is the norm at home. The first designated area we came across was okay. Clay hills, nothing I had never seen before. For some reason, I expected the formations to be much bigger--Colorado-sized.
After the first stop, we were on the trails again. They were starting to get more difficult as they were going up-hill. We had been following the red trail since the beginning and I saw a sign for "belvédère" on an extension of the trail up ahead. The word means 'scenic view' so of course I was heading for it especially since it was on the red circuit. Andréa stopped me while I was halfway up there and told me that we were turning right to follow the trail signs put up by the tourist office--ATC. I got irritated because we had collaboratively decided we were going to take the long route--the red route. Not only that but a tree next to the ATC sign had all of the trails marked by color in X's meaning that once you fall into the tourist trap--you'll no longer be following any of the circuits...Meaning in whatever manner you'll be "hiking", it'll be more of a walk. I tried to explain this to Andréa but he wouldn't let me get a word in and he kept on insisting that we follow the signs because that's what the park ranger told us to do. I kept on thinking in my head "God, this kid has never hiked in his life." He was set on his decision even though I wanted to go see the belvédère which he insisted we would see it on our way back. I took off in the direction that he pointed while huffing and puffing. I knew this was wrong. I didn't come out today to walk on leveled grounds...That's for wusses! I'm a damn hiker!!!
Instead of walking at a leisurely pace and staying with the group, I marched on like I normally would with my friends from home. The guys tried to keep up but they were so far behind I just didn't care. It was so obvious that we were on a tourist trap, it was packed with people!
It was nice going off on my own because I didn't feel like I had to babysit anyone. After a good while, I stopped on the white dunes to see how far they were behind me. Boy, did they take forever or what! Andréa tried to talk to me but I wouldn't have it. I was content being alone but they told me to sit down for lunch. I didn't feel like arguing and actually, I didn't feel like speaking at all so I just found myself a log to sit on. The guys handed me food and water which I consumed even though I wasn't hungry. I decided to eat on my own so I took a walk around the white desert with my sandwich and tried to find some inner peace, ha haha.
I didn't stay mad too long. Hiking is therapeutic and calming though I did purposefully ignore Andréa. You just don't mess with my intuition.
We finished the supposed 3 hour hike in about 2 hours. When we got home I got online and searched for threads from hikers in the area. According to them, Andréa, Momo, and I missed a bird's eye view of the grounds, humongous natural tunnels, and caves. The hiking thread says that these formations are not listed on the ATC map because the organization wants to keep the formations from being disturbed.
http://www.flickriver.com/places/France/Provence-Alpes-C%C3%B4te+d%27Azur/Bouv%C3%A8ne/
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1635926
Ooh, the power of Google...Instead of being mad about making the trip all the way out there and seeing nothing, I just rubbed it in Andréa's face and told him I would go back out there with my other friends. You should see the look on his face when he finds out he's wrong. Luckily, Momo pestered him on the entire drive back to Marseille. Thank goodness I have him!!!
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