Friday 10th of June Saillans to la Vacherie

Staying on your own in Chambre d'Hotes or Hotels in France is a bit expensive so a couple of cheap nights in Gite d'Etapes is helping put the budget back on track. Actually they are OK apart from the absence of wifi. Last night I needed my sheet sleeping bag but tonight the only negative is a trip down the corridor to find the toilet. Everything else in the room is brand new although they do seem a bit short of customers.

Not a bad walk today but nothing to compare with the cliffs I enjoyed yesterday. To be honest the GR 9 doesn't take you into the highest part of the Vercors, I think I would need to be on the GR 91 to get near the 2,000 plus peaks. I think the E4 is doing the Vercors the easy way. At least I covered the ground, 30 kilometres and 1500 metres of climb.

Saillans, is a another nice town and I got great help from Tourist Information as I continue to fiddle about with my itinerary. As well as the Gite d'Etape, it also has a couple of hotels and all the shops I needed for a great picnic. The weather was cloudy, a bit humid but dry and I was walking by 8.30.

Climbing out the town and past a series of vineyards, the first third of walk was mainly through pines growing on hilly, moraine type countryside, not memorable. The main feature was the view back to the cliffs above Saillans which I walked down yesterday. Later on you could also see back across the Rhone Valley and into the Massif Central.



Looking back to Rocher de la Laveuse 

The half way village, or slightly further than halfway, was Beaufort sur Gervanne, which I sneaked past in a guilty way because having booked to stay at the hotel there I then decided it wasn't taking me far enough, so have messed the hotel about a bit.


Beaufort sur Gervanne

The pull up out of the town cut across the zig zags in the road. Beat an English couple on bikes to the top. They of course were confined to the road but I think me getting there first might have been the cause of a matrimonial dispute.

The Rocher du Vallan, above Plan-de-Baix, was perhaps the highlight of the walk, great looking up at the lump of rock towering above the village from below and good views from the rock itself once I had climbed to the top.


Rocher du Vallan




View from Rocher du Vallan Beaufort sur Gervanne 


The dimple on the horizon is the Rocher de la Laveuse the cliff above Saillans so the picture gives a good view of most of today's walk apart from the last eight kilometres I still had finish.

The rest of the walk was along the side of the limestone ridge which runs up to Rocher du Vallan but as you're in trees most of the time the views are limited. Approaching la Vacherie it opens out a bit and the village itself is set in the middle of pastures.



Approaching la Vacherie

The Gite d'Etape by the way is in an enormous building, by far the largest building in the tiny village. Dinner was wonderful, and although the hostess didn't speak any English she did laugh at lot.

1 comment:

  1. Lol @ beating the bikes! These pics remind me a bit of my favorite hiking place.

    Patrick C

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