More ochre scenery: Colorado Provençal

We enjoyed the ochre footpath so much yesterday, we thought we’d do another today. We’d actually intended to do a longer hike as it’s a bit cooler but we couldn’t find the paths the route followed on the map and didn’t want to risk getting lost… it might not be as hot as it has been, but it’s still too hot to be out in the sun for longer than necessary! Therefore, we just did the longer trail at Colorado Provençal instead. This is an old ochre quarry. After extracting and refining, the ochre was used to thicken rubber and as dye.

There was a queue to get into the car park so we thought it was going to be really busy. However, once everyone got walking, the crowds thinned out and it was fine.

Like yesterday, we were fascinated by the different colours of ochre in the same cliff, varying from white and yellow to orange, red and even purple. The area used to be under the ocean and sediment created white limestone which, once the earth’s tectonic plates moved and it was no longer covered by the sea, changed chemically to become kaolinite. The kaolinite is coloured by iron, and the colour of the ochre depends on the type of iron. Interesting stuff.

The first part of the trail passed through an area called Le Sahara, with multicoloured cliffs, then we headed off through woodland and scrubby bushes to Les Cheminées de Fées, where there were two great viewpoints over the ochre landscape to the plain and hills beyond. This area had stunning bright orange chimneys, hence the name. The final viewpoint was Le Désert Blanc, where the cliffs were white and pale yellow.

We both enjoyed the walk at Colorado Provençal more than the ochre trail at Roussillon. The landscape feels much more natural and the area is much more extensive. We could also imagine the quarrying taking place because there were remnants of an aqueduct to used to transport water from a stream to the ochre mill, water pipes for washing the quarry faces after they were exposed, and a railway track. There were also fewer people getting in our way! ;-P

On the way back to the campsite, we popped to Apt because we needed to go to the supermarket. John parked Bertie and we had a wander round the town first. It was pleasant but unremarkable. Maybe we missed the best bits on our quick visit. It was also lunchtime, so it was very quiet.

Now we’re getting ready to move to Cagnes-sur-Mer, where we’re staying for the next 5 nights at least, mainly for the Wales-Portugal match on Saturday, which we have tickets for. While we’re there, we also have plans to visit other places such as Monaco, St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Cannes. Bring on the next chapter of the trip!