Walks
There are some beautiful walks that start just from our house and also within a short drive away. The walk we chose to do today is one of my favourites. You literally walk up the lane, across from our house, and you’re in the vineyards, with their regimented rows of vines that reach up to the top of the valley, where the forest begins.
Behind the forest is a plateau of stony fields, which we always remark on, saying how it must be so difficult to cultivate. The vineyards start again on the other side, with a beautiful view of our neighbouring villages seen from a spot surrounded by a woodland of pine trees. I just love the magnificent stature of the pine trees and the smell of the pine wood, it’s so fresh, and I don’t know why, but it makes me smile. This path is just a local footpath, called a Promenades et Randonnées (PR), and these appear all across France.
It is marked along the route not only with signs marking the village names, directions and distances but also with yellow flashes. The below examples show what you would be looking out for - straight on, turn left, turn back.
The other types of walks that are marked all across France are the longer distance walks. These are either Grandes Randonnées (GRs), a long distance path, or Grandes Randonnées du Pays (GRPs), which are paths that loop around through a particular area. They are distinguished by different coloured markings, however they can have some local variations. Mainly you would look for;
Two parallel flashes, one white and one red for the Grandes Randonnées (GR)
Two parallel flashes, one yellow and one red for the Grandes Randonnées du Pays (GRP)
Then the local footpaths (PR) marked with a single yellow flash (as seen above)
We are planning, over the coming weeks/months, to start to map some of the routes we walk, and add some links to our website of the paths we walk. This is so visitors to our Chambre d’hôte can easily find a suitable walk, be it a stroll before dinner, to enjoy a sunset or a glass of bubbles at a point de vue, or a full day out with a tasty picnic.
