walker-online » 2008 – Solar Tour

R.I.P. unknown friend

Harald — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 17:23:02 +0000

The last day of our tour had a sad ending. On our way through Belgium we all of a sudden saw a dog next to freeway and stopped for him. Our worries came true. The dog, which looked like a German Shorthaired Pointer was seriously injured and escorted by the Belgian police we took him to the nearest available veterinarian in Recogne. The dog only had a simple metal chain as collar and wasn’t chipped nor did he have a tattoo. According to the doctor he was about 7 years old. The examination revealed several injuries and unfortunately the veterinarian wasn’t able to perform the kind of complicated operation which would have been necessary. We had to put him to sleep, which broke my heart. We only knew him for a short while but it seemed to be a kind dog and based on his appearance I don’t think he had such a great live. At least he didn’t have to die in pain, thirsty and hungry on the side of the road.

Credits go to the Clinique Vétérinaire à Libramont for helping us and the dog and not charging for it.

The spring of the Sorgue

Harald — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:14:25 +0000

Solar Tour 2008 – Day 11: Yesterday when we left Roussillon we tried to reach Camping La Coutelière close to Fontaine-de-Vaucluse along the river Sorgue in time, but when we arrived the reception was already closed. The owners of the camp ground where still there but were not at all helpful. Instead of letting us in and doing the paper work in the morning, they just sent us away. Unfortunately our ASCI camping guide doesn’t provide opening times of receptions, so this was the second time on this trip that we found ourselves in front of closed doors.
A bit further on in Fontaine-de-Vaucluse we were lucky to get a free spot on a large and almost full camper park. Not exactly what we had been looking for but good enough for one night.

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Originally we didn’t plan to visit Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, which has to reputation of being a popular tourist spot with well over a million visitors a year, but since we were there we gave it a try early in the morning.
A short walk from the ancient riverside village the river Sorgue is gushing out of the ground deep below a massive cliff. Depending on the amount of rainfall on the Plateau de Vaucluse this is sometimes one of the most powerful natural springs in the world. Back in the village the tourist shops had all opened up and it was time for us to move on after buying fresh bread and taking care of the waste water.

Red Ochre

Harald — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:56:19 +0000

[singlepic=39,200,,,right]Solar Tour 2008 – Day 10: From Buoux it is just a small drive north-west to Roussillon, one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France and known for its ochre mines. We first visited Ôkhra, the Conservatoire des ocres et pigments appliqués just outside of Roussillon. Here one can learn about the processing and use of the red ochre. They also have a shop with a great selection of art and design books as well as nice souvenirs.

Next we parked on the large paid parking just around the corner of the conservatory (motor homes are not allowed any further) and walked into town. Just besides the village we visited the former ochre quarry. The walk through the jagged cliffs of ochre was an otherworldly experience. Be prepared to get dirty!

Most of the old houses in the village are also painted in red ochre. A walk through the narrow medieval streets of the small center doesn’t take very long. Here one can find a lot of restaurants and souvenir shops offering pottery. Be aware that there is only one ATM in town. You can find it on the main road going up into the old center.

While it is allowed for motor homes to stay overnight on the paid parking, we didn’t feel like doing so. Large car parkings in touristic towns are not among those places where we feel comfortable and secure.

Fort de Buoux

Harald — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:42:35 +0000

License this image" href="http://www.walker-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/pan20080916-04.jpg" rel="lightbox[593]">Solar Tour 2008 – Day 10: Leaving Montfuron and its old mill behind us, we were soon on the D900 again, going west towards Apt. While Apt is certainly worth being visited, we didn’t feel like doing a city tour and instead visited the ruins of Fort de Buoux, 10 km south of Apt.
Fort de Buoux was built on the edge of the canyon of the Aigue Brun valley in the 12th century. Next to the ruins of the fort, there are also remains of an older abandoned hilltop village and one has a great view of the canyon, which is very popular with climbers.

Moulin de Montfuron

Harald — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:01:23 +0000

License this image" href="http://www.walker-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/2008-09-16-at-13-04-52.jpg" rel="lightbox[585]">Solar Tour 2008 – Day 10: Soon after Manosque on the route to Apt, we saw an old mill on a hill and since it was time for lunch, we decided to stop there. The Moulin de Montfuron was built under Louis XIV about 350 years ago and is the only windmill in the region, which still functions today.

From up there one has a great panoramic view over the surrounding countryside.

Le Blé en Herbe

Harald — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:23:21 +0000

[singlepic=35,200,,,right]Solar Tour 2008 – Day 10: We had about 5 days left on this tour, which meant that we could spend up to 3 more days in the Provence. We knew that we wanted to visit Nyons before returning to Holland. On the way there we wanted to visit the Luberon area, which we never visited before. In Manosque and were lucky to see a natural food store called Le Blé en Herbe. They had a great selection of organic food and we were able to get all we needed. The store belongs to biocoop, a chain of natural food stores with 311 branches all over France. On the biocoop site a list with all addresses is available, which is handy to have for traveling vegans like us.

Looking for black olive rolls

Harald — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:30:55 +0000

Solar Tour 2008 –Day 9: 8 years ago in May 2000 we have been camping in Les Salles-sur-Verdon. Back then in a small tent and our dog Jill was only 2 years old. Les Salles-sur-Verdon is a brand new town, which was created after the original historic village (mentioned in 1038) was destroyed when the Lac de Sainte-Croix was flooded with water. We returned to get some of the most delicious bread we have ever had. In 2008, each morning Chris went to the bakery and got fresh olive rolls, which were like small ciabata breads, filled with black olives. Since then we have tried to find and make breads like those olive rolls from Les Salles-sur-Verdon. We were looking forward to get the originals again. The campground Camping “La Source” was still there and it was nice to be back at a familiar place, but we were not able to get those olive rolls in town. Obviously in 8 years some things have changed.

Grand canyon du Verdon

Harald — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:18:44 +0000

License this image" href="http://www.walker-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/2008-09-15.jpg" rel="lightbox[502]">Solar Tour 2008 – Day 9: Soon after Trigance, we reached the Verdon Gorge, the world’s second largest gorge with a length of 25 kilometers and up to 700 meters deep. We’ve visited this impressive canyon a couple of time before but each time it is worth the visit. It is just breathtaking to see the ravine, which the turquoise-green Verdon river has cut through the limestone.

The Verdon river flows into the artificial Sainte-Croix lake, which was our final destination for the day. In les Salles-sur-Verdon we wanted to stay on a campground were Chris and I have been many years before on one of our first trips.

A detour to Trigance

Harald — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:17:52 +0000

License this image" href="http://www.walker-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/2008-09-15-at-15-57-32.jpg" rel="lightbox[494]">Solar Tour 2008 – Day 9: On our way to the Verdon Gorge and the St. Croix lake, we passed a sign about an old medieval village called Trigance. As it was just a small detour and since we needed fresh bread for dinner we decided to give it a try. The old village, first mentioned in 814, is situated underneath an imposing castle and is mostly car free. An historical and a botanical path guide the visitor through the Trigance, which has one church and two chapels on a population of 150. We didn’t find an open bakery.

The furthest point

Harald — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:33:34 +0000

License this image" href="http://www.walker-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/2008-09-15-at-12-59-54.jpg" rel="lightbox[488]">Solar Tour 2008 – Day 9: When we arrived at the Côte d’Azur, we came through Tourrettes-sur-Loup. At that time there was a pottery market and the town looked interesting enough to visit it again. It was just a short drive from Pont-du-Loup but once in Tourrettes-sur-Loup, again we had a hard time finding a parking space. Most regular car parks were not accessible for a motor home like ours. The old medieval center of the town itself was touristy with many craft and fashion stores but still had some charm. As we arrived around lunchtime almost all stores were closed and we didn’t feel like waiting.

At this point we’ve had enough of the Côte d’Azur. It was just too busy and touristic for us. Since we were in the middle of our tour, we had to start thinking about the route back. We had reached the furthest point of our trip.