It rained heavily yesterday evening and I was prepared for some flooded paths as I left after breakfast. It turned out not to be too bad, although there was a puddle here and there. Today was one of the longest stages on my trip along Via Aurelia, 36km with a modest elevation gain of 440m.
It was very much a day of two parts. The morning with dirt paths parallel to the Alpilles on my left hand and great views over a relatively flat landscape to the south passing before reaching Eyguieres. After Eyguieres it was small roads both before and after of Salon-de-Provence, before rounding off the day along another dirt track.
The day was mostly cloudy and not so warm as I started off walking through the golf course, devoid of players so early in the morning. I got stopped by a man in a golf buggy. He told me that I couldn’t walk on the course and should stay on the communal path, 20m away. Leaving the golf course, there was a short walk along a quiet road with a number of cyclists, before following a dirt path towards Moulin (windmill), parallel to the low mountains of the Alpilles, with their very sharp and almost horizontal tops. I passed lots of olive groves, so I assume that the Moulin was used to press olive oil. There wasn’t a lot of wheat and corn sorts in this area. There was a gradual climb of about 100m towards todays first village, Aureille.
Aureille was a pleasant village with a baker and bar (I didn’t stop), a local church (which was closed) and the ruins of a 12th century chateau overlooking the village. After the village I joined a path towards Eyguieres with even more spectacular views, both of the Alpilles, but also over the plains to the south, stretching towards the Mediterranean. It was a pity that the view was a bit hazy. I wasn’t the only person enjoying the walk. It is Saturday and there were many other people out walking, often with their dog, running or cycling.
I met my wife just before entering Eyguieres, and we walked into the centre, where the towns carnival was taking place. We sat down at a bar to get a coffee, and listened to a duo singing classic songs and watched the towns inhabitants hanging around the different stands serving food.
Next stop was Salon-de-Provence, one of the bigger towns in the area. From Eyguieres it was all road, albeit quiet roads. It was a mixture of houses near the town and countryside/fields that were ready to be planted once more stable warmer weather arrived.
My wife was spending a couple of hours in Salon, visiting the different sights.
I continued through the town and towards the Air Base, home of the French Air Force. Just across from the Air Base there was a statue dedicated to Saint Jacques and indicating the distance to Santiago (1640km) and to Rome (1102km).
I passed under the A7 motorway, on which we have travelled so often when we lived in the south of France, and continued, initially along roads and then along a dirt path passing many olive groves. I had agreed to meet my wife where the path met the D17 road. After a few SMS’s back and forth, we finally found each other – I’d walked ca. 10km after leaving Salon-de-Provence. We were staying in Aix-en-Provence for a couple of nights, and tomorrow I will walk from Aix back to the spot I stopped today.
A fabulous mornings walk, walking along good paths with the Alpilles showing the way. After Eyguieres it was a pleasant walk along quiet back roads, but nowhere near reaching the beauty of this mornings walk. It’s probably worth stopping for the night in Salon-de-Provence, as services are very limited afterwards.