After a couple of days in Nimes and a day in Uzes and Arles, I was back on the road, on a warm day, turning more and more cloudy as the day progressed. The day ended with a torrential downpour, but luckily I wasn’t walking by then. From Arles I will primarily follow the GR 653A, the Via Aurelia.
I left Arles along a busy approach road to Arles, passing the yellow house painted by Van Gogh. I continued along the D17, through the countryside, passing the imposing Abbaye de Montmajour, a fortified Benedictine monastery built between the 10th and 18th centuries on what was then an island. I decided against a visit and continued along the D17, before taking a smaller road leading to a forested area with paths with small ups and downs, and a roman aqueduct towards Fontvieille.
Just before Fontvieille, I took a detour to see the Moulin of Alphonse Daudet, named after the writer of a very famous book in France, “Letters from my Windmill”, with stories from Provence. The windmill was built in 1815 and was in use until 1915 and restored in 1935. My wife had also stopped in the village and walked up to the windmill.
We walked into the pretty village of Fontvieille, passing a Boulodrome on the way. The village was packed with people, as it was market day. We stopped for a coffee at a busy cafe, across from the market.
Leaving her, I passed the church and Chateau, the former holiday home of Alphonse Daudet which is now a museum in his honour. I passed another windmill on the way up to a pleasant path through forest and olive groves, with views of the steep incline towards the mountain village of Les Baux and the Alpilles, a range of low mountains.
I walked the 10km towards Maussane-les-Alpilles passing yet another chateau, Chateau Escanin, which I am sure had seen better days.
Walking towards Maussane, I walked along a disused railway track which back in the day connected Arles and Salon de Provence, but is now a rough path around Maussane. My wife had driven to Mausanne and noted that even in March there were many tourists, meaning that it would probably be totally overrun during summer with its large square and numerous cafes. We visited a baker, and the lady who served us turned out to be Danish. She had moved here, with her husband, the baker, from Paris. The bread was excellent.
I had hardly left the village before there were a few rain drops. It got worse and I fished out my cape. As is often the case, by the time I got it on, it had all but stopped raining again. I continued along a combination of small roads and paths towards todays destination Mouries, staying on the route at a small hotel on the golf course. I hadn’t seen many vines along the way, but quite a number of olive groves.
After a quick shower, we took the car to visit Les-Baux, the mountain village perched on top of a mountain. Despite finding a parking spot, we couldn’t pay for it, as the parking machine refused to accept credit cards and notes, so we drove to the pleasant town of Saint-Remy-de-Provence and arrived in the middle of a downpour. We took a quick walk around town, stopped for a coffee and cake, before driving back along small roads in, at times, torrential rain.
I walked a total of 27 kilometers. There were places to stop on the road out of Arles, and in Fontvieille and Maussane-les-Alpilles. It was a pleasant walk once leaving the D17 (after 7kms), along dirt paths and small roads, through forests and olive groves and beautiful views towards the rugged Alpilles mountain range.
A couple of pictures from the picturesque town of Saint-Remy-de-Provence – in the rain.
