La Baume à Poulx

About 40 minutes from home. The first weekend after two months’ confinement. Beautiful spring day - 25C with a bit of a stiff breeze at times. From Poulx, a couple of kilometers along a narrow road, then leave the car at the parking area (at about 180 metres high). The gravelly track leads about 2.5 km around the edges of the gorge. The final sections, leading down to the banks of the Gardon River, are a series of switchbacks, zig-zagging through abandoned terraces and overgrown gardens.

The terraces are the only remaining traces of a hotel that was popular here until the early 1900s.

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The gravel path from the carpark winding around the sides of the gorges

After a kilometer or so - some glimpses of the Gardon River and the gorges stretching into the distance…. The cliffs are about 100 metres high.

The last part of the walk down takes us through the abandoned terraces. Lots of steps (which have been kept in good condition!)

And finally down to the banks of the river…

There are two disused flour mills - one on each bank - there used to be a weir all the way across (which also served as a causeway unless the river level was particularly high. A section of the weir was washed away, and not replaced. The larger, taller mill building was in use until the early 20th century. The other one, built in the 1500s, has not been used for quite some time.

Packed lunch sitting on one of the rocks, then back up the path and home…