Saturday 2nd July: Slightly overast skies warm with a late shower, 18°C to 23°C
St Dalmas Le Selvage to Bousieyas: 12k walk: 9.20am to 2.20pm: 5 hrs
Accommodation: : Le Clef Vert Bousieyas
Roxanne and Jan from Belgium
Another spectacular day in the Alpes crossing the Col de la Colombiere at 2232 metres with views on all sides to the Alpes Provence to our North and the Alpes Maritimes to the south. Tomorrow at the Pas de Cavale, we cross the border of between these alps.
Today is an early start because Anna and Flaurent, our hosts, are driving up to the Lacs de Vens to hike with their family - their son Faust, brother Tim and friend Minnie from Scotland. So breakfast is early at 7.30am. Bread and butter with home made jam, yoghurt and muesli, with syrupy strong coffee (the way the French like it but not me). We strip the beds so Anna can get the washing started before they leave for their hike and pack up. After a chat with our Belgian friends who are walking to Refuge de Sestrieres high up the top end of the Vallon du St Dalmas, we walk out of this pretty village in narrow streets.
The track climbs through fields of flowers with views back to St Dalmas Le Selvaget. It's warm climbing and in 2 hrs we've reached Col de la Colombere at 2237 Metres, a 700 metre climb from St Dalmas at 1500 metres. Time for a leisurely morning tea sitting in a shallow divot at the col to avoid the breeze. At midday, we make a move to go down. The sign says 1hr to Bousieyas, but we decide to walk down the easier grade on the gravel road and soon the 6 house village of Bousieyas comes into view. It's a strange valley. This side of the mountain is fully forested but the opposite side is spartan meadows and bare mountains.
Climbing up and up
St Dalmas le Selvage
Up through the flowers
More up and up
To see this magnificent view
And this magnificent view
Through fields of flowers
Tracks, flowers and alps
Col de la Colombiere in sight
Col de la Colombiere 2237m
Morning tea at the col
More spectacular alps views
And mor craggy alps
Bousieyas down below
Today is Saturday, so every motor bike rider in Switzerland, Italy and France seems to be on this road. Bunches of thirty at a time whizzing up, and another forty whizzing down. The valley is abuzz with roaring engines. At 1.30pm, we reach the bottom, and stop under a shady pine tree near the rushing creek for lunch. Left over butter, stale bread, one tomato, half a capsicum and a hunk of cheese we've bought from Anna in St Dalmas. It's very tasty even though it’s one of our more spartan lunches.
It starts to rain as we walk the last 100 metres into Bousieyas so we walk faster. The first place we come to is the Gite Communal Bousieyas with dozens of bikers drinking and having lunch under the umbrellas set up for the sun but now more useful in the rain. Up a paved path, we see Le Clef Vert, our chambre d'hote. The door is unlocked so we enter to get out of the rain and wait until the place opens at 4pm. But we're lucky and Michel Pesce, our host, welcomes us - we've booked 2 double rooms. We speak a mix of French and English and manage to find there's WiFi with a visa card like code, and that dinner is at 7pm. We're no sooner settled when the rain tumbles down - the first time we've seen heavy rain the whole trip.
The place is basic but almost new, and the showers work well and they're hot. We only need to wash a shirt and undies today as it wasn't a long day and not sweaty. Michel tells us it's likely to rain tomorrow and there's snow on the col. But a check of the Meteo France says it should be fine and several hikers we’ve met who have come over the col had not mentioned the snow, so it can't be too bad - we think.
There's a lounge room upstairs where we sit with good WiFi in the warmth - it's still drizzling and cool outside. After showers and washing clothes, we're down to the Gite Communal de Bousieyas having a drink with our Danish friends Peter and Rikki. The rain has eased but it's cold by the time we wander back the 50 metres to Le Clef Vert where Michel has already laid out the table and lit the fireplace.
Dinner is milky vegetable soup, followed by garlicky potato and chicken pie, then sherbet ice cream and sliced fruit. We chat for a long time to Peter and Rikki before going to bed. Michel repeats his concern that we must be over the Pas de la Cavale before midday to avoid the afternoon storms so we're mentally prepared to get up early and go.
Motorbikes buzzing the valley
Lunch by the stream Bousieyas
And then it rained
And then it rained - heavily
Dinner cooked by Michel Pesce by the fire with Peter and Rikki