Day 1 Saint André-les-Alpes to Castellane

In 2002 we went to Europe for our third walking holiday.  We mapped out a route from Saint André-les-Alpes to Riez, which looked like it would be an interesting route, featuring a hike through the Verdon River Gorge and a stopover in the pilgrimage destination of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie.  Much of the walk would be on the GR4 hiking route.

Day 1  
Sept 18, 2002

Lac de Castillon between Saint André-les-Alpes and Castellane

Travelling with our friends, Dave and Dianne, we took the TGV (high speed train) from Paris to Nice and then went to another train station a few blocks away and caught the Train des Pignes, the narrow gauge railroad that would take us to St. André.  The train travels through many tunnels at it climbs its way through mountain passes and along side rushing rivers.  It is a beautiful and scenic ride in itself and if time had allowed we would have stopped in the fortified village of Entrevaux.

We had booked accommodation the family run Le Clair Logis and our hostess, a dear lady, met us at the station in St. Andre and drove us to the Logis.  It had been a long day of travel and the next day would be a long day on the trail, so we retired to bed early after a very good meal.

The next morning we were up at 7 and met for a breakfast of croissants and baguettes accompanied by jam and, of course, café au lait.

Breakfast at Le Clair Logis

After breakfast we had a quick look around the town while we gathered our lunch supplies.  Saint André-les-Alpes is a popular destination not only for the hiking it has to offer, but for bothhang-gliding and paragliding, as well as fishing in Lac de Castillon.

Cheryl ready to go in the morning

Hiking out of St. Andre

Leaving Saint André-les-Alpes we ventured out of town following the well marked trail (this first part the route to Castellane was not on the GR4).  We very soon started climbing and in no time at all had splendid views of Lac de Castillon and the beautifully situated village of Saint-Julien-du-Verdon, huddled up on its shores.

The route was both interesting and challenging at times...

Refilling water bottles along the way

At the end of a long day we arrived in Castellane and booked into an adequate hotel, where we ate a mediocre meal.  We phoned ahead to Point Sublime see if we could get into the  Auberge du Point Sublime for the next day, but they were full (they only have 13 rooms), and they are the only place to stay, but we could get in there on the day after, so we booked that instead.  That means that we will have two short days to get there.  We found a little place on the way called Chastieul, only 10 km away, that had rooms for us, so that is where we will be headed tomorrow.