OK, so we were being a bit silly to hike to 1400m above sea level in the middle of August, but what a stunning walk, and it was certainly an adventure. It all started when we saw that the cars were parked all along the road as far back as 3km from the start of the walk, but we took a chance and drove straight up to the car park anyway, and bagged a spot just next to the donkeys and horses for hire.
If I wasn’t so scared of them, I would have seriously considered this otion as the ground was arid, and I could see straight away that this was going to be a long, hot slog. The walk climbs 500m from the car park to 1344m above sea level (4,298 feet). It doesn’t sound like much but in 30 degrees with very little shade, and a very steep ascent in places, I was quite envious of the children that passed while we were taking a well earned rest.
I am a motivational complainer, so the harder something is, the more I complain! We’d run out of water only about half way to the lake and I was finding it hard going in the heat, but it was a bit of a toss up whether I might expire from heat exhaustion, or from being pushed over the edge by Florence who was fed up with my whinging! Luckily, with a few stops, we made it to the lake and it was well worth the effort and the near death experience!!
Having started late in the day, we were lucky to have the lake almost to ourselves. The reflections in the water were amazing and so clear. In the summer, pink and white water lilies cover the surface, and although it was August, a couple were still in flower.
We walked further round the lake and discovered a view point hidden amongst the trees. From here you can really appreciate how high you are, and it was a bit scary leaping from rock to rock to get the best shot. We were starting to lose the light a bit so the colours were more vivid in real life than they look on the photos.
We walked back down amongst the tall pines, and continued our tour round the lake. We came across a small family of pigs (mum and two babies) who weren’t at all scared of people and were obviously hungry, but we didn’t have anything to give them.
On the other hand, they were lucky I’d only brought my small rucksack because they were so cute that one of them would have almost certainly been coming home with me, and I’m not sure if they’d have been too happy living on my balcony in Propriano…
We carried on back to the beginning and sat for a while just enjoying the peace and quiet as well as the beautiful views, before heading back.
When we got back to the hotel, I had a good laugh at Florence when she showed me how dirty her legs were. That was until I took my socks off and realised that I looked like I had dark brown footless tights on where all the dust had settled. Yuk!
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