A few of the hikes we had done so far had been recommended by the Lonely Planet guidebook and we have often found that if a hike is recommended in the book it is certainly worth doing. The Cirque d’Estaube was one of these hikes and so we once again packed up the van and drove about half an hour and up a windy road up a valley to the start of the hike.
Here upon we encountered the main problem with popular guidebooks. The small car park was packed. There were about 5 other cars circling the car park looking for spots where they could wedge their vehicles in. With vertical drops all around the edge of the car park we decided just to drive a few bends down the mountain where we had seen a few spots and park there. I have to note that not only did none of the other cars follow us down but we passed another half dozen who also managed to find spots around the edges of the already packed parking lot!
Obviously with such a full car park we were going to encounter quite a few other hikers but as usual once we found our pace we found ourselves on our own on the track and heading up a beautiful valley. Not only are the views magnificent but the sound of the bells on the necks of the cows and sheep resonating through the valley are quite unique to the alps of Europe and definitely add to the experience.
We have been doing a lot of hiking and cycling on our trip and while we have also been enjoying the food and wine as well along the way we must be getting a bit fitter as we both felt fine after the hike not our usual exhausted selves…so we rewarded ourselves with a drink at the local bar which meant we were sat right on the road sipping our drinks watching the world go by on a four way intersection that I still have no idea who has right of way on!!! T
