Hiking the GR6, GR5 & Tour du Mont Blanc 

DAY 1: Saturday June 2nd: Paris, Avignon, Roussillon, St Saturnin: 9k: 2hrs 30: 18°C to 30°C very sunny and hot

I have to admit that on Day One of our 650k walk, we have had to revert to Plan B already. The bus that was supposed to take us to the start of our walk in Roussillon was a NO-SHOW.  But more on that later.  

Up at 5.30am, wizzed over the flat, cleaning the floor with Ian's old underpants, packed, left our "To be picked up later" box in the hole in the brickwork under the stairs and walked out the double green doors - every apartment block in Paris has double green doors to the courtyard.  We walk 300 metres to the Bastille to catch the Metro to Gare du Lyon.  Easy.  Get to Gare du Lyon, find the TGV, walk to the end of the train, about 1k long, and find seats 53 and 54.  Along comes the conductor and informs us we are actually in 2nd class when we have tickets for 1st class and we have to walk 1k back to the start of the train.  

The seats are really comfy and there's even a power point that I can plug into keep my computer fired up while I type the diary of yesterday.The TGV leaves 1 min late (French trains are almost as good as Swiss trains) and we roll out through French country side for 2hrs 40 mins and arrives at Cavaillon.  Outside, the bus is waiting but we have time sit on the grass and boil our billy for a cup of coffee .  We board the bus, and th bus driver, who speaks Frenchy English as he was a bus driver in the UK for 3 yrs, is nice, it pays to say Bonjour to everyone.  All French bus drivers are good - they have to be to squeeze around narrow roads and avoid cyclists and mad drivers, and our bus driver is exceptionally good at manoeuvring. We are the only 2 people on the bus so he takes us for a guided tour of Avignon.  Past the long wall and to the St Benezet's Bridge built in 1185 and subsequently called the dancing bridge.  The city housed the Pope and was a mini Vatican from 1309 to 1376 during which seven popes resided in Avignon.   

We arrive in Cavaillon expecting our bus connection to be there ready to depart for Roussillon at 12.25 but no bus.  I check my computer for the bus timetable I had fastidiously added to the itinerary, and yes there should be a bus.  I'm beginning to doubt my organisational abilities when we bump into a Russian couple who are also waiting for the bus to Roussillon and had seen the bus time table in Avignon.  We're a good combination.  She speaks French so was able to find out the blurb from another French bus driver, she then relayed the info to her partner in Russian, and he could speak English so he was able to fill us in.  Yes, there should be a bus but no one knows where it is.  We decide to revert to Plan B - there never was a Plan B but we quickly had to decide where to go.  This wasn't good.  It's the first day of our walk and we're already at Plan B and haven't been anywhere yet. 

We decide to get a bus to Apt, a large city south of St Saturnin Les Alpes,  and again, we are the only 2 passengers on the bus so the driver takes us for another guided tour through the hilltop villages of Provence - Menerbes, Lacoste, Bonnieux, and onto the main D900 highway towards Apt (this was the route of the Tour de France in 2008) - very pretty with hilltop villages spread in the valley between two mountain ranges - the Luberon and the Plateau of Vaucluse.  The flowery smells of spring in Provence wafting through the bus window are magnificent.  The bus driver drops us off in the middle of nowhere just before Apt and points across the highway to a narrow road that we hope heads towards St Saturnin.  A few hundred metres and we have no idea where we are, so Ian gets out his Samsung notepad, sets it to the IGN maps we have pre downloaded, and the GPS pinpoints our position exactly - just near the town of Gargas.  We're finally off on the start of our 650 walk to Mont Blanc.

Its hot.  30°C and my pack is really heavy with 2kg of extra of clothes I am supposed to be wearing because its supposed to be cold - jumpers, flannelette shirts, thermals and over pants are all piled in the pack.  We find a bar after 3k and have a Perrier and 2 teas and I immediately chuck out 2 extra shirts, undies, powdered milk, soap and miscellaneous food - that should get rid of 1kg.

We load up again and head for the hills - literally. St Saturnin looms in the distance as the prettiest little town with its prominent church steeple.  We arrive at 4.30 and there's a sign on the Hotel St Hubert - closed til 6pm.  We find a small bar, and several beers and wines later, and a stint on wifi courtesy of the bar, and we are ready to check in to St Huberts.  They have no record of my reservation - a bit of a worry. 

 But no problems, we are the only guests - another worry considering when I booked 3 weeks ago, every other hotel in town was full - the tourist office informed me it was Mother's Day June 3rd so reservations might be difficult.

But the room is OK, apart from the fact that it slopes down hill like most buildings in Provence that we have seen so far.  The slope in the bathroom is about 6 inches from one side to the other.  The reviews for the restaurant are good so we're looking forward to dinner on the terrace overlooking Provence. Dinner is typically French - each platter is exquisitely decorated.  We have pate, chicken and entrecôte (steak) on the terrace overlooking the rolling hills of Provence.  The restaurant is full and we realise the hotel is really a restaurant with the occasional guest.  

After dinner we stroll through the old town and admire the magnificent crumbling fortress on to pf the hill above us lit up with spotlights.  The temperature is perfect at 20°C.  We go to bed in the cool of the night.  Tomorrow is a 21k day to Chaloux.