Le Tarn à pied

We spent this past weekend in the Tarn* again, this time chez Mélina and Jordan in their amazing house en brique et colombage (in brick and half-timber). Wish I had taken pictures, but to give you an idea of the style, here's an image from Place Plumereau in Tours, where I spent many an hour in the cafés back in 2002-2003:


Determined to make the most of the good weather on Saturday afternoon, we set out en masse (Mélina, Jordan, David, Angéline, Amandine, Thomas, Bastien, and I) for une randonnée (a hike) near the village of Milhars. Within about half-an-hour, we arrived at an impressive cascade (waterfall):


Which, of course, needed to be explored for any potential caillou-ting (see post on Brittany, Le pays de la pluie éternelle, for a definition).


After climbing under and over and around the waterfall and after determining it's source several meters higher up, we were content to move on. Jordan and crew had to head home, but Bastien, Angéline, and I soldiered on, led by our fearless guide, David (aka Agenda XXI):


There was threat of wolves and bandits along the forrested trail, so David surveyed the lay of the land and plotted our course from strategic lookouts. (Okay, no wolves or bandits, but Bastien did see a viper. Eek! In the photo above, David poses on the platform of a hunter's post that we passed along the way. Fortunately hunting season is over. I would not want to be taken for a chevreuil (deer)!!).

In addition to our fearless guide, we brought along an indefatiguable botanist (a certain Bastien Leduc). Every flower deserves a picture! Amazing we finished the hike before nightfall, but we weren't in a hurry. Every once in a while (2 minutes), you need to stop and smell the orchidées sauvages (wild orchids) and other flora. I must admit, they are beautiful:


This one apparently looks like a nest of little monkeys (space monkeys? what do you think?):


And this one is really astounding. Mimicry in nature! There's no bee in the photo, it's part of the flower!:


Here we are at one of the highest vantage points along the route. As he was taking the picture, Bastien told us to pose comme des stars (like stars), hence my ridiculous stance. Ignore me, check out the view!:


And a little further along, we could see Cordes, the Medieval hilltown, off in the distance:


At the end of the day, we were thirsty for more hiking! If it doesn't rain this weekend, we're heading straight for the Pays Basque!

*The Tarn is the 81st department in France and is part of the larger region of Midi-Pyrénées. Albi is the chef-lieu (capital). Bastien grew up in the area (in Gaillac and in Castelnau de Montmiral, where his parents live now).