PROVENCE - Rustrel & the Colorado de Provence

The Colorado de Provence is actually what prompted this trip to Provence because I’d seen Florence’s fabulous photos from their trip in November and thought to myself ‘I want some of that!’



First stop was the village of Rustrel because in true travel professional style, I hadn’t bothered to print directions to the site – ho-hum! On the plus side, the market was on which gave us the chance to indulge in a spot of soap buying, and a quick coffee on the square and a chat with the proprietor (who was not dissimilar to René from ‘Allo ‘Allo) confirmed we were on the right track.



Basically, this is an area of enormous earth pillars, quarries and amazing colours in all shades from white and ochre through to deep blood reds. One of the most surprising things is that the site is free, yes FREE! We paid just 3 euros to park the car and could then have happily spent the whole day there.



There are three different marked trails which take anything from just under an hour on the shorted route, to about 3 hours for the longest route which incorporates the two shorter trails as well as a few extra bits and bobs



We’re both keen walkers, so we decided to follow the longer path. I was glad I’d put on my fab new walking boots rather than trainers, as there were a few sections at the beginning with loose stones, but essentially this is one for all the family.



For me, the best bit – well, the most unusual – was the area known as the ‘Sahara’. This is where the earth was deepest in colour. You can climb up to the cliffs and walk along which was an amazing experience. You don’t realise how high they are until you look down and see people as the barren landscape doesn’t give much perspective.



My top tip is don’t try to talk up on the cliffs as you’ll end up eating a mouthful of dust if it’s windy! It was almost like being in a sandstorm, and I was glad I’d though to put my glasses on, even though it wasn’t particularly sunny.



There were a couple of curiosities along the way including a little mud man that someone had carved into the rock. On the one hand amusing and I’m sure the kids liked it, but at the same time a shame to spoil such an amazing site.

All in all, we managed to do the full circuit in just over 2 hours. We didn’t dawdle and we are both keen walkers so we probably did it quicker than most, but equally we had to allow time for my OCD photo taking, so they probably over-estimate the times of the walks a bit in the pamphlet