Having a special hiking trail to celebrate the Year of Culture has always struck me as being an inspired idea and very much in the ‘plein air’ spirit of this lovely part of France. As usual though, it has taken some time to figure out exactly what is going to be happening. Communications so far have been telling us how poetique et inédit the whole thing will be…now detail is emerging for the coming weekend.
The trail will be 365km in the shape of a large butterfly, crossing over at the Aix TGV station. It will pass through 38 communes and would take 20 days to walk. It isn’t though just a typical Provencal hike. The route will go right through Plan de Campagne, giving us all a different view of the shopping centre (I hope one can stop for cake….) and also through some of the industrial complexes at the Etang de Berre.
The launch this coming weekend (22-24th March) will involve 4 relay teams of 400 people whose handover batons will contain GPS transmitters. Locals can cheer them on or, better still, join in. It’s a fairly complex series of events which is why they must have had to take time to work the detail. It’s best to check out the website on www.mp2013.fr/gr2013 to see what is happening near you. However, this being Aixcentric, these are our times:
Sat 23. 11.30 Gardanne, 13.30 Meyreuil, 15.00 Aix (I’m assuming it is going via Le Tholonet and the Route Cézanne). Sun 24. 10.45 Fondation Vasarely 13.30 Aix TGV Station.
In addition to this inauguration, there will be special events and art installations at various spots along the way during the year. For instance, we saw a TV programme about the sound installations around Martigues where the wind will blow through various structures and make lots of noise! ‘Wouldn’t want to live near there’, said M. Aixcentric not being very poetique about the whole thing. Their special weekend is 12-14 April. Click below for the flyer with details of the individual ‘temps forts’.
http://www.mp2013.fr/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/MP2013-A3A6-GR2013-carte-dépliant-WEB-1.pdf
I may well get my hiking boots out and join in………if the rain holds off. Let’s hope so!
I couldn’t drive that far let alone walk it…
Think of the exercise…AND it cuts through 5 vineyards!