ASSIGNAN WALK WITH PICS - JUNE, 2018

There's not much to say about this walk. It's typical of the region. Typical except that Assignan is an interesting experiment in foreign ownership of a French village. (See how they market the "French village experience" HERE.) And don't forget the Belgian-inspired beer available at the end of the walk. The walk itself is partially wooded and shaded, partially open and in the vines, with some spectacular views and an oddity or two.

Visit other walks and my observations on French life HERE. Enjoy.

An 'official' walk starting in an overgrown parking lot

Lower sections shaded.

But every once in a while the path opens up.

Everywhere that I go, brooom finds me and my nose.

The vines are exceptionally lush this year.

Back into the woods.

This one won't make my collection of stone walls.

Can you see it?

Closer. Right in the middle of the trail. Not many walkers this year, I guess.

How to choose? Follow the marked trail. Blue lines. I've shown them before.

Tended vines in the most remote places.

Amazonia?

The walls of a hamlet? I keep threatening to bring a shovel with me.

Broom follows me where ever I go!

Upland meadow.

You just have to stop and look.

Hunter's stand. Deer? Boar?

Open...

...and closed up again.

At the end, a bit of road.

A photography installation throughout the village. Even an illuminated one in an olive grove.

LES BARRALETS, ASSIGNAN: 6.5KM WALK WITH PICS

Roger, Quarante's Walk Meister, will be headed back home to the UK soon. Truth be told, as summer gives way to fall and winter approaches, walks to the tops of local ridges can become quite windy and cold. Not yet, though. Yes, there's a chill in the air and the breeze can be a bit more biting than refreshing. But there are still plenty of days when a good stretching of the legs while taking in a panoramic view is proper exercise.

We've walked a loop around Assignan before. This route differs. Shorter. Rockier. And a bit closed in. But the view opens up nicely at the top. You can learn more about this walk HERE. Enjoy the pics.

From parking in a picnic grove, the path begins by tunneling through greenery.

It doesn't have the open views of some walks in the beginning.

But it does open out occasionally.

Well marked. That's the symbol for mountain bike trails.

Rocky, rocky soil. Rocky, rocky path.

The Troops

Our Meister

The higher that you go, the wider the vista.

Rocks cleared from fields and vineyards may be just piled up, may become walls, or may be used to construct huts called capitales.

Cheap cameras don't do the view justice.

You just have to stop and look.

No, not art. Just a mistake.

Hunters' blinds. Deer? Boar? Hare?

Pretty late season bloomer.

Civilization!

A fenced, tiny pond with benches on the side of the pavement. Sit and watch the ripples. Nothing else going on.

Maybe the ruins of an old windmill...

Why not stop for coffee? We've earned it.