Hike "Le Gros Pata"

Place : France » Provence Alps Riviera » Vaucluse » Bédoin

Source : This hike is described in the guide PR - Le Pays du Ventoux à pied, page 38. You will find inside a description of the track, a map, some information about the signs, the difficulties...

Comment and photos of : Les webmasters - 39 years old - couple
Added the : 25 July 2005 Duration : 3 h 15 min Starting point : very easy to find Signs : bad	Physical capacity : quite easy Landscape : quite nice Global mark : quite good

Comment : This hike, called ‘Le Gros Pata’ is divided in three sections.
The first section leads you from the car park behind the tourism office of Bédoin to the foot of the coomb Obscure. It is rather boring and the Madeleine Chapel, a private historic monument with access fee, is almost invisible.
Then, you walk up the coomb Obscure with its little caves and its climbing walls to reach the top and to admire the panoramic view on the surroundings and the Gros Pata.
Finally, you walk back to Bédoin via the ochre quarry.
The beginning and the end of this hike are a copy of the walk called ‘Le Coeur’ which we had already done. For us, there was nothing surprising or new except from the coomb Obscure. Certainly, this is a beautiful section, especially at the end, under the trees, but it is not that nice as the coomb of Curnier.
Note : the track was badly indicated, especially on the way back. The fact that you have often sign boards is not enough. There must be signs between it.
In short, a rather unsatisfying hike half countryside, half coomb. Try rather the hike ‘Le Coeur’, 100 % countryside and ‘La combe de Curnier’, 100 % coomb !

Click on the photos to enlarge them