Mont Saint Victoire: Breathtaking (literally)

Yesterday I hiked up Mont St Victoire with about 12 other people in the program group (including Sara).  It was quite a memorable experience.  As I have explained before, Aix is famous for the Mistral.  Well yesterday (and today to a lesser extent) was "graced" by the gale-force wind.  Add that to climbing up a mountain and what do you get?  Almost being blown off the mountain (I wish I was kidding) about a million times yesterday.

When we started in the morning, it was pretty cold but I was confident that the sun would warm the day up and I would be fine in running shorts (I brought a fleece pullover just in case - it was a good thing too, it saved me from turning into a Maggie-sicle).  Turns out I was grossly mistaken.  Yesterday was actually freezing.  The wind was soooooo cold.  And at some points it made me almost fall over.  During the hike up, I had to take a few "breathers" to avoid being turned into a human kite.  And I say "breathers" sarcastically because the wind was blowing so hard that it often took the breathe out of my mouth (hence the breathlessness).  Nevertheless the hike (all 5 hours of it) was really enjoyable.  I got to know many of the people in my group that I don't normally see (different class/sleep schedules...).

We made it to just below the summit around lunch.  There was an old monastery up there - which was really surprising and beautiful.  We took a break for lunch and then some of us went to the actual summit.  There was a cross on top of it (part of the monastery).  It was very precarious and pretty scary being up there (the wind here was especially strong - and by especially I mean terrifyingly).  At one point on the way down (I tried to follow Sara down but she was too quick) I had to cling ro a rock face (think Gollum from Lord of the Rings scrambling up the mountain - it looked like that, but worse).  But then the rest of the group caught up to me and we scampered down to the shelter where we had lunch.  After lunch we headed down (a much easier but occasionally treacherous process). I don't know how mountain goats do it.  Let's just say I think I am better suited for sea-level.

Despite all the near death experiences, I am super glad I went.  I can now cross climbing Mont Saint Victoire off my bucket list - and I never have to do it again.  Also it was a great opportunity to talk to people in my group.  And Sara and I had a delicious lunch of champions - fresh baguette and goat cheese.

Sara, Maggie, Ellen on top of Mont Saint Victoire 

Parts of the old monastery 

We climbed to the tippy top of the bigger mountain - the pointy bit