Dreaming of France -- Heating Up

Thank you for joining this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.

Here we are in the heat of summer, and it reminded me of a hot time we had in France last year.
We usually visit France in the spring or fall, avoiding crowds, but in southern France, it can get plenty warm even in the spring.
The one hot day on our last visit, was the day we decided to hike up Mont Ste. Victoire near Aix en Provence.

From here, the top of the mountain seems so far away.

We had some trouble finding the beginning of the trail, but eventually we
saw a sign that assured us we were headed to the cross on top of the mountain.

The entry to the path goes over a dam.

Once up on the mountain, we could see the nuclear power plant in the distance. 

Although we hiked over very rocky ground for a couple of hours, we  never quite made it to the cross at the top. Some people were doing mountain running. They raced past us jumping from rock to rock. Amazing.

Getting closer.

As close as we got before we climbed back down the mountain. 

Next time, we'll take  more water and food, and we'll start earlier to make sure we reach the summit.
And after we finished our hike up Mont Sainte Victoire, we stopped for ice cream, of course.

Thanks so much for playing along with Dreaming of France today. Please leave your name and blog address in Mr. Linky below, and leave a comment letting me know what  you think about my love affair with France, or your own love affair. And consider visiting the blogs of others who play along so we can all share the love. 

I'm also linking to All About France