Ardèche

L'Arche naturelle du "Pont d'Arc" est l'une des curiosité naturelle des gorges de l'Ardèche les plus photographiée.
Un grand angle est impératif pour le photographier (photo prise à 15mm).
D'autres images sont aussi possible depuis le bord de la route avec une vue de plus haute.
Une nuit à l'hôtel Belvédère (à 500m.) vous permettra de faire des images avec les lumières du soir et du matin.

A bit of a postcard shot, but who could resist a view like this?

The is the Gorge de l'Ardeche in Southern France. The river Ardeche has carved it's way through a high Limestone plateau, the resulting gorge has become known as Europe's Grand Canyon (but it is a bit smaller....quite a bit really...). The cliffs are up to 300metres (about a 1000 feet) high. The gorge is about 30 kilometres long and the river is full of canoes in the summer. The gorge apparently has some 2000 caves in it's walls, many of then were inhabited by ancient man. The most famous is the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc which has some of the earliest known cave paintings - it is quite extraordinary.

These gentle rapids are deep in the Gorge du Chassezac, near the town of Les Vans and the village of Berrias et Castlejau in the Ardeche, Southern France. The Chassezac carves its way through Limestone hills that are topped with the Bois do Paiolive, an Oak wood with the most extraordinary limestone towers and outcrops.

Pont d'Arc is one of the great natural wonders of France. The river Ardeche had carved its way through a range of Limestone hills creating a deep steep-sided gorge on the way to meeting up with the Rhone quite a few miles to the east. Originally, at the entrance to the gorge the river followed a sharp meander around a substantial limestone escarpment, but over time the water dissolved away the rock until it broke through creating this magnificent natural rock arch. The 'hole' is apparently 59 metres wide (194 feet) by 34 metres high (112 feet), so it is more than big enough to allow this substantial river through. We were lucky enough to visit on a glorious October day with the leaves turning gold, and hardly a soul about. From reports on TripAdvisor and the like, backed up by the number of campsites and canoe hire shops nearby it is apparently very different at the height of summer. By all reports the river is more akin to the Arc de Triomphe at rush-hour and if you do join in the industrial scale duck race on the water you will be lucky not to get a paddle round the back of the head if you stop to look up at the arch. That may seem hard to believe from the tranquil scene we encountered, with a few folk lazying about on the beach just by the Arc, giving me the opportunity to slow down and take a few long exposure shots of WATER (you know I love water) in the wam still air that barely stirred the leaves - wonderful!

My recent trip to the south of France was more of a family holiday than a photography trip, but there was the odd opportunity to get out with the camera. One such opportunity was getting up before dawn to scoot down to the Pont d'Arc which has to be one of my favourite places in that part of the world. Pont d'Arc is one of the great natural wonders of France. The river Ardeche had carved its way through a range of Limestone hills creating a deep steep-sided gorge on the way to meeting up with the Rhone quite a few miles to the east. Originally, at the entrance to the gorge the river followed a sharp meander around a substantial limestone escarpment, but over time the water dissolved away the rock until it broke through creating this magnificent natural rock arch. The 'hole' is apparently 59 metres wide (194 feet) by 34 metres high (112 feet), so it is more than big enough to allow this substantial river through. In the summer this place is mobbed out with canoes, but on this morning I quite literally had the place to myself. I arrived in the dark, and watched as the sun rose and lit up the arch and the neighbouring tower, and the sky turned the outrageously deep blue you see in these parts. It was good for the soul!

Le belvédère des Templiers est certainement un des plus beaux point de vue sur les gorges de l'Ardèche depuis la route panoramique des Gorges D290. Un objectif grand angle, voir ultra grand angle est indispensable.

The "Belvédère des Templiers" is certainly one of the most beautiful point of view of the scenary road D290.\

Sometimes you look at nature and wonder how on earth did that happen? I had that feeling when I found this full grown tree sprouting out of the wall of the fort at Banne.
I had watched the sunrise from the top of this fort, and as the sun started to climb over the low hills to the east I had a walk round the lower level if the fort to see how it looked in the low sun. The walls are sheer and glowed nicely in the golden light, but how that tree managed to take hold and thrive is beyond me. Oh and the view out across the vineyards in the valley below was quite wonderful.

The rising sun creeps into the sky and the first golden rays hit the tops of limestone outcrops that line the Gorge de l'Ardeche. In the summer this place is mobbed out with canoes, but on this morning I quite literally had the place to myself. I arrived in the dark, and watched as the sun rose and lit up the Pont d'Arc and the neighbouring tower, and the sky turned the outrageously deep blue you see in these parts. It was good for the soul!

The Bear and the Lion, locked in mortal combat and frozen into stone in the Bois de Paiolive.
The Bois de Paiolive is another extraordinary natural wonder in the Ardeche. in the main it is a massive tangle of stunted white Oak trees that grow up and around bizarrely shaped outcrops of limestone, such as L'Ours et le Lion, (the Bear and the Lion) which is a good 10 metres high. It is such a labyrinth that it is quite easy to get disorientated in amongst the towers, passages, and trees. It is a quite a tricky place to photograph, but quite extraordinary to visit. ...and if you do end up down that way, drop in for lunch at the L'Olivier de Paiolive which is close to the Bear and the Lion on the same road - that restuarant is absolutely outstanding!

I watched another sunrise from the fort at the picturesque village of Banne in the Ardeche, southern France. It was yet another glorious morning, with the grape harvest underway in the valley below. The shot is looking across the olive groves with the early morning sun picking out the silvery leaves, towards the village church on the opposite hill.