Our family’s favorite way to get to know a place we love is to explore it on foot. While Jordan and Laura were with us here in Mirabel, we did a lot of hiking together. Mirabel is located in the département Drôme Provençale, just over the border from the the Vaucluse. The weather has been perfect for exploring our region on foot.
In this post I will tell you about three different ways to find great hikes in our region. We didn’t bring any maps or guide books from home. We found it easy to get information and resources here, mostly right here in the village.
Itineraires de Randonnées dans La Drôme The tourist office here in Mirabel sells a wonderful guide to hiking in the Drôme. Included are 20 hikes in varying levels of difficulty. Each hike has a step by step page with directions (written in French), a detailed map, and background information about the landscape and villages you will see. We went on three of these hikes and enjoyed each one. The variety in the landscape is astounding. We walked through gentle hills and vineyards on one hike, on another we hiked through steep gorges and ravines with wildflower filled meadows overlooking ranges of mountains in the distance. I’m sure we will make our way through all 20 in time.
Promenade & Randonnée guide For Father’s Day, Jordan and Laura found this hiking guidebook in La Maison de la Presse bookstore in nearby Vaison la Romaine. Although it is in French, it is easy to interpret because it uses simple symbols and categories to convey information about each hike, as well as stunning photographs. This book really whetted our appetite to explore areas all over the Drôme.
Carte de Randonnée IGN 1:25000-1 cm=250 m Jordan led us on a truly memorable ramble around the twin ridges of the Dentelles de Montmirail, located in the Vaucluse. We bought the very detailed IGN maps at our local tabac just around the corner. Jordan figured out by consulting the map where we could park, where to begin the randonnee to circumnavigate the twine spines of the rocky formations at the top, and an interesting route to navigate through the landscape. Absolutely stunning views and scenery.
Here is a 360 panorama of one viewpoint along the hike. Here’s another viewpoint.
View of one of the holes in the rock wall at the top of Dentelles des Montmirail.
View of vineyards below, another spine of the Dentelles in distance.