Lynn Amber - Travel & Photography
sharing my thoughts through words and images
Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve 1.15.25
While we are hanging out at our son’s home in Skylonda on the Bay Area Peninsula, I have been exploring the many open space preserves that exist here along the coastal Santa Cruz Mountains. I just discovered the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve and it’s a mere 15 minute drive from our son’s property!
Today was my second hike here and I brought the big camera this time! One of the trails in the preserve is named the Ancient Oaks Trail and there are quite a few “speciman” Coastal Live Oaks that give this trail its name. I’ll be posting some more photos over the next couple of days!
California Native Plants 1.9.2025
Brittle Leaf Manzanita is native to the Central California coast and distributed mostly in the coastal foothills between the San Francisco Bay Area and south to Santa Barbara. I found this plant growing in the La Honda Creek Open Creek Preserve at the higher elevations of these hills. It’s a beautiful large shrub or small tree – wider that tall and sporting deep red/burgundy peeling bark. Love it!!
Los Gatos Creek Bike Trail 1.8.2025
Today we did a road trip with our grand-dog, Wylie, and ended up exploring the Vascona Lake County Park located in Los Gatos, CA. There is a bike/hike trail that runs through the park called the Los Gatos Creek Trail. The park is a nice slice of green in an area that is quite urban. I was surprised to see some flowering shrubs and trees. Notably, the Island Bush Snapdragon above was growing along the banks of the lake. It is apparently native to the Channel Islands off the coast of California.
Two other flowering plants in the park were non-native, introduced species – Mexican Bush Sage and Silver Wattle.
The park has a small railroad that runs throughout the area and also a carousel! Those two attractions are only open on the weekends in the winter. I might just have to go back on the weekend so I can ride the carousel!! 🙂
La Honda Creek Preserve Day Hike 1.5.2025
These baby redwoods were growing at the base of a large diameter redwood on the trail up to the top of the preserve – and the dark, damp trunk made a nice backdrop for the bright green needles and red stems.
Another Arastradero Tree 1.3.2025
Room to grow…
Windy Hill Sunset 1.2.2025
Windy Hill Sunset – A great place to watch the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean is the summit of Windy Hill Preserve. Love the subtle layers of light and dark defining the rolling foothills between Windy Hill and the coast!
Winter Tree 1.1.2025
WINTER TREE
Gnarled branches reaching
Up towards the horizon
Marking time ’til Spring.
~Lynn Thomas Amber
Le Puy Camino: Lauzerte to Saint-Martin
April 25, 2023
Today marked the first day that we encountered serious mud along the trail! I had heard horror stories about the possibility of mud and thought that it could not possibly be as bad as everyone predicted. We had 17 kilometers to walk to reach our destination in Saint-Martin and it was a damp and, at times, sluggish trek along the GR65.
It was a very rural walk today through orchards and agricultural land along dirt tracks. Our first stop was at the Chapelle St-Sernin. It is an 11th century Romanesque church and the most interesting thing I remember about this church is that there was a rope that hung down from the bell tower and pilgrims were allowed to tug on the rope and “ring” the bell!
After about 10 kilometers of walking, we came upon a welcome sign!
Le Relais Saint-Jacques is a well-known pilgrim stop in the town of Durfont-Lacapelette and it was crowded with pilgrims eager to take a break from the weather and fuel up with hot drinks and food. For about 7 euros we enjoyed a hot drink and some lunch!
Much of our walk today took us through row after row of orchard trees. We passed an interpretive sign at one point that described the agricultural importance of this region.
The sign describes the area we are in as “A Large Orchard” – or Un Grand Verger. This was certainly evident as we passed by many acres of fruit trees and grape vines. The sign states that this region in France ranks 4th in fruit production overall and 1st in the production of apples and plums. Other important crops of the region include melons, cherries, apricots, walnuts, almonds, chestnuts and grapes.
I was particularly impressed with the espaliered apple trees covered in netting – labor intensive!!
The mud today was evident along some of the more narrow dirt trails. It is sticky, wet mud that eventually seeps into even the most waterproof boots! The most alarming aspect of the mud was its ability to stick to and build up on my hiking boots making it difficult to walk. I had to keep stopping to scrap it off the soles and sides of the boots often!
After lunch, we had a shortish 3.5 kilometers to reach our destination in the tiny village of Saint-Martin. We had reservations at the Gîte Saint-Martin. It was a long ranch-style house with several rooms off the back side. Each room had a sliding glass door facing the back yard. We shared a room with a gentleman – yes, often the shared rooms are coed! It was miserable weather so we could not really enjoy the outside patio area.
Upon arrival, we had to discard our muddy boots and our packs in a separate building. We loaded our clothing and toiletries for the night into baskets that we took to the room. It was a well-organized set-up.
The gîte had 5 rooms that could accommodate a total of 14 people and it was completely full for the night. Our cost was 40 euros each for the demi-pension – an average price along the GR65. At dinner, we met a really nice family who were walking a portion of the GR65 during their 2-week school vacation. We would cross paths with them a few more times over the next few days. We learned that one of their daughters was going to be a high school exchange student in the US the following year – in Portland, OR. I was most impressed by their command of the English language and overall good cheer.
The next day would take us to Moissac – a larger town with an impressive historical site – the Moissac Abbey.
Le Puy Camino: Montcuq to Lauzerte
April 24, 2023
Oddly, when reviewing my journal notes for our walk this day, I had written that it was a rainy day! But, when I processed the pictures for this post, the sky seemed mostly sun and clouds. Photographs don’t lie so perhaps the very beginning of the day started with rain! Who knows!
Today’s walk to the medieval hill town of Lauzerte would be around 16 kilometers in distance. The terrain alternated between gravel back roads, dirt roads through agricultural land and dirt trails. It was a pleasant walk with nice moderate temperatures – and no rain despite my journal declaration!
As we walked deeper into the Spring season, more flowers started to show up along the Way.
We enjoyed some sweeping views across the landscape of rolling hills.
Just before entering the small hamlet of Rouillac, there was a very picturesque pond with a small structure on the shoreline.
And, it came complete with a few requisite grazing sheep to complete the picture!
In Rouillac, we took a break and visited the local church – the Église Saint-Pierre de Rouillac. It has a beautiful stone facade – very simple in design – and an interior to match.
We continued on with the walk into the countryside and passed by a small farm stand with goodies for pilgrims.
We eventually came to a spot where the GR65 veers off onto more of a dirt path. There was an informational sign posted here that showed a map of the GR65 as it traverses this region.
Another interpretive sign describes the area we are currently walking through – Le Pay de Serres. The sign indicates that this area is a limestone plateau “cut by parallel, very symmetrical valleys.” Crops of the region include orchards, sunflowers, grape vines and melons. It would be cool to be walking through here when the fields of sunflowers are blooming! The architecture of the region is simple with large stone “block houses” with tile roofs.
Lauzerte is an amazing medieval city that sits atop a hill with a commanding view of the countryside. The name is thought to derive from the Latin word – Lucerna – or lamp. It is thought to be a guiding “light” at the top of the hill. It was a tough, steep uphill climb into the city at the end of the day!
In 1990, Lauzerte was awarded “The Most Beautiful Villages in France” designation. This honor is shared by about 155 villages throughout France. Another village we will be walking through in a couple of days, Auvillar, also holds this distinction.
Lauzerte was an absolute delight to explore with its many unique architectural and artist details. But first, I visited our Gîte L’Abeille Lulu to get settled in and drop my backpack. The lodging is named after the father of our host, Nicole, who was a beekeeper. It was a small place tucked into a hillside and accommodates only up to 9 pilgrims. It was a sweet, comfortable spot. Our host provides tea and snacks upon arrival and breakfast for a fee. We are on our own for dinner out or can make use of the small kitchen.
Where do I begin to describe Lauzerte? I will let my photographs with comments be the avenue for a tour of this special city. I started off by following the GR65 markers to guide me to the village center from our lodging.
My first priority was to visit the Jardin du Pèlerin. This garden is dedicated to all the pilgrims who travel through the town and is a very interesting design. I read that it is laid out in the form of a board game and pilgrims can get a guide that allows them to move through the garden and recounts the pilgrim life. The sign below has a description in English of the above in more detail. I did not have this guide but just enjoyed wandering around the landscaped gardens.
After wandering through the multi-level garden, I headed to the center of town and the Place des Cornières. Considered the community gathering place of the “bastide” back in the day, it is a nice small square with a couple of restaurants and shops. I happily planted myself at on outdoor table and enjoyed a cold glass of beer!
The Eglise Saint-Barthélemy is located in one corner of the plaza and I briefly walked inside to take a look around.
As I wandered around town, I noticed a few interesting characters perched high up on some of the buildings and also wrought iron signs for pubs and public places. Sylvain Soligon, an ironsmith artist, created many of these signs around town and his son and other artists carry on the tradition with new ones.
Street scenes along my tour of the town:
We had dinner at a restaurant near our lodging called AUX SARRAZINES DU FAUBOURG. It was Monday and many restaurants and other establishments close on Mondays but this restaurant was open for lunch until 2pm and re-opened for dinner starting at 7pm. The odd memory I have about the restaurant was that they had lost electricity (which we were told is common) and so they could only offer us a limited fare. We enjoyed an omelet and a salad for dinner – which was delicious and just about perfect since eggs are not a traditional breakfast food in France.
Lauzerte was one of my favorite towns along the Camino in France – so whimsical and fanciful!
