Hiking the Colorado of Provence

(click for larger image)

The Colorado is the ochre deposits of Provence.  See the blog entry below for a better description.  The ocher quarries are being preserved as a historic treasure, and the landscape is stunning.  Here some hikers are exploring the Colorado.

Ochre in Provence

This is a close up of an ochre deposit.

Le Colorado  Provençal is famous for the rich deposits of ochre pigments found in the clay near the villages of Rustrel and Roussillon. The large quarries  were mined from the end of the eighteenth century until 1930. Thousands of people found work in the quarries and factories. Nowadays the mining of ochre is prohibited here, in order to protect the sites from degradation or even complete destruction.