Lac de Sainte-Croix and the Pont de Galetas

Where the Verdon leaves its gorge and enters the Lac de Sainte-Croix, the cliffs close to a narrow gate and the water turns an improbable milky turquoise — glacial rock flour, not filters. The Pont de Galetas crosses right at that point, and from the bank below it you get the classic Verdon frame: cliff walls either side, turquoise water between them, and the lake opening out behind you.

Morning is the calm half of the day. The water is flat before the wind gets up, the electric boats and pedalos that fill the gorge mouth are not out yet, and the light comes over the cliffs rather than into the lens. By midday in July and August the bank below the bridge is a crowded beach and the gorge entrance is a traffic jam of pedalos — which some clients enjoy and others do not, so decide in advance.

Parking is in laybys along the D957 either side of the bridge and it fills by mid-morning in season. The path down to the water is short but rough, and the lake shelves quickly — good for a picture of feet in the shallows, not a place to wade far.