Explore Provence
Depending on the season, the northeastern corner of Provence can be two different worlds. In winter, the sheep and shepherds find warmer pastures, leaving the snowy heights to horned mouflons, chamois and the perfectly camouflaged ermine. The villages where shepherds came to summer markets are battened down for the long, cold haul, while modern conglomerations of Swiss-style chalet houses, sports shops and nightclubs come to life around the ski lifts. The seasonal dichotomy is especially evident in towns like Colmars-les-Alpes and Barcelonnette.
The Alpes-Maritimes make up much of northeastern Provence, encompassing much of the magnificent Parc National du Mercantour, which runs south of Barcelonnette to the Italian border villages of Tende, Breil-sur-Roya and Sospel.
Read More-
The Roya valley
The Roya valley
The thickly forested Roya valley runs from Col de Tende on the French–Italian border down to Breil-sur-Roya. The roads that follow the river are narrow and steep, so driving is usually slow. In the upper valley, the highlight is the Vallée des Merveilles, a jumble of lakes and tumbled rocks on the western flank of Mont Bego. Down in the lower valley, don’t miss the sleepy Italianate town of Sospel.
-
The Parc National du Mercantour
The Parc National du Mercantour
The Parc National du Mercantour is a long, narrow band of mountains, near the Italian border, that runs for 75km from south of Barcelonnette to Sospel, 16km north of the Mediterreanean. A haven for wildlife, it holds colonies of chamois, mouflon, ibex and marmots, breeding pairs of golden eagles and other rare birds of prey, great spotted woodpeckers and hoopoes, blackcocks and ptarmigan. In recent years grey wolves, which disappeared in the 1930s, have returned from neighbouring Italy. The flora too is special, with unique species of lilies, orchids and Alpine plants, including the rare multi-flowering saxifrage.
Numerous paths cross the park, including the GR5 and GR52, with refuge huts providing basic food and bedding for hikers. The Maisons du Parc in Barcelonnette, St-Étienne-de-Tinée and St-Martin-Vésubie can provide maps and accommodation details as well as advice on footpaths and weather conditions; see also wmercantour.eu. Camping, lighting fires, picking flowers, playing radios or disturbing the delicate environment is strictly outlawed.
-
Exploring the Vallée des Merveilles
Exploring the Vallée des Merveilles
The first recorded visitor to stumble on the Vallée des Merveilles, a fifteenth-century traveller who had lost his way, described it as “an infernal place with figures of the devil and thousands of demons scratched on the rocks”. That’s a pretty accurate description, except that some of the carvings are of animals, tools, people working and mysterious symbols, dated to some time in the second millennium BC.
The valley is best approached from ST-DALMAS-DE-TENDE, 4km south of Tende. The easiest route is the 10km hike (6–8hr there and back) that starts at Les Mesches Refuge, 8km west on the D91. The engravings are beyond the Refuge des Merveilles. Note that certain areas are out of bounds unless accompanied by an official guide – and remember that blue skies and sun can quickly turn into violent hailstorms and lightning, so go prepared, properly shod and clothed, and take your own food and water.
