A few days in Anjou

So, finally, after a very satisfying road trip, we arrived in Angers. It felt nice to spend a few days relaxing and enjoying Francoise’s excellent cooking, and other activities we just don’t seem to get around to doing a lot at home: like reading, doing Sudoku, watching “un diner presque parfait” (er, actually, that one we never miss out on…). But sitting about, doing nothing is not really our thing. So after a chilled out Monday, we decided to go for a walk the next day, since the weather forecast was predicting sunny weather and blue skies – a nice change to the dodgy and rainy weather we had experienced over the last few days…

Having gone through the various options in the numerous books Joel and Francoise have, we decided to do a walk not far from Angers, around Saint-Lambert-La Potherie. After visiting the pretty village church (typically Angevine – which is to say quite different from what we’re used to on the cote d’Azur – a lot less baroque), we set out on the walk. It was a pleasant enough stroll, amidst the green Anjou countryside. As on our walk last Christmas, we were struck by the contrast between the landscapes here in Anjou compared to the Cote d’Azur. Certainly the landscapes are less dramatic (one could say flat), but at the same time it’s nice to walk amids real farms and real countryside, rather than villas and swimming pools ;-). We decided to do a little detour to visit a nearby chateau. It was impressive enough; typical for the region (Angers is near the Loire Valley, which means there is probably a higher concentration of castles here, than anywhere else in France, or the world…). This one had been converted to some kind of a youth centre though (I guess they have enough castles to keep the tourists happy as it is…). Anyway, all in all, it was a pleasant way to spend a sunny morning – and we even made it back to the house in time for lunch :-) In the evening we went to see “Harvey Milk” at the excellent 400 coups cinema at Angers. Not a bad biopic from Gus Van Sant and Sean Penn – although maybe I expected a bit more, considering all the hype and Oscar nominations.

The following day, we were once more blessed with sunshine and blue skies, so we again figured it was really the perfect weather to go for a hike. This time we chose a slightly longer walk than the one we’d done the day before – around Savennieres. Savennieres is famous for its vineyards – in particular its white wine is well known. We started off the walk with a quick walk around town – Savennieres is a charming Anjou village, and has an older feel to it than Saint-Lambert-La Potherie which we visited the day before. The walk itself was very pleasant as well, starting off by taking us down to the Loire River for a good while. The Loire River is obviously the main defining feature of the Anjou area, so is kind of an integral part of a walk in this part of the country.

From there we carried up towards and through the charming village of Epire (which of course has it’s own chateau and historic church). The footpath then made its way back towards Savennieres, taking in the prosperous vinyards for which the area is known for. All in all, it was a very pleasant walk, which show-cases most of the aspects the area has to offer: the Loire River, nice vinyards, charming villages, and of course a chateau. And we just missed the rain, which hit us just as we were driving back to Angers.

For Thursday evening, Delphine and Christophe had kindly invited us for dinner. So we spent Wednesday evening (and night!) preparing a desert – a panna cotta, which I had manged to prepare with some success a few weeks ago. This time, however, things went less smoothly, since we got all ambitious and tried to make a multilayered version (the panna cotta alternating with strawberry jelly). The panna cotta behaved the way it was supposed to – ie. solidified – but the strawberry “jelly” didn’t (we ended up with strawberry jam with bits of gelatine in it instead of strawberry jelly). So the final result looked, mmm, interesting. The dinner was great – the theme was Italian, and I also I love what Delphine and Christophe have done to their house (which is conveniently located near the town centre, and endowed with a rather large garden). As far as the theme was concerned our desert was spot on – and the taste might've been as well if it wasn’t for that less-than-perfect strawberry “substance” (the panna cotta bits were good!).

On Friday, it was time to hit the road for Paris, after a very nice lunch (Boeuf Bourgignon) at the house, which Joel was thankfully able to join us for!

On the road to Angers

For this holiday, we’d decided to take the car and drive down to Angers, to see Mathilde’s dad and Francoise, and then come back via Paris (and hopefully see a fair bit of France on the way!). Our great odyssey started on Friday, as we jumped into our trusty beemer and headed down the A8 – destination Montpellier. About 3 ½ hours later we arrived (thankfully, we managed to avoid the worst of the school holiday traffic).

After checking into our hotel (Appart hotel – a very good value for money chain of apartment hotels), we headed out to explore the town centre. Montpellier is the capital of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, and one of the biggest cities in the south of France. We started off our exploration at the focal point of the town centre, Place de la Comédie, a lively square which seems to be a popular meeting place for the locals. From there we headed into the cozy, pedestrian old town. It’s a very lively place, with loads of bars & restaurants. In general, we really liked the young vibe of the city (when you’re living on the Cote d’Azur, you sometimes forget it’s not normal for half of the population of a town to be made up of retired people ;-). In fact Montpellier is one of the main student towns in France – it has one of the oldest universities in the world (it was founded in 1160). Anyway, after a very enjoyable and reasonably priced dinner at a charming, lively, little square, we headed back to the hotel. Lots of driving ahead of us the next day...

We got up bright ‘n early, and hit the road after a quick breakfast at the room. Our first stop for the day was Carcassonne. Carcassonne is probably the most famous medieval, fortified town in France. The city became famous during the 13th century, when it was the capital of the cathars (the cathars had a particularly grim form of belief – which held that the physical world is basically evil - and that man must transcend the physical world, therefore denouncing all earthly pleasures etc. Or something like that. Pretty grim stuff, all in all.). Anyway, it’s true that Carcassonne is very impressive indeed from the outside, surrounded by its might city walls and turrets. The inside is another matter – with streets lined up with tacky tourist shops and restaurants lining up the streets. A real pity – for me it ruins the atmosphere and authenticity of the place... After visiting the impressive castle and cathedral, we carried on. It wouldn’t be fair to say Carcassonne isn’t worth visiting – for sure it’s very impressive and also occupies a central place in a rather dark but interesting period of French history, but I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed by the Cite.

Our next main destination was Toulouse. Instead of carrying on along the motorway, we followed the advice of a friendly lady at the tourist office and took the departmental road north of Carcassonne, which snakes through the black mountains and the Lauragais plane towards Toulouse. Our first stop on the picturesque route was Montolieu, a pretty village just a few km north of Carcassonne. It’s known as the “book village” due to the numerous book shops in the village (we spotted at least 10 during our quick walk around town). We then carried on, stopping at Saissac next. Saissac is famous mostly for its impressively located castle, strategically located at the entrance of the black mountains. The castle was also historically an important cathar stronghold. We didn’t have time to visit the castle – so swiftly carried on to the next village – Saint-Felix-Lauragais. After a pleasant walk around the picturesque village, which also affords great views over the surrounding plains, we once more jumped into the car and carried on.

We finally arrived in Toulouse in the late afternoon, and even managed to park eventually in spite of some chaos in the town centre due to some demonstrations. The main reason for us stopping in Toulouse was of course to say “coucou” to Philippe and Aniko, who live there, conveniently next to the main square. Great to see them again! Having caught up with the latest news ‘n gossip (the grist of which was that they are planning to move up to Paris), we hit town for dinner. We ended up in a great little place in the town centre, serving up local specialties along with great wine. Just my kind of place. After the filling dinner (the local cuisine of the area is not what I would call light), we headed down the local pub (George & the Dragon) where Philippe apparently shows off at the pub quiz every week, for a couple of pints. Almost reminded me of old blighty :-) We then headed back to the flat, where we watched a couple of episodes of Dexter (first time for us – and yes I can see myself becoming an addict...) before hitting the sack. Once more our well-intended plans to paint the town red came to nothing (we must be getting old or something?).

On Sunday, our trip carried on north, towards Limoges (which was where we were planning to spend the night). We left the motorway after a couple hours of driving to explore the Quercy and Perigord for a bit. Quercy and Perigord is probably fit most peoples’ image of what the French countryside should be like. Gentle rivers (like the Dordogne, which crosses the Perigord), pretty villages with stone houses, gentle rolling hills, great food, wine... In short, just the sort of place I like :-) The first village we stopped in (the name of which escapes me...) was pretty much picture-perfect, with it’s stone church, pretty little farms, and the little Citroen 2CV parked in the middle of the village. It was almost too much ;-). The next stop was at Gourdon (not to be confused with the Gourdon on the Cote d’Azur, which is also a very pretty village), an impressive hilltop town. We spent an hour or so wandering around its pedestrian streets, enjoying the views over town and the Quercy plains from the hilltop at the site of the ruined castle or Gourdon, and visiting the impressive Romanesque Église Saint-Pierre.

From Gourdon we carried on into Sarlat, which is the main town of the Black Perigord region (Perigord is divided into 4 parts). Here’s a useless fact for the pub quizzes: Sarlat apparently has the highest density of historically classed monuments of any town in the world. Not sure whether that is true or not, but Sarlat is for sure one of the prettiest towns I’ve visited in France, a real gem. It’s a bit what Carcassonne could be if they got rid of some of those tacky tourist shops. OK, to be fair, Sarlat is touristy as well, for sure, but it’s been handled with a lot of taste... We also had what one could consider a “very solid lunch” here (let’s just say that Perigord cuisine is not for those who are on a diet – some of the specialities include foie gras, magret de Canard, cassoulet...).

Most impressed with Sarlat, we nonetheless pushed on, since we wanted to see a bit more of Perigord before pushing on to Limoges. Our next stop was Beynac-et-Cazenac, yet another “too pretty to be true” village. Beynac is basically built on the slope of a hill next to the Dordogne river, with a castle built on the summit of the hill. So it all looks very dramatic. The hike up through the postcardesque (??) village was rather sporty (which was a good thing, considering the rather heavy lunch we were digesting….), but well worth it for the views over the river and a close-up peak of the imposing castle (which we unfortunately didn’t have time to visit). Our next stop was at the equally pretty La Roque-Gageac, also built by the riverbank, the village “climbing” up the slopes of the nearby hill. We also managed to pay a visit to Domme – which is apparently a typical Perigord “bastide” type village (whatever that means). Anyway, we were less impressed by Domme than by the previous 2 villages, pretty though it was, but took the opportunity to shop some local specialities (not truffles though – which are the most famous Perigord speciality – a wee bit too expensive for us...). Well, we were running out of daylight, so decided it was time to push on to Limoges. All in all, Perigord was a real discovery for us, I think we might come back one day for a longer visit...

An hour and a half later, we arrived in Limoges, and quickly checked in, eager to have a chance to quickly visit the city while we still had some daylight. Limoges is the capital of the Limousin region, located on the Vienne river, and famous for the porcelain produced here. It’s not a particularly touristy town, but seemed a pleasant enough town, based on our quick exploration of the town centre. There is the Chateau quarter, with it’s pretty half-timber houses, which is also the commercial centre of the city. No castle to be found, though. And there is the more historic La Cite, which is where the old, imposing cathedral (which we was closed unfortunately) is located. Unfortunately we didn’t see that much during our short but brisk walk – to be honest we were a bit nackered after rather a long day, so went back to the hotel as it started getting dark...

We started the next day with a short detour to Oradour-sur-Glane. It’s one of the most visited places in Limousin, but not for the usual reasons. Oradour-sur-Glane became famous because of the events of 10th of June, 1944, when a detachment of Waffen-SS soldiers massacred nearly the entire population of the village. In total 642 men, women and children were killed (many of them burned alive in the church) – the worst civilian massacre of its kind in France during the 2nd world war. After the war, the ruined village was left as it was (there are still burnt out vehicles, overturned chairs and tables to be seen) as a kind of sad testimonial of that day’s events. A new village was built a few hundred meters away. Well, it was certainly a sad site to visit, and a poignant reminder of the madness of war...

From there we pretty much drove straight on to our destination, Angers, through the gentle landscapes of Poitou and Anjou.

More photos here.

Meeting Isa in Frejus & Saint-Raphaël

This started out as a very quiet weekend indeed. The weather wasn’t great on saturday, so we didn’t get up to much. We did meet up with Virginie and Jean-Baptiste in the afternoon for a coffee in the port of Saint-Laurant du Var (well, I went for a king-sized milkshake instead...). Great to see them - hadn't seen Virginie for nearly a year. In the evening I picked up my parents from the airport – since they arrived quite late we invited them over for dinner. Roast chicken, a nice bottle of Piedmontese red wine (which we had acquired the weekend before), and a fruit salad for dessert. Yummie :-)

We had hoped to maybe go skiing to Isola 2000 on sunday – pretty much the last occasion this year for that. But alas – the weather forecast was grim, promising clouds and rain, so we decided to give it a miss. We were just about to head into Nice to in the afternoon to see a movie, when I got a call from Isabelle, our good friend from Paris. Turns out she was in Toulon for work, so we decided to meet up somewhere. Since Cagnes is quite a drive away from Toulon, we decided to meet up somewhere in-between – and decided upon Frejus.

About an hour later, we were sitting in a bar in the port of Frejus, basking in the sunlight (yes, the sun had finally decided to make an appearance), catching up on the latest news over non-alcoholic cocktails (seems the bar had lost their lisence to sell alcohol – which was OK with me since I was the designated driver...). After the drink, we had a walk around the old town of Frejus. Frejus is one of the historically most interesting towns on the Cote d’Azur, having been founded by the Romans in 49 BC. Its amphitheatre is probably the most important Roman monument on the Cote d’Azur. The old town is typically picteresque for the region – the highlight is no doubt the reknowned 11th century cathedral, with its cloister.

Having explored the old town, we decided it was time to find a restaurant (Isabelle and Mathilde finally gave into my pleading). We decided to have a look in neigbouring Saint-Raphaël. Saint-Raphaël, which literaly starts where Frejus ends, is one of the more famous Cote d’Azur tourist resorts – managing to mix a touch of olde world glamour with a more laid-back atmosphere than for example Cannes or neaby St-Trop’.

Having wondered around and explored the place for a bit, we eventually decided upon a place called “la table du boucher” – interesting name for a restaurant situated in the port, surrounded by seafood restaurants. Anyway, it was an excellent choice – we all ate and drank very well indeed. After a coffee to finish off the meal, it was time to head off back home... All in all, our little excursion into the Var was a nice and surprising way to end the weekend – and great to see Isa as always ! It's always nice to visit the Var department, it feels a lot less pretentious than the Alpes-Maritimes (our "home" department).

Easter at Lago Maggiore

It’s been a while since our last visit to Italy, so we decided the Easter weekend would be the perfect opportunity to go. We decided upon Lago Maggiore, one of the famous lakes north of Milan. We started having second thoughts the night before departure, since the weather forecast was positively grim – we briefly considered changing plans and going for a city break instead. But in the end, we decided to take a chance and stick to our original plan… Which turned out to be a wise decision!

So bright ‘n early, Friday morning, we jumped into the BMW, and set off. We made very good progress on the roads – there wasn’t a lot of traffic, much to our surprise. So we actually arrived at our destination – Baveno – at about 1 o’clock (just in time for lunch!). Baveno seemed like a nice enough little town, located on the shores of the lake, with nice views towards the Borromeo islands (Isola Bella, Isola dei Pescatori and Isola Madre). Not much to see in Baveno, really, but it’s a prosperous little town, with a few hotels and restaurants. Our hotel was nice enough, clean, with friendly staff – and most importantly, we had a view over the lake. After a quick lunch at the port in a small bistro, we headed down to the ferry “station” to figure out where to go in the afternoon. Luckily for us, a nice Italian lady gave us a daily ferry ticket for two – which gave access to the islands and the nearby towns!

We decided to start by visiting Villa Taranto, near the town of Palanzza – which was as far as we could go with our ticket. So after a brief stop at Isola Madre, we carried on past Palanzza to the villa. Actually it’s only possible to visit the gardens – the villa itself is used by the municipality. Well, the gardens were rather impressive, I have to admit – a pity the sun wasn’t out (but at least it didn’t rain). Apparently these gardens cover 16 hectares and contain more than 100000 plants and flowers! Anyway, having spent a pleasant and peaceful afternoon there (together with a few busloads of German pensioners – we felt rather old….) during which I learnt (and subsequently forgot) the names of quite a few plants and flowers, we walked back to Palanzza, taking in a rather large number of impressive villas during our 20 minute walk. After a quick visit of Palanzza, we jumped on the ferry back to Baveno (unfortunately it was too late to visit any of the islands…). After a well-deserved rest at the hotel, we went restaurant-hunting. Turns out there weren’t that many choices – but we had a nice enough meal at a local pizzeria.

The next day, we got up bright ‘n early again, fresh and ready to explore the Borromeo islands. After a quick breakfast Italian style (a coffee and a croissant, taken standing at the bar – something I really like about Italy – a nice and “sociable” way to start the day), we bought 2 all-day tickets including entry for the island attractions for the somewhat hefty price tag of ~25 euros each. Our first destination was Isola dei Pescatori – which roughly translates as “fishermen’s island”. It’s perhaps the most “normal” of the islands, since there’s no tourist attraction as such to visit, so the place is almost like a small village. There are plenty of restaurants, tourist shops and hotels, mind you… (we were wondering how people get off the island after dinner, since the last ferry leaves at 19:30 – I guess they use boat taxis or something). After about half an hour exploring the island (there isn’t that much to see in the end), we jumped on the next ferry and carried on to Isola Bella.

Isola Bella is without doubt the most famous of the islands on Lago Maggiore – and justly so. It is mostly known for its monumental Baroque palace, built in 1670 by Count Borromeo, and its splendid gardens. So after a quick walk around the island with its typically Italian windy and narrow streets and pretty houses, we headed into the palace. The beginning of the visit was your typical “baroque over-the-top palace with room after room of fancy furniture” (which I usually find a bit saturating after about 5 or 6 rooms…), but things got more interesting on the lower floors – where the place took a “dungeonesque” appearance (the rooms, although still elaborate, were covered with small rocks, giving this part of the palace an almost grotto-like appearance. A bit hard to explain). We finished the visit with the gardens – which I have to admit were VERY impressive. Again, it was all very baroque and show-off– which is not really my sort of thing, but we couldn’t help but feel impressed by the baroque splendour of the place. The plants and flowers were complimented by some fantastic constructions with statues, fountains and stairways. And there were also a couple of peacocks – somehow very appropriate birds for this kind of garden.

We then rushed on to catch the ferry to Stresa, which is one of the main touristy towns on Lago Maggiore. Its seafront is covered by old hotels dating back to the 19th and early 20th century – which gives the place quite an aristocratic and olde-world feel. We quite liked the place; it’s touristy, but not ruined by it. There’s nothing much to see there as such, so after a nice and filling lunch (especially for me – I took the “Papagallo double pizza special”), we headed on to explore the last of the islands – Isola Madre. Isola Madre is the biggest of the islands, and the most peaceful one of the lot. Mainly this is due to the fact that the island is dominated by its 16th century palace and its gardens - the island is pretty much uninhabited, and there is only one restaurant there. The gardens were once more very impressive, and even house the biggest Kashmir Cyprus tree in Europe – which was unfortunately badly damaged during a storm a few years ago. On the whole we very much enjoyed Isola Madre – especially since the sun finally came out from behind the clouds (although by now Italian garden fatigue was setting in)! After a nice coffee at the restaurant, we headed back to Baveno. We decided to have dinner at the hotel this time – not a bad decision – especially since they had a eat-as-much-as-you-can buffet for the antipasti and deserts. Always works for me ;-).


On Sunday, we decided upon a quick visit to Switzerland (the northern part of Lago Maggiore lies in Switzerland) – so jumped into the car and drove towards Locarno. The drive was a very scenic one - especially since the cloudy, misty weather gave the lake quite an eerily atmospheric appearance. About 1 hour’s drive later, we arrived in Locarno. Neither of us really had any expectations about Locarno – but were a bit disappointed by it, actually. There isn’t all that much to see, and even the old town was kind of boring. It’s quite pretty in its own way, and is very orderly in a Swiss way, but it just lacks that Italian charm, I suppose… But anyway, we spent a couple of pleasant hours wandering around, taking in the views (the main square, a couple of churches, and a castle). After a Swiss-priced (=over-priced) lunch, we headed back to Italy. We decided to head for Lago Orta in the afternoon. It is much smaller, and less famous than Lago Maggiore, but just as interesting, and what’s most important, much less touristy. That is not to say it’s not touristy – but at least the tourists are Italian families, rather than German pensioners (at this point I want to make clear I have nothing against German pensioners!).

After stops at Omegna at the northern shore of the lake, and Pettanasco, we headed for the town which takes its name from the lake, Orta. We started by visiting the Sacro Monte; or sacred mountain; of Lago Orta. The sacred mountain (one of three around Lago Maggiore) is actually a collection of chapels (21 in total) dedicated to the life of St. Francis. Each temple describes an important event/miracle in the life of the good Saint – using frescos or statues. The three holy mountains have all been declared UNESCO world heritage sites. There were also some very nice views over the lake and Isola di San Giuloio from the mountaintop. And the sun made an appearance as well, finally!

From there we headed to the town itself. Having parked our car at the town entrance, it was a good 10 minute walk down to the town itself. Orta is actually built on a slope, with the town centre being right at the shore of the lake – so getting down there from the car park, which is higher up, does require a bit of exercise. It’s an absolutely delightful little town, typically Italian with its narrow streets and cosy little houses. The absence of cars adds to its charm – as do the great views towards the lake and Isola di San Giulio. It is definitely touristy, and has its fair share of restaurants – but the fact that most visitors were local families does make a difference. After a walk around town, we jumped on the ferry to Isola di San Giulio. We really loved this little island – I would definitely say it’s more atmospheric than the Lago Maggiore islands – the lack of tourist shops and restaurants is probably part of the reason for that. After a leisurely walk around the island (quickly done – there is only one street), we visited the beautiful church, and then took the ferry back to Orta. During a drink at the main square, with great views over the lake, we decided to stay in Orta for dinner. We chose a cosy looking wine bar – and what an excellent choice it was. For food we were treated to a plate of delicious local charcuterie and cheese, and for drinks we tried some equally delicious Piedmontaise red wines (including a glass of one of my favourites – Barolo). A real shame I had to drive back… We even decided to by a bottle of local red wine – for which we were given a discount for! So all in all, a great experience!

So Monday was sadly our last day in Italy – so time to head back home. But we were in no hurry, so decided to enjoy Lago Maggiore for a bit longer – especially since we were finally treated to a clear blue sky! After another Italian brekkie, we jumped in the car and drove down to Arona, one of the major towns on the lake. The main attraction at Arona is the colossus of San Carlo Borreome (a big name at Lago Maggiore)… It’s basically 23.4 meters high copper and bronze statue, sitting on top of an 11.7 meter pedestal, with great views over the lake. What makes the statue special is the fact that you can actually climb inside the statue all the way up to the head, and view the surrounding landscapes through San Carlo’s eyes, literally! It was quite an adventure, climbing up the narrow ladder (not something I would recommend for people suffering from claustrophobia…), wearing a crash helmet. Anyway, it was all good fun, and the views were good!

After a quick visit in Arona, we decided to head for a nearby natural reserve, situated around a lagoon/lake. After all the eating and drinking we’d done over the weekend, we figured it’d be a good idea to get some exercise – so wanted to do brisk two hours of so of walking. We stupidly assumed the walks would be well signposted in the park, so didn’t really prepare for the walk. The park was so small we figured even the longest walk couldn’t be more than a couple of hours at most. We were naturally wrong – we obviously picked the walk which zigzags across the entire park – so we ended up walking about 10 kilometres in total, with no end in sight. At that point we decided we should perhaps ask somebody for the way back to the parking lot… Which we did – and half an hour later we found the parking. Only – it was the wrong one! Thankfully we found somebody rather helpful who explained how to get to the correct parking lot – so about half an hour later we finally arrived at the car… Well, we certainly got enough exercise to burn off all that pasta and pizza we had during the weekend, that’s for sure!

Well, time to head back home finally… We did make a stop at Vercelli, which was conveniently on the way. Vercelli is the rice capital of Europe (so this is where all that risotto comes from) – surrounded as it is by vast paddy fields. The town itself is quite interesting and prosperous also, housing 2 great religious edifices, which we both visited. We started by checking out the impressive 16th century Duomo, and then headed down to the main attraction of the city – the 13th century Basilica di Sant’Andrea. And a magnificent piece of work it is – an interesting mixture of Romanesque and gothic architectures. It’s austere, peace-inspiring interior was a contrast to the baroque splendours of the Duomo and the churches we’d seen at Lago Maggiore. Truly impressive. Having done the touristy must-see bits, we had a quick walk around town, which was strangely quiet, nearly deserted in fact – I guess since it was Easter Monday. After a quick drink near the main square, we hit the road again. Thankfully, there was hardly any traffic on the way back home, so we made it back just before it got dark….

All in all, a great, long weekend, then! The more I go to Italy, the more I like it. And I even managed to stumble by quite OK in Italian during the weekend (although having said that, my vocabulary was limited to expressions like “Grazie mille”, “Un cappuccino”, “un pizza” and the like….)

Circuit de Lourquiere

It’s been a while since our last hike, and since the sun was out again, we decided it was time to get those legs moving again... This time we picked a walk north of Nice, near one of our favourite provencal villages – Peillon.

The walk started at La Grave-de-Peille (the quarry of Peille), from where the footpath climbed up to La Colle, at an altitude of 430 meters. From there the walk took us past Peillon (little Peille) – sitting perfectly perched on top of its little hilltop. From there, the path steadily climbed up along the Vallon de Galambert - up to the highest point of the walk at 600 meters. After quickly crossing the hamlet of St-Martin-de-Peille, we headed back towards Peillon, at the foot of the imposing Pointe de Lourquiere (towering at a lofty height of 678 meters).

We stopped for a brief break at Peillon, thirsting for a drink and a nice pastry or cake. But alas – Peillon is actually a very unusual Provencal village in that there are no shops/cafes/bars at all in the village. I suppose one should commend their resistance against the forces of Capitalism – but a cold drink would’ve been nice.... We finished the walk by reversing the first portion of the walk back to La Grave-de-Peille.