Hiking in the Parc national du Mercantour

When I first moved to the Cote d’Azur, I was expecting a work of glamour, sun, beaches, the azur-blue sea and old people. And for sure, those things can be found in abundance. But one aspect of this region which we really love is the proximity of the mountains. One does not have to get far from the coastline in order to enjoy mountains of over 1000 meters.



But moreover, the Alps are just a bit more than one hour’s drive from Cagnes-sur-Mer. In fact, one of the 9 national parks of France, Mercantour, is located here. Me and Stephane, a colleague of Mathilde’s, have been talking about doing a hike over there for quite some time now. And this weekend, we finally decided to go for it – in spite of a none-too-promising weather forecast.

So off we set, bright ‘n early Sunday morning, driving up the Vallee de Vesubie, past St-Martin-Vesubie, all the way up to the parking from where we were planning to start our walk. The drive itself is pretty amazing, following the deep gorges of the Vesubie, the road taking us past some very picturesque villages indeed (especially St-Martin-Vesubie seems well worth a visit). The trek seemed rather challenging to me – with a steady ascent from an altitude of 1600 meters, up to the final destination; le Pas de Prefouns, at an altitude of 2615 meters.

On the weather-front, things looked very promising, with a blue sky and not a cloud in sight! We took up a brisk pace, and steadily progressed up through some stunning scenery, all the way to the Lac Nègre (which means “the black lake”). It’s quite a special little lake – it merits its name thanks to the dark-grey waters. At this point we were already at an altitude 2400 meter’s. We were also surrounded by snow, so at this point the going got a bit harder. Half an hour or so later of steady ascent, we arrived at the culminating point, Le Pas de Prefouns. Here we took a moment to contemplate the amazing views around us. Back from where we had come, we were greeted by the snow-covered landscape surrounding the lake. And the other way, we could see the mountainous scenery of Italian Piedmont. In fact, we were standing on the border between France and Italy (as drawn up in 1947).



In spite of the howling wind, we decided to stop for lunch here, whilst taking in the views. A ham sandwich, an apple, and a few cookies later, we were ready to carry on. So back we went, the way we had come, stopping to admire the lake again on the way back. A good three hours later, we were back at the car, happy and satisfied with our spectacular hike. All in all, we’d taken 7 hours to complete the 15 km hike, with an ascent of 1000 meters. Not too bad for two amateurs like us ;-). After a quick beer at a road-side bar, we drove back home… We were actually stuck in traffic for a lot of the way, reminds me of all those return journeys from the Mercantour ski stations (we were a bit surprised about the traffic jams, considering the time of year…).

All in all, a great way to spend a Sunday. A pity Mathilde, who was in Angers, couldn’t join us for this one. Well, next time! (perhaps with raquettes).