Le Circuit du Loup

The summer’s really arrived, and today looked like another perfect day on the Cote d’Azur. So we figured it was time to pull out the old hiking boots again and get a bit of exercise. After some contemplation and debating, we ended up selecting a walk around Greolieres, Le Circuit du Loup.

We hit the road after an early-ish breakfast, so as to try to finish the walk before the relentless afternoon sunshine. On the way to Greolieres, we heard some interesting talk on the radio about the 2010 Nice Ironman competition (you know, “just” 3.6km of swimming, followed by 180km of cycling, and a marathon to finish off. Easy.). Specifically the bit about the biking leg going through Greolieres. So we were a bit worried about whether we could make our way to Greolieres or not. Not to worry, thanks to some pretty good organization, we made it to Greolieres, without overrunning a single cyclist. We watched the action for a few minutes, as the iron (mad?) men cycled through the village. Gotta admit it, these guys deserve respect… I also spared a thought of my colleagues Ari and Jean-Luc, who were apparently participating…

Our hike then took us out of the village, down towards the Loup river (hence the name of the walk. We were a bit worried about the heat, since it the sun was already pretty overbearing. Thankfully the walk took us through some pretty thick forest, though, so it was all pretty easy going (we were, of course, going downhill as well!). After crossing the Loup river, it was time to make our way up towards the other village on the trek, Cipieres.

Mercifully, the footpath was covered by trees again, so we weren’t too badly exposed to the sun. I had a bit of a heart-stopping moment, as I nearly stepped on a grass snake, obviously as depleted by the heat as us. Apparently the surprised “yelp” I gave out wasn’t the most virile sound Mathilde has heard. After this near-encounter with the local wild-life, we continued our steep ascent towards the village. We eventually arrived, rather nackered, but pleased by the rather fetching views towards Greolieres and the Gorges du Loup, and by the sight of the village of Cipieres (I was already mentally picturing the beer).

After a walk around the typically pretty Provencal village, we eventually found ourselves at the local pizzeria, overlooking the main square. In the end, I went for an ice cream instead of the beer (what’s happening to me?).

The walk back was hard work, as the heat was getting more intensive. Thankfully, we had good tree cover on the way back as well… Still, we were rather out of breath as we found ourselves back at Greolieres. Taking care not to overrun the last struggling Iron Men, we made our way back to Cagnes, very happy with our hike indeed!