Travel
The Mercantour is the mountainous area bordering France and Italy where the Alps come down to the Mediterranean sea. The wall of Alps of at least 2500 m. altitude presents a natural frontier that has been disputed over many centuries.
We visited Sospel, with a quaint bridge over the river which includes a fortified gatehouse that was formerly a frontier post. Nearby Castillon was a post on the Alpine section of the Maginot Line.
Further back in to France, St. Martin Vésubie heads the valley of the river Vésubie which reaches the river Var by means of a deep and impressive gorge, one of the belvédères of which is intriguingly named "Le Saut des Français".
And so back to Menton on the French Riviera. After lots of travel the town looks as pretty as ever; host to weekenders as much as to tourists from far away. The mild climate and lack of frost gives a real sub-tropical feel to the gardens. Sunrise over the Mediterranean is a pretty good a way to start the day, a visual preparation for the seemingly chaotic geography of the streets with their feast of shapes and colours,
Nyons feels like a Provence town but is now administered as part of the Rhôone-Alps region. It's a pretty town just north of Avignon. Nyons has been famous for the quality of its olive production since Roman times, the market still has a Provencal feel and the narrow streets are as narrow as the streets of a village in the Var, where the deep shade protects from the fierce Provence sun and heat.
Some views of some of the vineyards of the Villages des Côtes du Rhône beneath Mont Ventoux and the Denterelles de Montmirail. These views are from Rasteau, the village on the hill in the distance is Séguret and nearby villages include Sablet, Vacqueyras and Gigondas. Also the Chateau d'Hugues at Uchaux.
Views of Mont Blanc (4810.02 m.) from around the Col du Pré (1748 m.) and the Col des Aravis (1486 m.), so views of two different aspects of the Mont Blanc massif.
We took advantage of a couple of fine autumn days to drive our hire car up the road passes and then hike a bit further up for our picnics. Great views of Mont Blanc in the autumn sunshine and with the new snow from the recent storms.
