Weekend in the Mountains

The last weekend of May, we had a 3-day weekend. So, instead of sitting around the flat looking at each other, we decided to rent a car for the weekend and drive up into the mountains to do some exploring.

Saturday
We picked up the car and had a few errands to run before we headed out of town. We finally got on the road around 1pm, just after lunch. We headed up into the big mountains to the north of Nice. Once you get about 5-10 km outside of the coast, the amount of civilization drops off dramatically. There are fewer houses, and little villages dotted here and there. Most of the roads into the mountains follow various rivers, so there was always spectacular scenery around.


In the mountains


The Boreon river

We drove all the way up to Boreon, which is right up into the heart of the forest. We stopped on the banks of the Boreon river and walked around for a little bit. There is also a lake there with a gorgeous waterfall (cascade in French!).


The lake above the waterfall


The cascade

Luckily, we had each brought a jacket with us, because the temperature up there was significantly cooler than at the coast.

Sunday
Last September, we spent a weekend hiking in the mountains. We had seen a beautiful lake and wanted to go back and rent a canoe or something to go up the river. So we picked up my friend, who had never been up to this area before, and the three of us took off.

We drove through the Gorge du Verdon, which she had never seen, and gawked at the amazing canyons.


Kevin and Sari overlooking the Gorge du Verdon


Bungee jumping off the bridge (we just spectated...)

Then we got to the lake and rented a pedal-boat, which none of us had ever been on before. My friend is recovering from a broken ankle, so she was the navigator (aka Madame Leisure) and Kev and I were the engines.


Powered by O'Driscoll


Madame Leisure

We saw some incredible views:







And the river was really busy that day...lots of people. We stopped on the way home for a drink in Castellane and arrived back in Antibes in the evening.

Monday
It was back to the mountains for me and Kev. This time, we went the opposite direction from where we had gone on Saturday. Still up in the mountains, but the road went to the west instead of the east.

It was interesting because it was absolutely pouring down rain when we got up to higher elevations, so that made the tourist part a bit iffy, and especially when we got on these little, tiny, curvy roads. Sorta scary! But we did manage to get some amazing views:


The Gorge de Daluis

Our final destination was Valberg, a ski resort only about 2 hours away. The snow had gone, but the air was fresh and chilly. We stopped in Valberg for our picnic lunch, and then decided to have a coffee and crepe to warm up.


Valberg

The landscape near Valberg was so lush and green that it seemed as though we took a wrong turn and ended up in Switzerland or something.


Beuil

On the way back home, we meandered down the mountain on the curvy roads and ran into village after village that just appeared out of nowhere.


Roubion


St. Saveur

What amazes me is to think how long these villages have been in these remote part of the mountains, and who was the first guy to stop there back in the day and say, "Hey, this looks like a great place to start a town!" It's a mystery...