Gorges

The Var river has cut a massive slice through the mountains, from north to south. We took a long time to do a tour of the area so that we could drive north through Gorges de Daluis and south through a gorge formed by another river, Gorges Supèrieures du Cians. It made a nice side trip with the added advantage of a return to the lakeside campsite. We drove clockwise around he loop.

It’s now 32* days here and yet another holiday weekend. This time Monday is the day and I think that’s Whit Monday as we used to say.

Upstream from Entrevaux the Var gorge turns from an easterly decent to a southerly one. The road climbs the western ‘bank’ which is the side of a mountain and leaves the river and its huge debris spread across the valley floor, far below. It’s yet another airy drive for me as rh drive on the right side of the carriageway means the ground immediately falls away under my window.

I can’t get over the debris. The river has moved across the valley floor over the years and mostly that floor is covered in grey rocks and stone. There’s little vegetation so I suppose that it goes into flood and must be very spectacular.

We get very high and then within a few km the rock changes dramatically to a deep red, almost maroon and it’s time to stop for a walk to Point Sublime.

We are lucky as there’s a space in the small parking place and the walk takes about 50 mins uphill. It’s like being in Utah or Arizona or somewhere else ‘red rocky’. When we reach the lookout we can now appreciate the gorge. It’s yet another deep one - 200-300metres maybe but this is a narrow defile and the other side is just a stretched arm away. Well almost.

There’s only the odd couple or two walking here so it’s quite special. We can hear the road below and we will drive it, through the gorge in a bit.

So we look and wonder and then turn and walk back for a half hour. Here there are the largest lizards in Europe ??? and one of us managed to catch a glimpse of one - very distinctive in yellow rather than the usual brown / green of the smaller common ones that are everywhere else in these parts. Didn’t have time to photograph it though so this is an information shot.

Now we join the road for the drive through the gorge and it is a motorbike heaven. They come in large groups and like the cars, try to stop at each viewpoint. This means that some of us are lucky and others hop one to get to the next.

Tunnels have been blasted through and provide sudden darkness. I’m not sure how the bikers manage. Maybe they flip up their visors.

We aren’t far from the coast and a large group from Monaco Bikers or something, came past. I’m always trying to let them through as they need the thrill of the sweeping bends ands that’s hard to achieve behind a Defender. They always stretch out the right leg by way of thanks but also are constantly raising a left hand to acknowledge fellow bikers coming in the opposite direction. So they are kept busy.

So the road goes on, up and up and then down and down and we stop for a picnic when we get down to the river. It’s moving far too aggressively for a swim but also will be too cold and is barrage-controlled and so there are signs warning of sudden changes in height and possible death with it. So we sit in chairs and watch instead.

Later we go to Péone which is a hamlet with extraordinary passages and alleys linking the buildings.

They are built so close that they forms ‘stacks’ up the hillside. The passages are the only way to move between those ‘stacks’ and we make as much use as we can of them before repairing to the one and only bar / restaurant, just as they are emptying of the final lunchers (sic) and we have an elegant ice cream. 

Hoping for a single boule in a cone, we actually get a single boule in a glass dish and a bottle of iced water too. So we sit and eat it rather than walk and chew. It’s probably a better look for the hamlet.

Then we turn to go south again, thorough another crazy slit in the mountains. We just drive this and concentrate on not slowing bikers down or clipping them as they drive towards us.

It’s narrow and they can’t really drive with their knees on the white line because it’s too close to the vehicles in the other carriageway. I have to be careful but there’s no incident and all bikers that passed us in both directions did so safely. That’s a lot of bikers.