Upon leaving all of my wine with friends in Montpelier, I drove to the Alps and stayed in a ‘gîtes’ in Saint-Martin-Vésubie. Gîtes de France is an organization of homes/proprietors in France who open their homes to visitors. Much like bed n breakfasts, but no breakfasts, just a bed. But the homes usually have access to a kitchen where one can prepare meals.
Saint-Martin-Vésubie is one of the small towns through which we flew the previous year on our bike trip. Fortunately, there were a few gîtes from which to choose.
Once I arrived at my gîtes, I had to figure out what to do…. I was planning on staying there for 3 days/4 nights but really had no agenda or concrete plans for my stay. I had some books to read, but staying inside a house reading in the French Alps didn’t seem like a truly fun time.
The next day I wandered into town and found the local Office du Tourisme and found some wonderful books and maps describing single and multi-day hikes in the nearby hills. Excellent!
It turns out hiking is very popular with the locals in this area of France (the Alpes-Maritimes). So much so the trails are nicely marked with waypoints and various destinations (lakes, trailheads, etc.).
Up first – A hike around Madone de Fenestre. The hike includes path around a monastery/refuge. I was surprised at how many people were also hiking that day, including many school groups. Most of the students were wearing flip-flops for shoes, and hiking in the Alps. So much for my expensive hiking shoes….