Saturday 25th June: Blue skies and cool to hot, 16°C to 32°
Hotel Capelet to St Martin Vesubie: 22k walk: 8.20am to 4.50pm, 8hrs 30 mins
Accommodation: Air BnB studio at 1 Raoul Audibert, Martin Vesubie
Leaving Hotel du Grand Capelet
A spectacular day - stunning views to the snow capped Mercantour Alps from Cime de la Vallette de Prals. Not our intended walk, but last night, our host Gabriel suggested going over La Madone de Fenestre, so we decided to climb 1000m climb up then 1500m down to St Martin Vesubie. We were glad. Spectacular is not the right word for the views.
We’re up at 6am, showered, packed, then a wonderful breakfast at 7.15am - yoghurt, tarts, muesli, bread, muffins, butter and jam - with hot tea or coffee. We leave at 8.20am to walk up the road for 1k to the sign to Cime de la Vallette de Prals. The path is crowded – there's even ladies older than me!! The first section is up a steep stony path then through pine forest and after 2 hrs of slog we're at a grassy meadow above the tree line at 2000 metres. Coffee time behind a rock away from the breeze. It’s a long day, so we stop for 15 minutes instead of the usual 30 minutes for morning tea.
Stony path up steep mountain
Looking back to Gordalesque Valley
Coffee with a view
Magnificent panorama from top
Now that's a back drop of Alps
Turn off to Lacs de Prals - Hmm
Stunning views on steep track into Valley La Madone de Fenestra
Madone de Fenestra Refuge
Lunch near the D94
10k to go down the road
Finally at St Martin Vesubie
Dinner in our studio (Hmm refuge)
The next hour is easier - steep but well graded with lots of hikers. It's a stunningly beautiful day, with blue skies and a slight summer haze. At 11.20am, we're at the Cime de la Vallette de Prals at 2378m with post card views to the snow capped Mercantour Alps. We stop and admire the view for 15 minutes before starting our long descent to the Valley of La Madone de Fenestre.
It's steep and shaly with hordes of hikers. Down through slippery shale and onto a stony track beside a creek. We've seen goats and cows upstream, so not a good place for water. We see through the pine trees to the steep narrow gorge that extends from St Martin to the refuge La Madone de Fenestre at the head of the valley. The track descends 700 metres to the road, with another 850 metres down on a road. At 1.30pm, we reach the road, the D94, and it's time for lunch. We bought a picnic lunch for 9 euro each from the Capelet Hotel and it's beautiful - chopped salad of tomatoes, mung beans, chick peas, corn, peas, zuchini with tuna, cheese, bread, a chocolate and apple. There's still 10k to go on this valley road, and though it's bituminised, it's steep. It’s now a hot 31°C and Graham and Jenny decide to hitch hike, as suggested by both the guide Sondrine yesterday and Gabriel today, but there's no takers.
On and on down the hot road. At 3.30pm, we stop for a cup of tea at the side of the road. This morning, we had emailed our Air BnB at St Martin to say we'll be late, so there's no real rush. It’s 32°C when we arrive at 4pm in the village buzzing with tourists. Sondrine told us to buy a bread called a "Couple" - two round halves baked together! We see a Boulangeries and a Casino - where we buy 4 beers for a pre dinner drink, but Ian's GPS has died and my 1:100,000 map is vague, so we go to the tourist office to find the location of our Air BnB studio at 1 Raoul Audibert. They don't know and they don't have a map! But they do have a free WiFi Hot spot which allows me to get onto google maps.
The studio is 600 metres up the road, a large building with 30 apartments and we're not sure how to get into our locked studio, until I re-read the Air BnB instructions and see a phone number. Luckily Jenny has a phone with international roaming and a quick call to our host Marie, and she organises her husband to let us in. It's quaint - a pseudonym for small - with a drop down double bed, pull out sofa bed, table, chairs, kitchenette and bathroom in about 25sq metres, but at least there's a hot shower.
After guzzling 4 cold beers, Graham, Ian and I go back to the Casino to buy dinner tonight, brekkie in the morning and lunch tomorrow, while Jenny organises the studio, has a shower and does some washing. Ian and I return with the shopping - Graham MUST stay near the free WiFi in town to get the latest news etc as the studio doesn't have WiFi. Dinner is superb - smoked salmon with lettuce, tomatoes and cheese, washed down with two bottles of cold rose. It's Jenny and Graham's turn on the pull-out sofa bed, Ian and I take the drop down bed. Graham heads off back to the village for another WiFi session - addicted??