Any demo tool will do - Mercantour Madness!!

Dear friends 

Thank you all for your friendship and support for all this time.

We have not got to the position of knocking this shabby old ship into shape, without a lot of hard work and the invaluable help of great friends, Peter and Luc.

Much remains to be done on the outside – once we have tamed the rampancy of grass (no, not that sort of grass) and weeds created by the weird weather – which has meant that while you chaps, in the UK, have been basking in freaking hot – we’ve had freaking hot and violent storms!!

We emerge, bloodied but unbowed, with lots of ideas which will shortly be revealed in a newsletter*.

The Mercantour has had its just rewards, in a recent article in the Great Outdoors  magazine.

Keeping fresh…………we try to!!!!

Liz and Mel

 Latest review by lovely B and B owners and pro drummer veggies!!

Hi Guys, it’s been a terrific experience, much appreciate the exceptional care and effort in such a fabulous location making this a truly great package, our very best to you, Steve and Janet

*’ We have – of course -- complied with the Data Protection Act so our sends are restricted to the quality few!!

www.space-between.co.uk

Sort of it!!!

The joy of walking without purpose - on the French Riviera!

The best of all worlds IS to be had here in the Alpes-Maritimes - we are, of course, delighted to be tucked away just North of Nice in the Mercantour National Park.  

However with a strict renovation timetable allowing us to be ready for guests over the festive season, we haven't been too far afield!

We were however tempted by some culture on the coast,  and the chance to escape for the day.  Getting on the €1.50 bus, albeit at 07.15, is an instant step into no-responsibility'ville - no concerns over bad driving, parking on the coast......your fate rests with the usually not too!, manic driver who will deposit you at the "seaside"....

We can't guarantee this beautiful dancer from the Alonzo King Ballet company - but lots of other excitement awaits!!

Ah to wander without purpose and gaze, and window shop....nothing bought aside from some great coffee - local coffee roasting - yum!!

Our new Nice Museum Pass  - available to residents of the Metropole (with ID and a proof of address) - allowed us back into the Musee des Beaux Arts after a gap of some 10 years - a gorgeous building and much lovely art including one of our favourites, which will shortly be gracing our kitchen wall!!

Thanks to winter opening - only from 11-6! - we did walk back and forth from central Nice several times,  just taking our time and enjoying the buzz for the Nice marathon which took place on November 5 2017.

Lunch - at the always generous Le Socrate - just off the main shopping street - Jean Medecin - a Lebanese feast at its best - and great value - even on a Saturday - they do offer an astonishingly good value lunch platter for c €12 from Monday to Friday.

Another recent recommendation has been for the Portuguese restaurant - Peixes ...fish orientated as you would imagine!!

The Opera in Nice remains quaint, a hop from the flower market, and some of the most pretentious/expensive restaurants in Nice.  It reminds me of being in the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds - let's hope that they don't knock it down and create a modern monstrosity.

Mahler's 6th - not everyone's choice for a light couple of hours but amazingly complex and "listenable"!! - the Philharmonic has a new musical director - a Mr Rath,
and talented he was too in achieving success with this tricky piece. 

We were magic'd back to our Mercantour lair with a kind friend who had made the effort to do the return trip - after a short sojourn in Ma Nolan's Irish pub in Old Nice.

Yes - there is everything down here!! - and now we have SNOW!! - and accommodation, still available, for the Christmas week here in Berthemont les Bains.

Planning a long weekend in February for snow shoeing - not yet on line!!

www.space-between.co.uk

Walking and adventure holidays in the Mercantour - and Provence, plus Gran Paradiso in Italy.

WOLVES - and wildlife holidays in France

WHO is afraid of the big bad wolf????

From April 2014, for the new spring season, there are three new residents in Alpha, the wolf park near to Saint-Martin-Vésubie, in the Mercantour National Park, France.

Hoona, Healy and Galena arrived at Alpha last Tuesday - long legged, short eared and granite eyed they are a very different "kettle of fish" to the current incumbents of the wolf park.  They are easily distinguishable - Hoona, with fur black enough strike fear into the heart of anyone who enjoys the myth of the wolf, Galena with a small white "goatee" under her chin, and Healy with a white patch on her chest.

This handsome trio of Canadian wolves, brought in from Mulhouse in Eastern France are about a year old, and have been introduced as part of the continuous development of Alpha, according to Sophie Barberis, Deputy Director of the Alpha Park.  A facility such as this certainly has "teeth", being based on the perimeter of the Mercantour National Park in larch forest at about 1500m, where despite the current warm temperatures - there is still snow to mess around in.

Official opening this weekend - April 12th - and apparently if you say CANADA to reception on arrival - you may get a surprise!!

For more details 

Alpha Wolf Park - Le Boreon - Saint Martin Vesubie.  Facebook

Accommodation and holidays

spacebetween - self catering accommodation in Berthemont les Bains (25 minutes away), walking holidays and adventure holidays in the Mercantour, France.
Wolf watching holiday with late availability on April 22nd and May 15th. Facebook

Restos

Good eating near by at "O a la Bouche" - open all day but not in the evenings

Accommodation

Chalet accommodation in Le Boreon - L'Arberc
Chambre d'hote accommodation - Grand Chalet - in Valdeblore (20 minutes away)
Gite d'etape - Gite du Boreon in Le Boreon

Activities

Horse riding with Denis Longfellow from the middle of June to end September
Fishing - season just started, snow shoeing at altitude, fantastic walking and climbing!
 

Images courtesy of Alpha

Nick Danziger - living in the Alpes-Maritimes

"I often travel to three or four continents a year, covering locations from furnace-like deserts to teeming mega-cities. I spend too much time at 30,000 feet, but once I am home I am in one of the most beautiful corners of the world. As I look out of my window in the South of France, I can see the beginning of the Mediterranean Alps. Within an hour and a half, my family can trek to unspoilt wilderness areas, walking on to picnic by a lake in an amphitheatre of mountains. Trekking along the border between France and Italy means every picnic is a feast of pain de campagne and bresaola, coated in olive oil and lemon, with olives, cheese and wine. We trek in all seasons, which offers us clear blue Mediterranean skies in summer, blankets of descending mist in autumn, snow in winter, and crisp but usually dry weather in spring. If we are lucky we will spot a chamois or ibex; they are as curious to watch us as we are to watch them. It is not just the physical beauty of this place that takes my breath away, but three elements - home, family and the mountains – that combine to give me the greatest of all possible pleasures".

Nick Danziger 

From Lonely Planet Magazine - May 2010

Your Mercantour hosts - www.space-between.co.uk

Image - view of Argentera - 3400m

Mercantour walking in new Unesco Heritage site – the Maritime Alps!*

You may have thought spacebetween were exaggerating as they have been banging on about the Mercantour for the last 10 years……but finally… finally… the unique attributes of this region in SE France and NW Italy have been acknowledged, in the quest to achieve global recognition of the multi-national natural park of the Maritime Alps.

Yippy do – no doubt the machinery will turn slowly to achieve the stature of a UNESCO World Heritage Site especially as it is a large area – some 1300 km2 covering six French and Italian parks – namely the Mercantour, the Alpi Marittime plus 4 other smaller wonders including the coastal  strip of the site of the Hanbury Gardens.   

The area is populated by about 25000 people and attracts over a million people.  I’d be interested to know what the population of the French Riviera is and how many tourists visit the honey pots on the coast – answers on a postcard please!

A co-operation document was signed in June in the Mercantour and a further meeting in the Roya valley is 
planned for November 18^th 2013 when the various parks will present their cases.

The rationale for this project is its geological uniqueness – a visual feast naturally, plus the great diversity of plant and animal species making it one of the 34 biodiversity "hot spots" on the planet, to say nothing of the splendid evocative site of the Vallee des Merveilles, (the Valley of Marvels) – a wonderful valley strewn with over 35K Bronze Age carvings on its rocks.

I’ll keep you posted.

*Well nearly – how could the powers that be refuse!!

More info – www.mercantour.eu

Accommodation and walking and activity holidays in the Mercantour, South East France – www.space-between.co.uk

The perfect venue for a great walking holiday in the south of France – the Mercantour – all year round

Photos - Heading down to the Vallee des Merveilles from the Pas de L'Arpette/La Bollene Vesubie

 

Holiday in France - you have to eat well!!! Enjoy local produce and a laugh!

Roquebillière has a busy little rural market with colourful stalls from March to November on the central square of the village.  It has become an indispensable treat for both regular or occasional visitors. Almost 100% of the produce is local and organic!!.    

Established in 2007 to meet local's demand, the market is now organised between a local association of producers - GEDAR and Vesubie Decouverte.  

It is mainly fruit and veg, with some fish, and plants and then..... local cheeses, scrummy home made syrups, olives, not forgetting some organic beauty products, and local crafts - hand made pottery and baskets.

There is also a six yearly larger market which attracts people from further afield - a must for your hunting gear, crimpelene tabards (remember those?) and all manner of charcuterie and other finery.

A great opportunity to go down and browse, admire the view up to Belvedere and indulge in a load of local chit chat.  If you are staying with spacebetween in one of their gites in Berthemont les Bains get down to the village to practice your French!!!

With the summer arts festival organised by the Gens D'Aqui, and the Wednesday evenings free "hops" in the village square - where local favourites Lu Rupau Capeu will have you whirling around as you haven't done since Scottish country dancing at school!!!

Roquebilliere is coming into its own and over shadowing its "big sister" Saint-Martin-Vesubie.  

Bravo Eric, Annie, Jerome et al......

 

Non-exhaustive list of exhibitors

   Annie and Gerard SIC (Sheep; Goat Cheese)
   Lily Creation (pottery ceramic art)
   Philippe RAYMONDO (jams, syrups, eggs)
   MICHEL - fish (shark, whale  ;-)
   Angele CORNILLION (Tome)
   Alex ACTIS (organic vegetables)
   Gilles & Hassina AUBURTIN (organic vegetables)
   Joel CORNIGLION (fruits and vegetables)
   Elise (syrups and jams, gift basket ..)
   Jérôme Payen (mountain honey)
   Vizzone Giuseppe (Italian specialties)
   Isa (fruits and vegetables)
   Sylvain (olives, olive oil &; olive puree)
   Allari Véronique (beads and Murano glass jewelry)
   Audrey (dry grocery organic cosmetics)
   Mauro (Plants and Plant seasons

In French/en francais