Alpes-Maritimes - September 13, 2000

We got up about 6:50 a.m. and went down for the petit dejuner. The Maitre d also had a gas station which was doing a brisk business now that the gas strike had been settled. Madame served us as their cute daughter who was about 12 (she had helped waitress the night before) got ready for school. We left Fontan about 9:00 a.m. walking down the main street which was indeed a busy route, so we crossed a little bridge over the Roya and climbed up to the road we had taken from Saorge the evening before. We entered Saorge and went on to a church which had St. George in a very central location on the ceiling. I wondered if the name Saorge might be a contraction of the Saint's name. There was also the Seeing Eye of God in the triangle as on our one-dollar bill. Went back to the Mairie where I learned that the contraction of the name of St. George to Saorge was correct. I asked an older man who kept appearing about the olive harvest � whether the olives needed to be picked or whether they fell to the ground and were gathered. The latter is correct. As the town is built on a cliff, the houses are several stories high and the alleys descend to lower levels. Each of the churches had towers tiled with brown, yellow and green tiles. In the southern part of the town was the oldest church in the Roya Valley; Madone de Poggio, built in 1046. It was beautiful, but locked, though we were able to see a fresco that was being restored on one of the entrances.

We decided that we would walk to Breil-sur-Roya on a river trail shown on the map and took the road down to the Roya from the church - a road so old you could imagine the crusaders walking on it. But after a short distance we turned south onto another old road which led down to the river path. At the bottom where the trail began there was a sign for les Bains de Semite 350 M. There was a stone bridge with a high arch which had fallen down at one end over the turquoise blue water of the stream. On the rock across the stream was carved "Bains de Semite 1892." Bon suggested a swim and we changed into suits. I jumped in and it was very cold but refreshing.

We dried off and started out climbing up over the tunnel of the road below, a nice gradual climb. But then the trail went straight down, leveled out and then up steeply again. For a river valley trail it was very difficult and when it got to be 2:00 p.m. (we thought we'd have reached Breil) I decided to eat what lunch we had. Bon went into an old deserted stone building next to the trail and a rat dropped from the ceiling near her. She was not upset at all, but more amused. We went on down again then up across rocky scree and then almost straight up. I remember Bon asking, "I wonder when this will really get steep?"

Finally, we reached the last high hurdle and then the trail leveled out near old stone buildings built on olive terraces. There was a beautiful spot in one of the terraces where clear water gushed out and I wet my face with brisk cold water. We descended to a trail along the cliffs across from Breil where the Roya became quite wide, and clear blue. We decided not to cross in favor of seeing the old town. After crossing the Roya, I inquired of two "Mesdames" where the train station (gare) was and they pointed up the river. We marched up on the opposite bank and up a little dirt path to the elaborate station which we had read had been built by Mussolini.

The train left at 18:00 to Sospel and took only about 15 or 20 minutes winding through tunnels much of the way. When we arrived at Sospel, I asked Bon to find the hotel and send a taxi � we were both pretty tired. We passed a pretty garden near the station and then walked down through a large park where everyone was playing "boules". We left the park going down on the right to the hotel district to the Hotel Restaurant de France. It was run by a Swedish woman who spoke flawless English and gave us a nice room in the back (overlooking a parking lot an a little chapel which turned out to be the morgue). After showers, we took a brief stroll around the town and ended up in a restaurant, l'Escargot, two doors up from our hotel where we sat outside along a stream and below the road. It was a nice meal - I did have the escargot - and we had a great bottle of wine � a pleasant relaxing evening. We got back to the hotel before 10:00 p.m. As I drifted off to sleep there was a little goat bleating and bleating. The pedometer read 12.05 miles (without the stroll in the evening) 25,546 steps 1590 calories � ha!