Parks of southern France

After 10 days in Italy, we headed back to France. Given the exorbitant gas prices in Italy, Ghinwa insisted on not getting any more gas before France. So there we were, climbing our way through the Maritime Alps with the red almost-no-gas-left light on and wondering whether we were going to end up stranded. At one point we missed a turn. Fortunately, a French woman kindly let us follow her most of the way to the border, which lies at an altitude of almost 2000 meters. We coasted all the way down to a gas station -- where the prices were indeed much cheaper.

Up, up, and out of Italy

On the French-Italian edge

We spent the week visiting a few parks in southern France. Our first stop was Mercantour National Park where Ari did a radio story last year! When we reached the highest point of the hike, we heard a bell off in the distance. The sound kept getting closer, until we saw it belonged to the collar of a dog who'd lost her way. We called the number on her collar, and her owner agreed to meet us at a nearby dairy farm. The dog, whose name turned out to be Finette, followed us to the farm, her bell jingling the whole time.

Who invited the dog along!?

Finette's new friends

 

Our next stop was the Gorges du Verdon, an enormous canyon. Ghinwa found a terrific hike that took us down to the base of the canyon, along the river, and then back out, but it required a lot of holding onto guide wires, hand rails, and rosary beads. :). As we scampered amongst the boulders, we felt like we were on a giant (roughly canyon-sized) playground.

 

We got an eclair for Ari's dad. But since he wasn't there, we had no choice but to eat it ourselves

The town of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie sits on one side of the Gorges du Vetdon

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie at sunrise

At the bottom of the Gorges

Finally, in the regional park of Haut-Languedoc, we passed through an extensive forest woven into the hillsides and valleys. There was an abundance of chestnut trees, and we collected a good 5 pounds of chestnuts that had fallen to the forest floor. We're excited about roasting and baking with them once we're back in Somerville... in a little more than a week!

Chestnuts everywhere!