Gorges du Loup High Trails, Low Planes

A beautifully sunny pre-spring day in the Alpes-Maritimes yesterday. We hiked from the village of Courmes (overlooking the Gorges du Loup) up over the side of the mountain to the plains above (about 1000 m) to visit the Champs des Idols (aka Village Negre) and return via Saint Barnabé on the GR51 trail.
    The peaceful mountain hike was disturbed somewhat by the sound of a pair of "Tracker" anti-forest-fire aircraft doing some very-low-level training in the hills around us. On a few occassions one of them would fly down the valley and pass very low through the Gorges du Loup; quite spectacular to see from our perche above them.
The chapel at Saint Barnabé was "protected" by the cat seen in our second photo here. A small dog followed us into the village, until this cat appeared. Hardly afraid of dogs, the rather small cat did some mock attacks on the dog, until the bewildered canine finally quit the field of battle.
    A good 5-hour hike with great scenery, good trails, a sore knee and tired legs at the end.

Comments

[Russ]

The higher areas of Provence are beautiful in April, but the weather can be a problem. We've had days of lovely sunshine, interspersed with days of non-stop rain, and yesterday a heavy hail storm.
There can be snow on the ground at medium-high altitudes (1200-1500 m), especially on the northern slopes, but most of the hills up to there are clear -- we've done some great hikes during the past couple of months.
It's still too early for the higher altitudes, such as in the Mercantour.
We've not been in the Pyrénées this time of year.

[Simon Maybaum]

Hi there. I am traveling to France for work next week and am seeking a beautiful rural place to go hiking that is pleasant end of April. Can you help. Are the pyranees to cold. Are the elevated areas near provence that are nice this time of year