Provence Blog by ProvenceBeyond

Montgenèvre November Snow

The ski station at Montgenèvre, near Briançon and on the Italian border, had some really good snowfall during the last half of November, making it one of the first French ski stations to open. 

Other November snowfall in the South and other parts of France is said to be about a month early this year, indicating (possibly) a longer-than-normal ski season. It did snow chez nous in Grasse this week, but the snow didn't stick, or stick around.

 

Briançonnet village in the Autumn

We've added the Alpes-Maritimes village of Briançonnet to Beyond. Located in the back country north of Grasse and south of Entrevaux, Briançonnet sits on a high mountain pass in the upper Valley of the Esteron.

We visited yesterday, with the colorful Autumn leaves on the trees of the village and the surround hills.

Autumn Colors at Entrevaux, Alpes-Maritimes

Bright orange, yellow and red leaves on the mountain roads approaching the Medieval town of Entrevaux, on the Var river in the Alpes-Maritimes. We drove up through the little villages of Caille and Andon, through the narrow Clue de Saint-Auban, a café stop and Briançonette, then north over the mountains to Entrevaux.

The first photo is on the twisty D911 road approaching Entrevaux. The second photo is at the edge of Entrevaux village, where a small stream comes down from the hills to join the Var river.

We had a great lunch in Entrevaux old-town (in across the draw bridge), at L'Ambassade. Local Autumn fare, finishing with truly wonderful tarte de chataigne (chestnut pie).

 

Caille Meteorite landing in Nice

The Caille Meteorite, the largest meteorite ever discovered in France, landed on a mountain beside the village of Caille sometime before 1630. Dragged to the village by four oxen, the iron-stone hung around the village for a century and a half, until it was identified as a meteorite and traded to Paris' National Museum of Natural History for a village clock.

On 20-21 November, the Caille Meteorite will leave the Paris museum for the first time since 1828 to be displayed at the Parc Phoenix in Nice. The occasion of the Parc Phoenix  display is a mineral show.

Gap, in the Hautes-Alpes

The Haute-Alpes town of Gap has been added to Beyond. This ancient cross-roads town of Gap is on the Roman Domitienne Way and on the more recent (by a few centuries) Route Napoleon. Today it's a market town and the center of mountain and winter sports.