Provence Blog by ProvenceBeyond

Wolves near Montélimar and Valence

Wolves in Provence are mainly in the Mercantour National Park or in the Pyrenées in the southwest [map].

In March 2009 wolves were sited or did actual damage in the Drôme department, near Montélimar and Crest [area map, detail map].

Sitings or sheep damage occured at the communes of Marsanne (15 km northeast of Montelimar), Pont-de-Barret (25 km northeast of Montelimar; 15 km south of Crest) and Aouste-sur-Sye (3 km southeast of Crest, on the Drome). Having wolves down on the plains west of the mountains is unusual, but not completely new. The previous December the body of a 38 kg wolf was found on the edges of Valence [area map, NE].

A Field of Idols in the Snow

Yesterday we visited the hamlet of Saint Barnabé, a tiny place at the very end of a small road accessed from the Col de Vence. Saint Barnabé is in the commune of Coursegoules, a perched medieval village in the hills north of Vence.

We hiked off across the snow-covered terrain south of the hamlet, towards the hills that overlook the Gorges de Loup. The plains here are covered in calcaire rocks, with many tiny valleys and depressions. Wandering across this terrain in the winter is best with snow-shoes (which we did not use yesterday). Movement is easier, of course, in the summer.

One region, about 1 km south of the parking area on the St Barnabé road, has large groups of tall stones with horizontal groves, fantastically shaped by erosion. We discovered vague references to these stones as the "Champs des idols" (field of idols). There are other reference using the term "village negre" (black village).

Our photos were all in full shade. On a bright, blue-sky sunny day, one large cloud masked just this region of the stones.

Ski weekend at Isola 2000 prolonged to over a week

Some 1500 skiers who went to Isola 2000 last weekend for a couple of days skiing are still there. The snow fell, and fell and fell. With mountain slopes heavy with wet snow, avalanches came down and roads were blocked. [Map of the Mercantour and the Tinee Valley] 

A number of roads in the Tinée Valley have been cut off for a few days now, and fresh avalanches yesterday and today have set the road clearing operations back even further.

The 1500 have settled in with varying amounts of patience, and, we hope, getting in some skiing. But on the designated slopes only, since off-track skiing is definitely prohibited with the current conditions.

An impatient few, impatient and with the means, have departed via helicopter. But at 940 euros per trip, the budget-minded are waiting for roads to open.

The roads are closed between Isola 2000 and Isola village, and between Isola and Saint Etienne-de-Tinée further up the valley, past Auron. On the northern side of Saint Etienne-de-Tinée the road is also closed to Saint Dalmas-le-Selvage.

Further east, in the Roya Valley [map of the Mercantour and the Tinee Valley], the village of Casterino is cut off from the other St Dalmas, Saint Dalmas-de-Tende. At the northern end of the Tinée Valley, the tunnel of Tende is still closed.

Southwest of Isola, the village of Entraunes, north of Guillaumes in the Haute Vallée of the Var is cut off with a blocked D2202 road.

When it snows in these mountains, it sometimes goes a bit overboard.

Skiing season in Beyond (French Alpes)

Our local ski slopes of Isola 2000 opened the end of November and Auron is opening for skiing this weekend, 6 December 2008. Located at the northern edge of the Mercantour National Park [map of the Mercantour and the ski sites], Auron and Isola 2000 are the favorite destinations for Cannes-Nice-Grasse area skiers.
• Roubion (southeast of Isola and Auron) opens 13 Dec for weekends and vacations, then from 7 February will be open daily.
• Valberg and Gréolières-les-Neiges opened this weekend (6 Dec) and have reduced-price lift tickets.
• Val d'Allos, Le Seignus and La Foux opened for this weekend only (6 Dec), and will be opening for daily skiing on 13 Dec.
• La Colmiane and L'Audibergue will be open the weekend 13-14 Dec, and then on all school holidays.
We have a new ski-areas map, showing the main skiing resort areas for the French Alpes, from the southern-most Vallée de l'Ubaye (north of Auron and Isola 2000, near Barcelonnette) to the northern-most Portes du Soleil (near Avoriaz, East of Geneva).

Beyond Blog-Feed added to our homepage

You might notice some change on Beyond's homepage. In the lower-left corner, we've added a Feed to our Provence Blog by ProvenceBeyond(which is where you're at right now). The title "Beyond's Blog & What's New" still links to this Blog, but the Feed also lists the latest two entries.

Beyond ... Paris

Beyond has abandonded Provence for a few days in Paris. Weather's a bit iffy, but dry enough for long urban walks. (The photo at the left is looking up the Seine with the glass-covered Grand Palais in the distant background.) Sundays are nice here, with the roads along the Seine reserved for bicyclists and walkers. Among the cyclists are thousands of "Vélibists": riders of the city's very accessible, and cheap, rent-a-bikes available at stands all over town.

 We did find a nice little field of lavender, just a few steps from the Place de la Concord, in the northern end of the Tuileires Gardens [map]. Not far away was this stony-faced crowd of people waiting patiently for the lavender harvest. There's not  really much relationship between the  City of  Light  and  Provence,  but we did walk along the  Avenue de Provence today, and  yesterday we passed the café Côte d'Azur. We will be leaving town before the massive celebrations of the "quatorze" (14th of July) and returning to the south.

Beyond Without Email for the 3rd Day

We apologize but Beyond's email in not working right now. We will blog here the moment it becomes available again.

Our email service withour Internet Service Provider Hostway stopped working early Friday, 8 Feb 2008. We became aware of the problem late Friday when our steady stream of spam suddenly stopped.

We have been attempting to get our provider Hostway to respond to our trouble reports for over two days now, and still no response from them - not a great situation. We have been hosted by Hostway for over a decade of our nearly 13 years of existance, and the service has usually been acceptable.

It is coming up on morning in the United States (home of Hostway), at the end of the weekend. Perhaps when somebody comes in to start their support department for the week we will get a response, and hopefully our email working again.

Thank you for your patience,
Russ - ProvenceBeyond