onwards and upwards
Barcelonnette, France
From the foothills we climb. There are hills ahead of us, nay, mountains and we need to get over them to make it to Italy. We hope the vans are going to cope!
The morning’s drive is rugged. Desolate striped rock faces in black, white and brown, some smooth, some jagged, sprout olive orchards and grapevines.
In the afternoon there’s a change to peach, apricot, apple and pear orchards, their luscious greenery covering an entire valley floor in a patchwork of different trees, spreading for kilometres of compass. Purple packing cases punctuate the quilt, perhaps a promise of the disappointingly-currently-not-flowering lavender rows which, in their green state, blend into the trees.
Then the real mountains begin. The ones that soar to over 3000 metres.
Pines replace orchards, wooden chalets replace stone homes, the thick grey murky stream we had followed all morning is replaced with crystal-clear glacial blue-green.
Paraponters casually stroll the thermals. We push upwards, passengers clicking cameras, drivers stealing an occasional glimpse of majesty.
Time on the road: need to check Jboy13’s record!
Distance covered: 171km
Tags: 2008/09, postcard: France
rayres
Sigh, how beautiful…