Castellane (Day 2)

After a much needed restful nights sleep, we were awoken by the pleasant sound of a cuckoo calling.

After breakfast, a lady police officer came around to make sure we all had valid twenty four hour tickets. We talked with her a while, in both French and English, each understanding the other. We told her, we were going to walk up to the Chapelle Notre-Dame, thinking it would take us a couple of hours. Understanding some of the French conversation, we realised she was telling us, it would take about forty minutes, and that it was easy for children of four and over to do it in that time. No pressure then.

Before we set off on our trek, we walked into town to visit the tourist office, and buy some camembert and a baguette. Bread for lunch today, heaven! Lunch packed into our rucksacks, we set off up the footpath to the chapelle, with is situated on the rock right next to the aire.

Distance to the top about three quarters of a mile, up an uneven, rocky path. We arrived within thirty minutes, feeling pretty pleased with ourselves.

(Marge is the last van on the left in the central 'v' shaped area)

The chapelle was 185 metres above Marge, who, if you were brave enough to look down, could be seen below.

The views back down towards the town, and up into the mountains were stunning.

The walk up to the chapelle was not in vain, inside it was absolutely beautiful and peaceful.

Once privately owned, it now belongs to the community of Castellane, and is still used for services a few times a year, one of them is obviously Easter.

Behind the chapelle stands the statue of the virgin, which was struck in 1970, when the head was destroyed.

We sat at a picnic table at the rear of the chapelle to eat our lunch. A young couple asked if they could sit at the table also. He was German, and she was American, working in Germany. Over lunch, we talked about each others countries, the driving talents of the Italians, and our travels. They were a nice couple, and we enjoyed their company. After some final photographs, we set off with some trepidation on the path back down. The ground uneven, with polished rocks from the footwear of thousands of walkers over time. Trying to keep our footing on both the rocks and the loose stones, we were very aware of the sheer drop beside us.

We stopped at intervals to look at the wild flowers, butterflies, giant ants, and a beetle.

On the way up the path, we had spotted a large snail on a stone wall, just another eleven needed for a starter!

Arriving back at Marge, we were surprised to see we'd been out for over three hours, but both agreed the walk had been well worth it.

Tonight, we will stay once again by the river in Castellane. The plan tomorrow is to drive to a nearby lake and hire a canoe.