HAAS

It took me two days to reach the French department Alpes-Maritimes via Nancy and Lyon (Autoroute du soleil: A7). Driving onward on the La Provençale A8, the area between Cannes and Nice was much more urban than I anticipated. Campings were wedged in between urban areas, only accessible through narrow mountain roads and more importantly: full. After almost two hours of searching (at one point I had been driving for more than 13 hours), and a waning sun, I found a camping and a spot for late arrivals. The earth was so hard I couldn't hammer my rock pegs in the ground so I slept under the stars next to my car.

When I left The Netherlands my head was still full with work and the weekly care for my father. I hadn’t made space for myself to plan ahead.

The next morning I walked to the Mediterranean Sea and made the decision to head for a camping I had been to many years ago in the Parc national du Mercantour. Lately I’ve been making a point never to visit the same place twice, but I was tired of driving and I knew the camping in Saint-Martin-Vésubie was situated in a beautiful fruit orchard.

I probably had a romantic idea of the Côte d'Azur. The very least I expected to find more space. Currently there are almost a million people living in the Nice metropolitan area. It’s a busy place with bustling traffic, which gives you no time to pause.

Saint-Martin-Vésubie

The camping was everything I remembered it to be. The last time it was springtime, with some patches of snow just above the tree line at 2300 meters. This time the sunlight was harsh. The camping is situated just outside the 12th century village. It’s no more than a 10 minute walk to the village square.

Tripes à la Niçoise
Saint-Martin-Vésubie has some really nice butchers and artisanal food shops. I’m probably the only Dutchman who likes tripe. I found the following recipe which corresponds with the ingredients on the jar I bought: Heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat and add cow’s tripe (first blanche the tripe in water with vinegar for 20 seconds). Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in white wine, tomatoes, carrot, garlic, onions, thyme, bayleaf, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 8 hours.

Souffle de la nature

On October 2 in 2020 storm Alex hit the region above Nice. Within 24 hours 571 millimeters rain fell causing a gigantic flood, which swept away a large part of the river Vésubie and its surroundings. Almost a year later most of the rouble wasn’t cleared up and many houses were still inhabitable. The ancient part of the village was spared because it was built on an elevation.

There is one view point from the camping, which hides the destruction of the storm.

Mountain hike Cime de la Palu (2.132) - Cime de Clapeirette (2.333).

Mountain hike Forêt Communale de Saint-Martin-Vésubie - le Boreon

Perfect ripe and much tastier than you get in Amsterdam: pêche plat et prune jaune.

Next stop: Monaco.

A travel story from early springtime in 2010. This was a time you had to mask the bad quality of the iPhone camera by applying heavy filters to the image. It renders the images both a little tacky and evocative.

In 2010 I had been running for a couple of years. On this trip I decided to ditch the heavy mountain shoes for some light trail running shoes. I had planned to go hiking, instead I found myself running most of the time. I guess in the springtime of 2010 I discovered trail running. In the summer of 2010 I ran my first 50k trail run in The Netherlands.

In that year I must have also read Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall for the first time. This book catapulted running from the sports category to something which was actually cool.

Flight: Amsterdam Schiphol - Aéroport Nice Côte d'Azur.
Bus: Nice - Saint-Martin-Vésubie.

Boarding on the tarmac at Schiphol Airport. Flight time is about 2 hours. In 2021 it took me 2 days to reach Nice by car. By train the journey can be done in 11 hours.

Camping A La Ferme Au Verge Saint Joseph. The camping is basically a fruit orchard.

So early in the season I had the fruit orchard almost to myself.

View of Saint-Martin-Vésubie before storm Alex in 2020.

Lunch break in the mountains consist of mainly canned food, cheese and dried sausages.

When the snow melts, crocus flowers appear.

What did I bring to read? The Mind of Wall Street: A Legendary Financier on the Perils of Greed and the Mysteries of the Market by Leon Levy apparently.

Busstation Saint-Martin-Vésubie. In 2010 I didn’t own a car. My wheeled travel bag had to fit my tent and was so big KLM considered it oversized cargo. I had to check in my bag at a special counter. Quite a hassle.

I’m pretty sure I didn’t sleep in Nice. I had an evening flight so I just spent the day in the city. The whole trip lasted four days.