Driving in the French Alpes-Maritimes

We had booked a canyoning trip that required us to get up at 6am to get a rental car to drive three hours to the rendezvous point, but when 6am rolled around we both decided to consider the reservation fee a sunk cost and roll over for some additional sleep.

When we finally did get out of bed, we decided to take a leisurely drive through the mountains, and see if we could find a mountain stream to take a dip in. We failed to find much in terms of rivers, streams, or lakes (at least nothing that seemed like it didn't carry terrible bacteria), but the drive was nice and the views staggeringly impressive.

On the way up we stopped in a tiny town that had a outdoor restaurant, and had pizza and a half pitcher of the house wine. Feeling energized, we started zigzagging our way up and down the mountain roads.

Our highest elevation point was probably at a tiny town called St-Aubun, which had a mountain trail tucked away in the very back of the town. I'm 60% sure that climbing it was at least discouraged if not illegal, but there was a cool ruined archway at the top I really wanted to check out.

On the way back down we stopped at another time town to have a beer. We speak minimal French, and they spoke minimal English, so it was mostly gestures and pantomimes when it came time to order. No idea what kind we had, but it was fun to watch the town dogs while we sipped.Read more