We have booked an AirBnB in L’Escarene as close as we could to the Alps while still being close to the coast. And there were very few options both AirBnB or hotels further into the Alps so L’Escarene it is. We arrive at the accomodation on time but we cannot drive up to the parking spot as the car spins in place, luckily there is another one further down the slope.
Inside it is quite nice with a large kitchen with very welcome cold water and soft drinks and two rooms that we can use. The only weird thing is that the toilet is separated from the sink and bathroom making every trip to the toilet a complicated one if you want to wash your hands…and we do.
There is a nice patio however we cannot go round the house as our hosts stay upstairs. Still from the side we can see the goats further up the hill and some birds especially in the evening and the morning. And we like the Moorish Geckos that play hide and seek with us using the shutters as hiding places.
In the evening we decide to walk to a nearby grocery store, it is quite exciting that we can walk and don’t need to drive to the store. As we walk we see lots of signs that they intend to close the road sometimes and when we look closer it is tomorrow for the Tour de France. So our whole morning we cannot leave the accomodation so we have to decide what to do tomorrow morning instead of the Alps hike as we were intending.
It is a short walk to a Spar where we buy some groceries and then decide to return on a slightly different way to explore the historic downtown a bit.
There is a long bridge nearby and from it we can have some great views of the town, it looks quite special and we decide to explore it more in depth tomorrow if we really cannot exit with the car in the morning.
And yes in the morning there is the Tour of France ongoing on the main street with every access being closed off. So we decide to go into town to explore the historic center, however it takes a long time to cross the street during a lull in bicycles that are passing at high speed down the hill.
The day before we identified an alternate way into town and that is what we take now following a geocache that promises to take us to some special locations in town.
First stop is the central square anchored by Église Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens, a large church, and the Cafe de L’Union. We are happy that the church is open and in we go to explore.
It is a surprisingly large church and there is no one else inside allowing us to explore the church in peace and enjoy the cool temperatures for a while.
We then walk to a different entrance into the old town and in we go to explore the narrow streets. There are also fountains and many wash basins throughout the old town, pointing to the life before flowing water when everyone had to go out in the streets to get clean water.
Most of the houses are in good shape but there are also some that are held together by nets and metal bindings and maybe duct tape?
We then cross the Paillon River and it starts to rain, not heavily so we decide to hide between the houses for a while until it stops and we can continue.
We continue exploring the old town and catch a glimpse of the train bridge towering over the town. We decide to walk towards it and see if we can get closer for some nicer views and maybe some interesting birds.
We make it up to right under it and watch the swallows and martins fly over us when the rain starts again so back into the relative safety of the town we go.
We return via the main bridge where we enjoy the great views again and notice that the road is now open. So towards the house we go to pick up the car and start our belated exploration of the Alps villages and surrounding area.
