From Fort Saint Roch in Sospel it is time to drive into the Alps towards La Brigue. Initially we wanted to do a long hike but because of the Tour de France blocking most roads we can leave only in the afternoon so we decide to focus on the small picturesque villages in the Alps and La Brigue is highly recommended. But first we have to go there, there are sooo many switchbacks, it feels in the hundreds as we slowly make our way past bicyclists towards our first stop.
Finding parking is a chore in these mountains towns luckily we have a few options marked and the furthest away works ok and then we have to descend and find our way into the historic center.
Soon we are walking on narrow empty streets trying to keep the downward direction as the streets wind left and right. They are quite scenic really even though they are eerily empty.
We arrive in a small plaza spread over the dry creek and from here we continue on the other side still going downward but now having a goal, we are trying to reach the large church in the central square.
And then it starts to rain, not too badly but the potential is there so we hurry through narrow passageways, past impressive houses and then we arrive in the central square, just in time as it starts raining even worse.
We admire briefly the two churches, the larger, open Collégiale Saint Martin and the smaller and closed Chapelle des Pénitents blancs, from the outside but then we have to retreat inside before we get drenched and decide to explore for a while until hopefully the squall passes.
It is quite beautiful and peaceful inside and we spend some time to explore the beautiful church, we especially like the blue, beautiful ceiling which is a bit unusual. And the lo and behold when we exit the rain is mostly stopped and we can continue exploring.
Next on our list is the ruined castle that we can see close-by. It is a short climb and we reach it just before another short burst of rain hits us.
It is actually a scenic ruin but unfortunately it cannot be entered so we explore it from outside only and enjoy the great views of the mountain and the village before returning towards the center of the village.
On the way we see a quite a few swallows and martins and even find an active martin nest with some beautiful chicks looking at us.
Our goal is the interpretative trail that goes towards Notre Dame de Fontaines, a famous painted church which is closed during our visit. As such we decide to walk only to Pont du Coq about halfway through and also explore the forest on the way.
The trail follows a road first past farmland but then it starts going through the forest and this is the nicest part of the trail even though it is quite up and down. We search for interesting birds for a while but none are forthcoming so on we go.
At a split in the trail one arrow points towards Pont du Coq and we start in that direction however the trail is really overgrown and we barely make it to the bridge which is really scenic. The most defining feature is that the bridge is built at an angle, quite unusual and not something we saw before.
Interestingly we also find a few wild strawberries along the way which are quite welcome as we return towards the car given that we have one more town to visit.
We pass back through the now sunny time and go up to our parking which is full also already and on towards Saorge we go, the final goal of today.
