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Today was supposed to be our first day of walking in the Alpes Maritimes but there were heavy thunderstorms overnight and it was still raining heavily this morning, which would make the path very slippery. So, fortunately we have two nights in La Brigue so we decided to follow the Onfoot Holiday wet weather suggestion and to return to Tende on the train and go to the Museum of Merveilles.
Returning to Tende for the second time I could only wonder if this was a true ' double en Tende'.
Heavy rain and fog on the mountains. The river, dry yesterday, was running by the hotel. The river flows rapidly upstream in Tende and then usually disappears into 'a hole', which locals have tried to find and block over the years so that it would continue downstream to La Brigue.
Mark, Andrew and I with Robbie our host. He was a truck driver in Menton but decided 5 years ago to bring his family up into the mountains for a better family life. They bought the hotel and have created a fabulous business and thoroughly enjoy being part of the La Brigue community, albeit small.
Church bells of St Michel announce mass. The church has a very ornately painted interior and mass was well attended with many older residents.
Back to the station with an announcement that the train was delayed with the possibility of a rockfall due to the rain overnight.
Tende. The modern section of the town situated on the main highway. Lots of hikers and climbers in town today waiting for the rain to clear.
Museum of Mervielles. An archeological and ethnological museum with information of the area from 5,000 years ago, centring around the discovery of 40,000 rock engravings from the Bronze Age.
Modern, beautifully detailed museum with multilingual signage and engrossing displays.
The most famous engraving is known as the Sorcerer, the god-bull brandishing lightning,
There were chronological displays of the progression of toolmaking and videos of the process. This was mirrored by large dioramas of humans using the tools in everyday life - pastoral, domestic, hunting etc.
A personal account by a more modern shepherd with this ingenious video technology.
Our picnic lunch eaten in a local bar, out of the rain.
Views to the viaduct and to the path over the saddle of the mountain from La Brigue, where we walked yesterday.
We walked up through the medieval heart of the Tende to the cemetery which towers over it. There is is the remnant of a castle, owned by the Lascaris family, which was destroyed in the 1600s.
A brief moment of sunshine for this decorated sundial.
The area has a rich pastoral past. Maybe a shepherd lived here.
Mist over the mountains this afternoon. Autumn colours showing through.
Delicious dinner of mussels, melon and prosciutto and trout tonight. We have thoroughly enjoyed the cuisine in this lovely B&B and were heartened to know that they are booked out until the 27th September!
M&M
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