Saint-Martin-Vésubie: Wolves, the Boréon and the Switzerland of Nice
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
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300
XP
+100 France
= 400 total
1 day
Saint-Martin-Vésubie: Wolves, the Boréon and the Switzerland of Nice
300 + 100 XP
Saint-Martin-Vésubie sits where two mountain torrents, the Madone de Fenestre from the east and the Boréon from the west, meet to form the Vésubie, and from 1864 it was known for its summer climate, its water and its air, well away from the heat of the coast — which is how it came to be called the Switzerland of Nice. Above it the Boréon, round its lake at 1,500 metres, is the start of walks up to the Col de Cerise on the Italian border, and the Alpha centre there lets you watch wolf packs in the park beside it. On 2 October 2020 a Mediterranean storm tore through the valleys of the Alpes-Maritimes; some hamlets of the commune were cut off for more than a week and the power was not back until about 20 October.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Go up to the Parc Alpha at the Boréon and watch the packs from the hides — and work out that none of the thirteen wolves that lived here before October 2020 is among them: the park was shut for nine months after storm Alex and restarted with five reintroduced animals
2
of 5
Walk round the Lac du Boréon and on up the valley towards the Lacs Bessons and the Lac de Trécolpas, into the Mercantour National Park, whose main gateway is Saint-Martin-Vésubie
3
of 5
Walk the Rue Droite from end to end with the béal, the open channel, running down the middle of it, and see that the old village sits on a spur between two valleys — the Madone de Fenestre coming down on the east and the Boréon on the west — with the Vésubie only starting below the houses where they join
4
of 5
Walk a kilometre north of the village up the right bank of the Boréon to the ruined chapel of Saint-Nicolas, built in 1439 on the site of an older church with a cemetery of about the year 1000 around it, and see that the carved altar foot which had survived all of that was carried off by the flood of 2 October 2020 — the hamlets above here were cut off for over a week and the power came back only around 20 October
5
of 5
Drive or walk up the other valley to the sanctuary of the Madone de Fenestre, a high refuge-hospice recorded in 1246 at the foot of the pass into Piedmont that carried the salt road, and find the miraculous statue it was built around — then note that the Templar protection the guides like to talk about is an invention with no basis at all
Go up to the Parc Alpha at the Boréon and watch the packs from the hides — and work out that none of the thirteen wolves that lived here before October 2020 is among them: the park was shut for nine months after storm Alex and restarted with five reintroduced animals
Walk round the Lac du Boréon and on up the valley towards the Lacs Bessons and the Lac de Trécolpas, into the Mercantour National Park, whose main gateway is Saint-Martin-Vésubie
Walk the Rue Droite from end to end with the béal, the open channel, running down the middle of it, and see that the old village sits on a spur between two valleys — the Madone de Fenestre coming down on the east and the Boréon on the west — with the Vésubie only starting below the houses where they join
Walk a kilometre north of the village up the right bank of the Boréon to the ruined chapel of Saint-Nicolas, built in 1439 on the site of an older church with a cemetery of about the year 1000 around it, and see that the carved altar foot which had survived all of that was carried off by the flood of 2 October 2020 — the hamlets above here were cut off for over a week and the power came back only around 20 October
Drive or walk up the other valley to the sanctuary of the Madone de Fenestre, a high refuge-hospice recorded in 1246 at the foot of the pass into Piedmont that carried the salt road, and find the miraculous statue it was built around — then note that the Templar protection the guides like to talk about is an invention with no basis at all
Before you go
The Parc Alpha is at the Boréon, about 8 km up a mountain road from the village; entry is around EUR 15, the ticket office shuts at 15h and the park closes on some Sundays and Mondays outside high summer, so book online and go early. The valley roads were destroyed by storm Alex in October 2020 and are still being rebuilt in places, with single-lane sections and temporary bridges: check the road state before bringing a motorhome up, and do not rely on mobile signal above the village.
The road up to the Madone de Fenestre sanctuary is barriered for the winter from about November to April at roughly 1,200 m, and the last stretch crosses avalanche ground, so treat the sanctuary as a spring-to-autumn drive. The Parc Alpha stays open right through the winter but the ticket office shuts at 15h, and the park takes a break of several weeks between its winter and spring periods — check the dates at the Boreon chalet before you drive the 8 km up.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
300 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
400 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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