Day 69 the Vence Baous

Today's plan was a walk with B on the heights above Vence - the Baou des Blancs and Baou des Noirs, with the first being the only agreed objective. The climb started off the D2 a few kilometers outside Vence along the Col de Vence road. It ascended steeply on a rough track which got smoother after a while, but inexorably upward. On reaching a rise, we saw we needed to descend again over very rough rocky terrain and up again to get our first view toward the coast, and of Vence. A cross was positioned at this place. On the way up there had been ruins of unknown nature, but they did not tempt B to stop and have a look - he only stopped to let me, breathing heavily, catch up occasionally.

We retraced our steps to the first ridge and proceeded a short way along the path to Baou des Noirs, before B turned back to return to the village on foot. I pressed on to see where the path led, up to a higher hill on the left with a lone tree or two at the top, or over toward the coast. The path led to a saddle where one could choose. I went right, towad the coast. Here the vegetation changed dramatically. The small plants grew bigger and wildflowers bloomed in ever greater profusion. After descending for a bit the path levelled off, traversing a bowl at almost constant elevation, leading over to the knob of Baou des Noirs. The path then reached a sort of ridge which dropped away sharply on the other side, to St Jeannet, I believe, and the even more dramatic mountain there. At this point the trail was an absolute delight to walk along because of the copious and varied vegetation, both trees, plants and flowers. The final approach to Noirs involved another short sharp descent and ascent on a very rocky route, but the view from the cross (here too) was as advertised. On a clear day it would be fantastic, but today was overcast and hazy. One could however see the sea. I departed Baou des Noirs at 12:10 and arrived back at the car 40 minutes later, and back at the gite by 13:00.

This has been the most satisfying walk I've done this trip, largely because of the flowers and the gentle sections of the path.

Our apartment block

 Vence from Baou des Blancs