Gorges du Cians & Guillaumes France

Travelled: 71km
Stay: 1 night Guillaumes (free Aire with € services) N44.08861 E6.85285

Blue skies and sunshine greeted us this morning. As we were finishing off filling up with water and emptying the toilet, I noticed a man taking photos of us. He told us he was a journalist from Nice Matin and asked us a few questions about the Aire and took more photos. (I wonder if we will be on the front page!). Today we are back tracking to a road that will take us along the Gorges du Cians. We will do a circuit by then taking the road back down through the Gorges de Daluis. From the moment we turned off the N202 and headed along the D28, we were spellbound by the sheer cliffs coming down to the river below, of which the road travels along. Then the stone cliffs changed to a ochre red colour that overhung the road in places. There were several spots to stop where they have built tunnels and you can walk along the old road that was very narrow with low overhangs and evidence of a lot of rock falls. 

As we climbed out of the gorges we came to a picturesque alpine village, Beuil, set in green meadows with snow capped mountains surrounding it. 

After stopping for a visit (and taking more photos!), we stopped at the Alpine Ski Resort town of Valberg, alt.1700m. They always look so empty and devoid of character in the summer, so we headed down to Guillaumes (alt.800m) . 

The Aire here is situated along the river and we found a good spot. We walked around the ancient town and chilled out in the afternoon.