One night in Barcelonnette (23rd June 08)

france-08-3-300.jpg

Bastion met us at the Aix en Provence station and drove us Barcelonnette about 400 km away. Instead of heading out to Philippe’s place directly we decided to first meet up with Mathieu de Quillacqand get the load down on his wonder dinky helicopter as he was off for a competition later that week.

Barcelonnette, a small mountain village situated in the heart of the Ubaye valley,  near the border with the Hautes Alpes ( a region in Provence )  and Italy. This drive was our first experience of the Provence countryside and we were overawed by its beauty. Barcelonette is lovely village – snow capped mountains all around –  great for skiing,  flying( glider planes too), white water rafting, cycling etc. etc. The area is part of a national park. It was clear to see why Mathieu was based here.

france-08-3-258.jpgfrance-08-3-282.jpgfrance-08-3-268.jpgfrance-08-3-299.jpgfrance-08-3-297.jpg

We explored the area in the afternoon and then retreated to Mathieu’s impressive house – he has restored a 17the century old village school entirely with his own hands. After a super night with  Mathieu & Verla  we drove off with Bastion once towards Moustiers Ste Marie to to catch up with Philippe and Karine.

Click on flynirvana in Barcelonnette to view more pix