Saturday 18th June: Blue skies and cool, 16°C to 22°
Menton to Castellar: 13k walk: 6hrs between 9.30am and 3.30pm
Accommodation: Chambre d’hôte d’Alexandra
Rolling to La Poste Menton
Through Menton to start of GR5
This guy must think we're nuts
Gotta touch the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean wave swamp shoes
Millions of $$ of boats in Menton
GR5 at Gare SNCF Menton Garavan
Looking back at Menton
Jenny's thirsty, gotta get her water
Coffee with a jetboil
And a stunning view to Monaco
Lunch with a view
A stunning day hiking up the very steep track from Menton on the Mediterranean Sea to Plan de Lion at 730m, the start of the Maritime Alps. Then down to Castellar at 350m, a village perched on a ledge, with absolutely stunning coastal views from Menton to Monte Carlo and across the Mediterranean Sea.
The day starts with our own breakfast in our room at Hotel Parisien of muesli and yoghurt bought the day before, with a cup of tea from our Jetboil set up on our balcony with views of the next door building. We've already packed our Salvos suitcase to the brim with excess stuff and when Graham and Jenny add extra stuff from their Japan cycling trip and Bali hash run, the bag is chockas. We think it weighs 23kg.
By 8.30am, we're rolling our suitcase down the road to La Poste. It's a stunning day with blue skies and 16°C, but the wind has dropped. The same lady from yesterday is at the La Poste counter. We lock the bag and shrink wrap it with a roll of glad wrap bought in Alba. The bag weighs 22.6kg and after adding Recommandé (sign on delivery), the cost is 29 euro - cheap - IF the bag gets there. We had booked an AirBnB in Paris and our host Michel agreed we could send him our gear for when we arrive in 4 weeks time. It started as one small parcel, then when Graham and Jenny added stuff, two small parcels, then the whole suitcase! Hmm! I hope he'll trundle it the one k to our AirBnB without a wheel falling off.
Next stop is Carrefours supermarket again. We need enough for lunch and dinner today, lunch tomorrow and breakfast and lunch the next day - bread, cheese, tomatoes, and two packets of salmon. We set off along the harbour's edge to the Gare Menton-Garavan where the GR52 officially begins. The GR5 Guide book says to touch the waters of the Mediterranean at the beginning or end of the GR5, depending where you start from. So down to the water for a photo shoot. Some guy is inquisitive as to why we’re twaddling our hands in the water and volunteers to take a photo. But then a wave rolls in. I manage to lift my legs just in time, but Jenny and Ian are too busy posing for a photo and their boots get swamped.
It's 10.30am when our climb begins up hundreds of steps at the back of Gare Menton-Garavan. Jenny's looking for water already. The temperature is only 20°C but it's hard work climbing. The further we climb, the more spectacular is the view back to Menton. By 12pm, it's coffee time in a shady spot and now the views extend as far as the high rise buildings of Monaco. The Mediterranean Sea is azure blue, with luxury boats leaving white trails on the water as they zoom in and out of the marinas along the coast.
Another one and a half hours of up, and we come to a high point at 729 metres with a sign off to Mont Carpano, another 50 metres higher. The views couldn't possibly be any better so we continue on. The breeze has picked up and it's cool in the shade and hot in the sun, so lunch is under a shady tree out of the breeze with more views to Monte Carlo. We see the hill top village of Castellar down below and after our bread, cheese, tomato and ham lunch, it's a short walk along to Plan de Lion, then a steep walk down to the mediaeval city of Castellar. It's a car free village, the streets around it lined with cars, and when we walk through the narrow streets, we see why. The three parallel streets are linked by tunnels through the old buildings, many of which date back to the 16th Century. There's one restaurant and one small shop. The whole village is only 100 metres long, and at the end, there's a track leading down to our Chambre d'hote L'Aleandra. Our host greets us and shows us to our rooms in her private house, and gives us a guided tour of the balcony which we decide will make a perfect place for our picnic tonight.
Graham has a snooze and after a shower, Ian and I walk back to the village to the tinsy shop to buy a bottle of wine for our picnic. We decide a Rose Champagne is warranted to celebrate our first night on the GR5, and add a bottle of still Rose and President's Cheese because we can. Our picnic is delightful, recapping the day and solving the world's problems, whilst eating smoked salmon, bread and salad. A cup of tea after dinner with an electric jug, some blogging time, some checking maps time, then bed.
Hill top village of Castellar
Narrow streets Mediaeval Castellar
Sleeping Beauty - not pretty
Drinking Beauty - not pretty
Dinner on balcony A'Leandra