Sunday 19th June: Blue skies and cool, 16°C to 22°
Castellar to St Agnes: 14.6k walk: 6hrs between 9.30am and 3.30pm
Accommodation: St Agnes Cottages 60 Rue Pallalaira St Agnes
Breakfast at L'Aleandra
Not this way, so back up hill we go
Jenny on the GR51
Views across to Castellar
The GR51 along almost flat tracks
Lunch on GR51 under shady tree
That's St Agnes up on that hill
St Agnes, one of the most beautiful villages in France
Narrow pretty streets St Agnes
Wine on balcony St Agnes Cottage
Today's highlight was arriving in St Agnes, one of the most beautiful villages in France. A very small village, smaller than Castellar, with very narrow stone cobbled winding streets perched on a hill top behind a mountain peak. It was a key point in the Maginot Line. Our walk of almost 15k from Castellar to St Agnes on the GR51, also known as the Balcony of Cote d'Azure, was easy compared to the steep climb yesterday from Menton, but the views over Menton and the Mediterranean were just as spectacular.
Breakfast at 8am at d’Aleandra was magnificent. Freshly chopped fruits with yoghurts and a variety of croissants and breads. Denise our host, explains that the name d'Aleandra is a name constructed from the names of her two children Alex and Andra. Co-incidentally, there was clock hanging in the hallway in the shape of a beer barrel end, with the name Ale Andra de Paris emblazoned in the timber. It was just a coincidence, she explained, that she had found the clock in a shop and it just happened to have a name that was an anagram of her Chambre d'hote. Denise works hard, with a large table covered with blankets and a large sheet, specifically set up for ironing guests sheets and towels. Her clothesline is strategically covered with plastic to cover the washed linen, which, from 3 bedrooms full each day, is a lotta linen!
We set out at 9.30am, and after buying a baguette of bread from the local epicerie, we follow the cyclist's signs to Monti. But the track is really a busy main road and today is Sunday so there's cars and motor bikes whizzing past fast. I stick my trekking poles out past my body. Any car which dares to come close will be scratched before it hits me, so they keep well clear. There's a sign to Monti pointing down to a gully, but after 30 minutes of following endless dead ends, we retreat to the highway and follow the busy road for 7k to Monti where we stop for a cup of tea at the bus stop. We'd clearly missed the walking track turn off at Castellar, but no matter, it was a well graded easy road to walk on - except for the cars.
There's views to Castellar, down to Menton, and up to the mountains hiding St Agnes. Just opposite our coffee spot is Monti Church with a sign pointing to the Balcons de la Cote d'Azure, known as the GR51, which mostly follows the 400m contour around the hills behind the coast from Menton to Marseilles. It's a short steep climb up behind the church, with glimpses back to Castellar and down to Menton.
It's almost 2pm when we stop under a shady tree for lunch - the regulatory bread, ham cheese and tomato. The temperature is still 22°C - hot walking up hill in the sun, cool under a shady tree. We're glad we're not doing this walk in the heat of the August summer. Soon after, the track winds around the back of the mountain revealing St Agnes perched high on a hill. It's only 1hr to walk up the wide cobble stoned path and we arrive at 3.30pm at the parking lot - St Agnes is another car free village. We're meeting Anita of St Agnes Cottages at 4pm, so there's time for a cup of tea at the picnic table at entrance to St Agnes.
We walk through the narrow flower lined streets of the village to the tourist office just to fill in time, pick up a brochure on the walk tomorrow, then walk back to 60 Rue Pallalaira to meet Anita, an English woman who has lived in St Agnes for 10 years, and rents out half her house through Air BnB. She greets us and shows us around the small apartment. I had already decided that Ian and I would sleep in the lounge room with the sofa bed, and I'd put a kiddies mattress on the floor, with Graham and Jenny in the double bed downstairs. There weren't many choices of places to stay in St Agnes, and the Hotel St Yves had not responded to my requests for 2 rooms for the night. And this cottage turned out to be perfect.
We buy 2 bottles of cold Rose from Anita, and sit on the garden balcony overlooking the Mediterranean, before walking up to St Yves Hotel (the same one which didn't respond) for dinner, where Anita has booked a table for 4. We choose the 21 Euro Menu of Pate, Quiche, steak and chips and Cream Broulet, with another bottle of wine before walking the 100 metres back down to our cottage and bed at 9pm.