Mathieu took the hairpin bends from Roquebilliere through St-Martin-Vesubis following the trickle of water that runs through the steep valley. He drives like a local, casually and without the white-knuckle grip that I use to make the car do 180 degree turns. Along the way he points to the remains of houses perched on cliffs after Storm Alex combined with the humid air of the south in 2020. Flash floods wiped away roads and bridges and killed nine here. Two years later and the landscape still bears the scars with great swathes of stones being cleared. They scoured the earth bringing giant conifers, cars and buildings with them. The scale of destruction is frightening to see on a hot Summer day. It must have been terrifying to experience more rain here in one night than 3 months of average October rainfall combined.
We turn off the main road and drive by the recently reopened Wolf Park where the wolf packs live. We keep climbing as far as we can in the car on a bumpy old forest road until we reach the last carpark and set off for the Refuge. We rise gently through the forests and move out into open ground before crossing the river on a wooden bridge. The walking is easy enough but there are three sections that are steep enough for us to have to stop and drink and catch our breaths. Usually I get impatient waiting for Delphine but I enjoyed taking in the views as she catches up with us.
Walking here is quite different to walking in Ireland. The trails are well worn, the scenery looks like it was hand-drawn by Walt Disney and the mountains are a lot younger so they have a completely different energy to them. It is also higher, with the refuge sitting at 2100m. You also get a lot more sun beating down on you. It’s not like the sun in Ireland which is like a welcome change, a sort of fancy dessert that you get as a bonus sometimes. The sun in the Alps heats up the rocks and you can feel the ground baking beneath you. The sun is up before most people and it has been burning away quite contently while everyone tries to conserve their energy.


There are many different routes up here. Some go to Italy, which is close by. Others circle upland lakes but Mathieu takes us straight for the wooden refuge beneath the courgette-shaped mountain peak that gives this place its name. Coffee and fresh baked fruit pies were ordered and we sat on the veranda watching a family of goats playing in the sun. The valley stretches out below. A few deer saunter between the trees and bushes, keeping their distance but mostly ignoring the walkers who stop to photograph them. Dragonflies zip and butterflies flap. As the heat increased we escaped inside the cool refuge to look at a photography exhibition of the people who work in the refuges of the area.
Mathieu explained that the refuges belonged to the Alpine Ski Club. They are rented out to the workers in the Summer who take care of the cooking. At the start of every season, supplies are dropped by helicopter and for the rest of the Summer the workers must hike up and down three times a week for fresh supplies. It sleeps 40 and during the winter months it is not accessible but there is one room with beds and stove for emergency visits.

Then we made our way back down again, this time stopping beneath the wooden bridge to let our hot feet feel the refreshing coolness of the glacial stream.

Google Maps: 44.107927, 7.311195
Distance: 5.3 km
Time: Three hours
Type of walk: Alpine trail.
Views: Mountains, Forest
Animals: Chamois Deer, Ibex Goats
Plant of the Day: Willowherb

Humans: Lots of walkers
Score: 10/10
This was my first time walking in the Alps. Wow! Thanks Mathieu!