Ever read something in a travel book and it sounds charming and wonderful? That was the case with our day trip to Entrevaux. Not too far from the house, it was less than an hour's scenic drive behind Nice and up to the mountains. Lovely. As we drove past some little villages along the way, we smiled at their charm. We arrived to our destination; parked the car and headed into the fortified village. And it was charming! The guide book said you could walk up to the fort itself in a half hour and well worth the view from there. Game on...let's go. After a little walk through the village, we purchased our "tokens" to get us through the turnstile. A little incline and the stretch of legs felt good...so did the sun. Oh, the glorious sun! The incline is getting a bit steep now and cannot see beyond the path ahead of me...I'm OK. The path upward zig-zags. My husband gets a bit ahead and turns to look at me...on the next turn the incline is steeper and the path is longer. I can do this. By the third turn of the path, the incline is absurd, the sun is beating down on me, and I hoping there is a little gust of a breeze to cool me. We've been climbing for more than a half hour...who wrote that article? What half hour? Half hour per pathway? Just when I thought I'd rather roll down the hill, my husband says we are at the top. I make that last turn to see the what looks like a sentinel's lookout and I am pushing what is left of me. Yeah! I made it. We walk into the fort and the coolness of the stone building is enough to make me lay on my back and let it cool me down. I didn't care who saw me! Once cooled down we investigated the fort and get this - the fort was used during WW2 to hold German prisoners! Walking up was punishment enough! A bit more investigating and delaying the inevitable....we had to walk down! It was a little easier - but I stress the words "a little". Finally, down at the bottom I drank a bottle of water and it never tasted so good! As we returned to the parking lot, we looked back and could not believe we climbed to the top of that rock. Next time, we'll send our friends up there with a white hankie...when they reach the top, they can wave it so we can photograph them from the parking area below! : - )
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