Travel: Walking through France's Maritime Alps

We were in the Alpes Maritimes on a walking holiday that seemed to be highlighting all the things we have in common with our European neighbours; a love of nature, sunshine and good food. Our seven-day route took us from the high mountain pass and a boulder marking the border between France and Italy where goats roamed freely – we bought their delicately flavoured cheese at a market the following day – to the sunny shores of the Mediterranean. As we walked we saw the vegetation change from the lush grasses of alpine meadows to the scrub, or garrigue, as we approached sea level. Butterflies fluttered ahead of us and we breathed in the perfumed air as our legs brushed aromatic plants like lavender, rock roses and thyme.

We’ve done a few hillwalking holidays in recent years and On Foot is a particularly classy option. The route notes written by Richard Petitjean, who has lived in the region for more than 30 years, are comprehensive without being patronising and there are different options at some stages – choose to add on a circular walk, do a bit by train or even take a rest day. We flew to Nice from Edinburgh and took the train two hours into the mountains and, with lots of tunnels, sometimes through them, to reach our first base camp, Hotel Fleur des Alpes in La Brigue. With dinner, B&B and packed lunch organised for us, all we really needed to do was to walk. We took the easy option on day one, a circular route from La Brigue to Tende which featured a pretty climb through wild flowers on good rocky paths with plenty of butterflies and interesting beetles to marvel at. Part of the magic of this kind of holiday is the speed at which you can disconnect from your daily challenges. Pretty soon all you are thinking about is the path under your feet and whether to have white or rosé with dinner.