Mercantour National Park
Situated in the department of the Alpes-Maritimes, at the north east of the Riviera, the Mercantour National Park is of about 65 000 hectares and is one of the seven natural parks of France.
This beautifully rugged national park is only an hour’s drive from Nice, yet it’s another world. If the beautiful mountain streams and lakes set in the valleys of 3000m-high mountains (Gélas 3143m) don’t make you feel apart from civilization.
The stunning diversity of the park and its climatic influences, as well as locations as high as the sea level made the Mercantour national park a renown place of biodiversity.
The gigantic flower diversity of the parc counts as much as 2000 different species, some of them being unique.
The animal diversity of the Mercantour National Park is also very rich: badgers, deer, goat, marmot, raccoon and also the wolf.
Furthermore, the Vallée des Merveilles has the richest amount of engravings in open spaces of Europe.
Many beautiful mountain climbing paths are to discover in the villages located in the park, as well as with the partners of the Mercantour national park who share their touristy curiosity, local products, and who invite you all year to their local festivities.
Le refuge de la Madone de Fenestre
The Madone de Fenestre sanctuary is located 1.904 m. Surrounded by mountains and dominated by Le Gélas (3 143 m), highest summit of the Alpes-Maritimes, Fenestres owes its name, according to the legend, with one perforated in the ” Cairo of Madone” , rock behind the sanctuary located between the tops of Ponset on the right and the Colomb Mount on the left. the Master Furnace bridge is dedicated to Notre-Dame de Fenestres, venerated by all the populations of the surroundings and Piedmont at the time of the processions of August 15 and September 8. Nowadays, the statue in cedar of polychrome Lebanon (of XIVème centuryis in winter in Saint Martin church (descent in procession in September) and regains the sanctuary at the beginning of summer (gone up in procession in the month June).
The sanctuary is known as of XIIIème century, but of many indices make us imagine it is older. The Madonna would have appeared on several occasions in the perforated known as one of the ” Cairo of Madone”.
Possession bénédictine of l’ abbey of Saint-Dalmas of Pedona (Borgo San Dalmazzo), it was then allotted to the Chapter cathedral of Nice. A canon had of it the income under the title of commende. The sanctuary and its grounds are finally yielded to the cure of Saint Martin’s day, under the same statute. The oral memory makes a ” field of it; templier ” , on the faith d’ works of the XIXème century, populated magic site of fairies and place of miracles of which we know two relations of the XVIIème century.
current building is a rebuilding of the XIXème century, made necessary after a fire. The building represents the type even alpine sanctuaries, which one can find d’ other examples, of southernmost with the Madonna d’ Utelle, and more in north by that of Holy-Anne de Vinadio…
Le Boréon
Boréon is at less than 5 minutes by car of the Chalet, from there you can do very many excursions, some either season, or by foot, by ski, or rackets. The starting point of the excursions is at Boréon Lake, or Nasty tricks of Boréon, or from carpark of Salèze, both, at 2 minutes by car from Boréon lake.
Each season are favourable to discover splendid landscapes which surround the village of Saint Martin Vésubie.
In winter, the Nordic center of nordic ski of Boréon offers more than 24 kms of traced and marked out tracks allowing to devote to the practice of the cross-country skiing through a magic nature.
The Center of the Wolf, Alpha-Loup, of Saint Martin Vésubie has the role to create a space where the visitor will be able to become acquainted with the wolf at the same time by a museum visit and by animal observation in enclosures.
The museum (scénovision) is carried out in an old rehabilitated nasty tricks and involves the visitor with discovered wolf universe. A special attention is given to integrate enclosures and the fences in the natural site of the Mercantour National Park.
You can find a lot of path trail there.