Exploring the mountains (or rather hills) behind the coast of the Cote D’Azur.

It was a rainy sunday, yes it does rain in the South of France, and I was sitting on the train to Cannes watching the rain slashing against my window thinking that walking around in Cannes just wouldn’t be the same in this weather. We dashed around Cannes to the grand marché and sat at a little café for cappuccinos and tarte au pommes and watched the world go by. Markets are so fabulous in Europe, there is so much energy and the food is all so good you could eat yourself silly!

After the market we took the car for a drive up in the mountains towards Grasse and Callion. The hills and countryside is so peaceful and the views over the quiet towns and villas is just gorgeous.

We found ourselves on deserted roads and had no idea where we wanted to go, so our route was based on a game of picking L or R and seeing where the road took us. Some roads must be ancient and couldnt have been built for 2 cars to pass each other as they were so narrow and the cliff would fall away on one side. A little scary with all the hairpin corners and mad french drivers, who think 80km on these roads is slow!!  (and I’m pretty bad when it comes to driving fast)

In the pic below you can see the Lac de Saint -Cassien, our plan was head in that direction but we ended up taking a right turn all the way into Mons – a tiny hill-top village that was hidden in a cloud. We drove on endlessly wondering when we would arrive and where. We got FINALLY got to the top and definitely agree that it was worth the drive.

It was a tiny and very quaint little French town and the heavy rain clouds had taken over the entire top of the mountain -we were essentially in the cloud. Adds a whole new angle for people who live in the clouds!

The town of Mons is 800 metres above sea level and is located in the  ’Pays de Fayence’ region of Provence, which is west of Grasse. Whilst exploring the deserted town (it was a rainy Sunday) we came across an ancient church with a great wrought-iron gate. The gate was unlocked so we tried our luck and went exploring. It was an ancient church and very dark inside, its wall must speak a hundred stories of the people who entered its doors.

In the town there is also the Church of Notre Dame de l’Assomption as well as the Chapel des Penitents and many different little alleys and cafés to explore. We also explored several other towns on our adventure, but Mons simply stood out the most and is a must visit if you are in the area. Other towns to see are: Feyance, Saint – Cezaire, Seillans, Callian,