Canyoning in Nice, La Bollène du Vesubie

August 2007

Canyoning in the La Bollène du Vesubie Valley, one hour from Nice

Just the thing to jolt yourself out of beach torpor but not for the faint-hearted. This day trip out from Nice was one of our best days but not at the time, only after the nausea from the adrenalin rush subsided, about two days later. My dear husband had gone back to the UK to work so it was just the two of us left to our own devices.

It seemed a good idea at the time. Definitely one for thrill-seekers and you need strong nerve and a reasonable level of fitness. We always try something new each year, sailing, scuba diving, rollerblading and this year, canyoning


This day out from Nice was organised by the Bureau des Moniteurs du Pays Niçois or Le BDM http://www.nicebdm.com/

They have an exhibition stand set up the Cour Saleya most days. The rep we spoke to was Angelique and she speaks excellent English. We examined the courses offered ie looked at the pretty photos on the posters 'ooh, canyoning, that looks fun' and signed up. It was 46 euros each. That included all equipment, guide and insurance. No transport though. Not a problem, we arranged to be collected in a minivan outside the Beau Rivage Hotel on rue St Francois de Paule. Pick up and drop off here for the two of us was 10 euros, good value.

You pay on the day and Angelique and I exchanged several phone calls to finalise arrangements with times, the name and contact number of our guide, the delectable Henri, and to check our sizes (height/weight/age) for the wetsuits. You need to bring old trainers that you don't mind getting wet. We didn't even have these but were able to borrow- you need to know your continental size - all we had to bring with us were a swim suit and a snack/water and the money of course.


We were on time, the minivan was on time and there were a couple more girls to collect in the west of Nice en route to the mountains. After about an hours drive climbing up into the hills behind Nice, we stopped just past the village of Lantosque in the Vesubie Valley. Time for a quick coffee in the local cafe while we waited for the final group to arrive which turned out to be a family of four with the youngest girl in our group a 7 year old, a comforting sight - surely I could cope with anything a 7 year old could be expected to face. My daughter, 12, was pleased to see more children. Our final group comprised out guide Henri, two young women, early twenties perhaps, the family of four and me and the daughter, so nine in total.

We abandoned the family car and all set off in the minivan, climbing very steeply which seemed strange as we were supposed to be canyoning, following the course of a river, it felt as though we should be driving downhill towards a river. At the side of the road in a small turn off, we parked and unloaded the van.

The idea was to strip down to your swimsuit and trainers and then carry all the equipment down to the river and then gear up for the trip. It felt most incongruous stripping off by the side of the road and at this altitude, it's not that hot in the shade. I have to say, choose your sturdiest swimsuit for this course - my bikini suffered several wardrobe malfunctions on the way down the mountainside to the river and there usually isn't a hand free to yank things back into place as you are usually too busy clinging to a rock. Henri showed us how to carry our stuff. We had to fill the wetsuit body with the wetsuit jacket and wet-suit boots and harness and then stuff the legs inside the arms to make shoulder straps, rucksack-style. Then clip on your helmet somewhere.

Everything else was left in the van but two waterproof tubs were coming with us so I decided to leave my clothes and food and water in the van and to take my money, camera, phone and a snack and small bottle of water with me safe in the waterproof tubs. There was no obvious path down but off we went, children first following Henri. It is a steep and perilous descent to the river with no obvious path for some of the route. For me, this was the worst part, it was steep, slippy and difficult and the height was giving me vertigo but I reckon if you can cope with the climb down, the canyoning bit will be easy. At one point, the path so narrow, about twelve inches across that a permanent hand line had been hammered into the mountain wall; it was a sheer drop for a while. You can't really tell from the photo how frightening it was. The children all seemed fine with this part of the day. By the time we got to the river, I was a bit of a nervous wreck but no time to dwell on past horrors. Now was the time to struggle into the wet suits, this takes some doing as we were hot and bothered and the suits were cold and wet and seemed about 2 sizes too small. This took place on a small bank of pebbles by a shallow river. The suits are very buoyant - you could float happily on your back in the shallows and feel them fill with water which felt fine, not cold at all. It's hard to try and stand up though. All valuables were put in the waterproof tubs.

Off we went. Canyoning is making your way along the course of a river and dealing with the various challenges that arise through the course of the river. You can walk, swim, crawl, slide, abseil and jump and along this river, we did everything. The first hazard we came across was invisible. The river stopped at the narrow gap between rock face and disappeared. You couldn't see where it went but Henri said it was a waterfall, only about 20 meters. We had to slide down into the plunge pool at the bottom. The sliding is done on your back with your arms crossed in front and head pressed back against the rock face. You are attached to a rope. Not seeing where you were going and waiting for the plunge at the end was very frightening but we did it and it was very exhilarating. Henri said that was about the worst one we would face so it was a baptism by fire.

I wear contact lenses so I was a bit worried about jumping into plunge pools but I managed. The course of the river took about 3 hours I think. Some of the waterfalls were too narrow for sliding so we abseiled. The 7 year old girl was too little to manage some of the challenges and at these times she was winched down with Henri. My daughter managed everything but she said it was the hardest thing she had ever done. At the end, no rest just yet. We had to strip off all our wetsuit gear and rinse it in the river then re-pack it all onto our backs again. It was a twenty minute walk, in your swim suit and trainers with your belongings on your back, to reach the original car park. Henri had a lift back to the minivan while we all sat at a picnic bench and had a snack and waited for his return. We were all very pleased with ourselves by now.

A few things would have made the day better - a sturdier swim suit was a definite. Next, a water-proof camera which I do have but it's no good in a drawer back in the UK. I was gutted not to have recorded some of the waterfalls and plunge pools etc. I have put the link to the BMN so that you can see some action shots. Here are a couple of photos I lifted from the site to show you the sort of challenges we faced:





















One thing - make sure the guide checks the tubs, I put my camera and phone in a waterproof tub and it wasn't closed properly and everything got soaked, it took 5 days before the phone worked again and it never fully recovered, the camera's memory stick was saved but the camera is not quite perfect yet, luckily I decided to take the crappiest camera we had in case of accidents. We all managed without injury unless you count a couple of broken nails until the very end when I stood up ready to walk back and promptly fell over bruising my arm, sheer exhaustion I think and no harm done.

You definitely need a good snack afterwards, my daughter ate nearly a whole baguette stuffed with ham.


We saw Angelique the following week in the Cours Saleya and she was very keen to hear about our adventure, we will book another day out next summer, I would like the try the canyoning again but in in a different area for a change, there is one they do just over the border, in Italy, might try that one. I also quite fancy the 'via ferrata' the iron way. I'm determined my husband won't miss out this time.


This would be a great day out for teenagers or anyone fairly athletic with a reasonable level of fitness and nerve who fancies getting out of Nice for a day and seeing some spectacular scenary close up and getting some good exercise out in the fresh air.

The Conseil General des Alpes-Maritimes publish a series of guides (in French) on the great outdoors, part of a collection 'Guides RandOxygène' and details of this canyon and others as well as guides to walking, mountain biking, via ferrata etc, can be found here:

http://www.randoxygene.org/index.php and a Practical Guide can also be downloaded:

http://www.randoxygene.org/pdf/guide_pratique.pdf


The booklets are freely available from tourist offices in Nice and from the new O6 Information Office on the Prom just opposite the carousel in the Albert 1er gardens. I would never recommend embarking upon a canyon without a fully qualified guide. For walks and hiking though, they are very useful.


There's no need to take your own map, you have a guide and a lift in a minibus but if you wanted to see where you were en route or later on, you need the IGN Map 3741 OT Carte de Randonéé Vallée de la Vésibue:


For more information or to book a day's course contact the BDM by phone: 04 93 72 89 54 or fax: 04 93 80 43 68 or go and find their information stand in the Cours Saleya in Old Nice on market days. As well as Canyoning, the BDM also offer courses in rock-climbing, Parcours, Via Ferrata, Rafting and various walking and hiking options.

Short holiday break in Nice, May 2007

Sunday 27th May 2007

Next trip July 2007

website: allaboutNice.com

Very brief trip this time but the highlight was lunch at La Cambuse, more info below, a restaurant recommended in Rick Steves' Provence & the French Riviera 2006 which turned out to be very good. Here's the link to see this book, the 2007 edition is also now available: Rick Steves' Provence and the French Riviera

We left the rain in Liverpool to arrive in Nice around 10pm for a 2-day quick visit. In spite of two heavy suitcases, more presents for the studio, we caught the express 98 bus as we are on an economy drive. A taxi at this time of night with luggage is likely to be about 35 euros as opposed to 4 euros each for the bus.

The 98 express bus came on time 22:23 hours, handy to know they run so late. People needing the the train route, the 99 express bus also need the 98 at this time of night and to tell the driver who will go on to the train station after the Gare Routiere. As we are so used to the bus terminating at the Gare Routiere (bus station) we forgot to ding the dinger and we were on our way to the train station before we noticed. In our defence, we thought the driver was taking a long route around because of all the tramworks. The driver pulled over reluctantly on Felix Faures to turf us out and we had even further to lug our stuff.

Apartment still looking smart with its new paint job. Very late so we just faffed about a bit, unpacked a bit and played on the computer, connection is working this time, no word from the daughter who is away on a school trip in Normandy. The main reason to coming here for such a short stay is to keep an appointment on Tuesday morning to have awning installed on our balcony.

Monday 28th May 2007

Warm sunny day but felt cold due to unpleasant cold blustery wind all day. It was enough to make you seek out the sunny side of the street, the shadowed Old Town was very cold. Had a long-sleeved top, long skirt, but not enough, had to add a jacket later on. Unpacked all the goodies for the studio.

The bathroom looks much better with new towels, mat, shower curtain. We brought along a poster for the flat, it was meant to go in the main room but we decided it looked better in the loo. We have a large empty wall that need something pretty big to fill it, our little poster looked a bit lost there. I am considering buying this to fill the space.

We needed a frame, a simple clip frame, this proved hard to find but eventually hit the jackpot at Habitat in Nice Etoile. Bought a very smart frame, held together by magnets, paid about 30 euros, not too bad. Very heavy so we took the bus back to the Port.


Here's a close-up of the poster, it's appropriately Raoul Dufy's 'Nice in May'. The actual location is at the back of the Old Town in a building called La Treille. La treille means 'climbing vine' and the vine is still there.

Since about October 2006, La Treille has been a centre of information about historic Old Nice, with guides to the churches, walks based around the Old Town etc. It's open most afternoons and you can pop in and pick up a couple of leaflets for self-guided tours and to find out information about guided tours for example, there is a tour that concentrate on Baroque churches in Nice. I think many of these will be French commentary only. The staff are very friendly and enthusiastic and were giving out free cherries when we went by.

The opening times are Monday to Friday 14:00 hrs to 19:00 hrs. This spot appears to be a favourite place to sit and sketch. Another artist painted La Treille, in a naive style:





I couldn't quite make out her name, Elizabeth something. I think it's popular with artists because it's off the main street and there's a small square to sit and work in relative peace and quiet.

After five years use, we decided it might just be time to wash our quilted bed throw before packing it away in our cave for the summer. It's large and padded and didn't fit in our washing machine so we risked the local launderette, Laverie Bea, in rue Parolière where they had extra large washers and driers. The launderette was clean and fresh and the machines looked new. The large machines are 8 euros a wash and the regular sized ones are 3.50 euros. It was empty so we had time to suss it all out in peace. All the machines and dryers and even the detergent (0.8 euros) and conditioner (0.8 euros) were paid for in the same pay machine, the centrale de paiement that took coins and notes. You just key in the number for the machine you wanted to use and paid the total, change is given. The washing machine or whatever comes to life and you programme it as normal. Instructions are mostly French with a bit in English, it's all fairly starighforward though.

During the wash, we set off for a walk to the sea. The private beach Castel Plage at the foot of the Chateau Hill was already set up for the summer. The typical Niçoise style buildings you can see in the background are La Perouse Hotel and to the left is La Suisse hotel. As you can see, it's about the best location for a hotel in Nice, La Perouse is pricey with a pool but La Suisse next door is much better value and seems to get consistently great reviews on tripadvisor.com. The blustery strong wind kept most people off the beach, we walked along the Prom for a little while but quickly sought the shelter of the Old Town where we froze in the sunless shadow. Forgot it was Monday and went to wander through the fruit and flower market of the Cour Saleya, Mondays are Antiques and bric a brac in the Cours, not really my thing, I always forget it's on a Monday. It was also a Bank Holiday in the UK and although not an official French holiday, many businesses and restaurants were closed.

After the wash, we used the dryer, you get about 8 minutes per 0.80 cents pay, we needed about three goes. We hung it out to finish off on our balcony. It was really quite painless using the laundrette and we would be even quicker and slicker next time. I am tempted to use it for the weekly bedsheets and towels wash which are a pain to dry in the studio and small balcony. It could easily be combined with a cheap lunch at any of the places along rue Paroliere, Rene Socca, Chez Christian, Bar de la Bourse, La Mama, you could nip in to feed the dryer very easily. At the least, you can buy an English paper from the Tabac opposite rene Socca or maybe crack on with your postcards. My only warning is that there was no-one about should things go wrong although sign suggested that someone is usually hanging around to help. If you are in Nice for a couple of weeks, this is ideal to have a quick launder of beach towels etc.

Tuesday 29th May 2007

Awning installers arrived promptly and we had a sad moment as we threw out our yellow parasol that served us faithfully for the last 4 summers, seems such a long time since we brought it back from Ikea in Toulon. The awning is better though and makes the balcony feel bigger plus we must have been a source of irritation to our opposite neighbours; at least we now match everyone else.

To celebrate a good job done after five years, we went to La Cambuse restaurant in the Cours Saleya. The Cours Saleya is the heart of the Old Town and probably the most visited part of Nice. As a consequence of this the market is lined with restaurants either which spread out across the Cours once the market is over. This is a typical tourist hotspot and it's difficult to choose a restaurant that is good value, good service and good food. La Cambuse looks a little self conscious amongst the tourist trap restaurants who have to compete cheek by jowl for custom. We have hardly noticed it as we don't really ever eat on the Cours, it never seems like it would make good sense. However, the recommendation in Rick Steves' book describes La Cambuse as a "small island of refinement, with cuisine for those who want to eat on cours Saleya without sacrificing quality" is spot on and we had a great lunch. Husband chose 'brochette de magret de canard et gambas sauce aigre-douce' and I had the day's special; 'rougets à la provençale' which is red mullet. Specials and main courses are around 18 euros, a half litre pichet of red wine is 9 euros. Bottles of wine start around 19,50 euros and a Bandol was 26 euros. Puddings are around 8 euros. Our bill for 2 mains, a half pichet of wine, one pudding and a coffee came to about 56 euros, about twice what we usually pay so a bit of a treat. We would definitely come back and it's nice to have a decent restaurant on the Cours to recommend. We noticed Theresa, another institution of the cours, Chez Theresa's fast food store in the market has sold Socca for years, recommend La Cambuse to a group of people and she brought them to the manager to arrange an evening meal. La Cambuse is found at 5, Cours Saleya, tel number 04 93 80 82 40.

Later on in Hermès, the assistant said that La Cambuse was very popular among the locals. So, if you want the atmosphere of the cours combined with excellent food and good service, you know where to come. It was too windy to eat outside although we did try for a few minutes. Inside with banquette seating along one side, we could both people-watch to our hearts' content.