Mont Chaberton (3131 m) above Montgenèvre

The Roman road over Col Montgenèvre was an important route connecting Turin with Spain. In 1802, a proper road was opened facilitating rapid connection Between Briancon and Turin. In 1936, the Montgenèvre ski resort was opened.


Our skiing friends have really liked Montgenèvre which in summer offers great hikes. It was again Bernard Ranc’s wonderful hiking book, Les plus belles randonnées des Alpes du Sud, which finally gave inspiration to this hike.



Mont Chaberton (3131m) is one of the alpine mountains over those mythic 3000m that can be reached relatively easily. The mountain used to be Italian territory, and Fort Chaberton was constructed on the summit in 1898-1910. The summit comprises a surprisingly large man-made plateau offering a super panorama: Mont Blanc, Les Ecrins… The fortress is now completely ruined after heavy fighting during WW II.



The hike starts from the centre of Montgenèvre along the GR 5 trail (red and white signs) passing the tourist office and the obelisk towards Italy. After 1.5 km the GR 5 forks left in a forest following a wide dirt road. The trail climbs gently about 2 km with a dry river bed (Rio Secco) on your right hand side.
At about 2100m altitude the path leaves GR 5 and forks right crossing the river bed and leaving a chair lift on the left.


From this point the steep climb to Col du Chaberton (2674m) starts. The trail is well marked with yellow signs. Col du Chaberton is reached in about 3 h from Montgenèvre. From the mountain pass, you can see the excellent trail zigzagging to the summit.

Ancient military presence can be seen along the route. After about 1 h you walk to the summit plateau. When you look at Mont Chaberton from below, it is hard to imagine that the summit comprises this large a plateau!  Return along the same trail.




Total ascent: 1281 m


Total hiking time: about 7 h









Carte:I.G.N.1/25000 n: o 3536 OT

















Map Image courtesy of Google Maps

Easy sea bass recipe

This simple recipe is inspired by a summer lunch that we had at the seaside restaurant of a private beach in Agay (near Saint-Raphael). We were seated on the sand beach under a parasol en première ligne, our toes almost touching the sea.

Baked sea bass fillets with vegetables and seafood sauce, filet de loup, sauce crustacées, was just perfect in this setting. The recipe is easy to make from frozen shelled mussels, fresh sea bass fillets and good fish stock. I usually use fumet de poisson, fish stock powder. Fresh cod fillets or some other firm fleshed white fish can be used in this recipe.

2 servings

2 sea bass fillets, about 150 g each
100 ml white wine
100 ml fish stock (or 100 ml water and 2 tsp fumet de poisson)
2 tbsp crème fraîche, 15 % fat
Freshly ground black pepper
About 200 g frozen shelled mussels
1 small coarsely chopped courgette (zucchini), about 100- 150 g
10 cherry tomatoes
About 2 tbsp olive oil
Steamed new potatoes
Fresh basil leaves

Defrost the mussels and keep in the fridge until needed.

Lightly steam or microwave the courgette and set aside. Wash the cherry tomatoes and new potatoes.

Preheat the oven to 200⁰ C.

Start making the sauce. In a medium saucepan whisk together the white wine, fish stock and black pepper. Bring to the boil, and then reduce to simmering for about 10 minutes to reduce the liquid.

Line an oven-proof dish with baking paper. Place the fish fillets, cherry tomatoes and chopped courgette in the dish and sprinkle with 2 tbsp olive oil. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile microwave the new potatoes. Add 2 tbsp crème fraîche to the sauce and whisk well. Check the consistence; if the sauce is too liquid you can thicken it with a teaspoon of Maizena diluted in a small amount of water. Add the mussels for about 3 minutes to get thoroughly warmed.

Place the fish and vegetables on the plates and spoon over the mussel sauce. Decorate with basil leaves.

Hiking in Queyras

If you are in Queyras Regional Nature Park and plan a shorter one-day hike, consider this: The picturesque hike starts at the entrance of the village of Ceillac (1616 m), located in the southern part of the park. The trail from Ceillac to the La Mourière (2324 m) is actually a part of GR 58 which was created as a loop trail around the peaks of Font Sancte.
Seen from the trail, the summit of La Mourière doesn`t look very imposing, but the panorama from the top is magnificent. The trail is quite good and not much frequented so that you can really enjoy the nature.




Start ascending following the signposts to Le Belvédère de la Mourière and the red and yellow signs of GR 58. The ascent starts gently in a super forest but gets gradually steeper and steeper. There are great views along the trail, notably down to Ceillac and the Cristillan Valley. Higher up the impressive southern face of Pointe de la Saume (3043 m) becomes visible.



The trail zigzags in the forest as far as La Mourière. The summit is suddenly just right of the path, marked with a cairn, a heap of stones. Climb up there for a great panorama in spite of the modest altitude compared with the 3000 plus peaks nearby. The Ecrins Massif with peaks reaching 4000 m is seen in the distance.  La Mourière is a good spot for a picnic. Return along the same trail.






Total ascent:        708 m.


Total hiking time: about 4 h.
Map: IGN 3537 ET Guillestre


Image of trail courtesy of Google Maps

Tortilla tart recipe

This tortilla tart recipe is inspired by a lunch in Miami when we were served a super salad in a pizza bottom case. The pizza case acted as a kind of bowl and consequently it was a bit too hard to eat. But it was very decorative.

So I thought why not make a tart in the same way and instead of pizza bottom use a tortilla which is thinner. The filling in this recipe uses typical Mediterranean ingredients. This easy, carefree tart is worth trying, and makes a nice lunch for two.

For this recipe you need a non-stick 20 cm tart case.

Ingredients

1 wheat tortilla
3-4 medium ripe tomatoes
100 g ricotta
50 ml crème fraîche 15 % fat or cream for cooking
2 eggs
A handful of fresh spinach leaves
About 50 g pecorino or other half-hard goat’s cheese
8 black olives
2 tbsp olive oil
Black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180⁰ C.

Cut the tomatoes in quarters and place them in an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with olive oil and grind over some black pepper. Bake in oven for 30- 45 minutes until the tomatoes are “collapsed”.

With a fork crush the ricotta and mix with crème fraîche. Whisk the eggs and add the ricotta- crème fraîche mixture into the eggs. Grind in black pepper. Remove the stones from the olives, if necessary, and set aside.

Line the tart case with the tortilla taking care that the walls are covered as well. Pour the egg-ricotta-crème fraîche mixture into the tortilla case. Place the tomato quarters and black olives on top.  Bake the tart for 20- 25 minutes.

Wash and dry the spinach leaves. Cut them into strips. Remove the tart from the oven and sprinkle the spinach over it. Slice pecorino shavings over the tart and serve with a green side salad.

Day hike in Queyras from Ceillac to Col Girardin

It was Bernard Ranc’s wonderful hiking book, Les plus belles Randonnées des Alpes du Sud, which gave us inspiration to this hike near Ceillac in Queyras Regional Nature Park.



From Nice, we drove over Col de la Bonette and Col de Vars as far as to Guillestre, then up to the small village of Ceillac (4 hours from Nice). We had booked the Hôtel Cascade in Pied du Mèlèzet in the Mèlèzet Valley a couple of kilometers from Ceillac because of its super location. It was great to start the hike along the GR 5 trail straight from our hotel door! The surrounding countryside was quiet, La France Profonde at its very best.



The GR 5 trail ascends steeply in the woods from Pied du Mèlèzet (1670m).After that the trail levels off a bit, turns south, and after about 1h 50 from the start you will reach Lake Miroir (2214m). From here, the GR 5 trail continues southeast ascending to  the Collet Ste- Anne (2408m). Part of the trail here follows a ski run. The impressive peaks of Fonte Sancte (3385m) are visible above the trail.



Lake Ste-Anne (2403m) is reached soon. When you see its turquoise water for the first time, you understand why it is considered one of the most beautiful mountain lakes in the region.


GR 5 continues southeast ascending in a high alpine landscape towards Col Girardin (2699 m). At the mountain pass there is a trail that forks left to Tête de Girardin (2875 m), an option if you wish to climb 176 m more. We returned from the Col along the same trail to the Lake Ste- Anne. There we turned northeast following the trail (yellow marks) to the upper parking in the valley at 1967 m. From there, we descended following a path in the Mèlèzet Valley back to Pied du Mèlèzet, our starting point.
Total ascent:  1029 m

Duration:          6h 30










Map: IGN 3537 ET Guillestre




Image of itinerary courtesy of Google Maps

Green risotto recipe

There are many ways to vary the basic risotto (See: risotto with scallops May 2015 + risotto with shrimp Jan 2014). In Italy they even make black risotto from octopus.

The green colour of this risotto from pea purée and baby salad leaves and the pink colour from smoked salmon bring summer to the table. Instead of smoked salmon, you could use cooked shrimp or prosciutto di parma.

2 servings

About 120 g smoked salmon, cut into strips
100 ml frozen peas
100 ml water
A generous handful of baby salad leaves, cut into smaller pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
For the risotto:
120 ml risotto rice
700 ml vegetable stock (you may not need to use it all)
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 shallot or small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
150 ml white wine
100 ml freshly grated parmesan
Freshly grated black pepper
½ lemon, cut into very small pieces

First make the pea purée. Cook the frozen peas in equal amount of water for about 10 minutes and purée with a hand-held mixer. Set aside.

Cut the salmon, baby salad leaves and ½ lemon and keep in the fridge until needed. Grate the parmesan.

Cook the risotto the classic way by adding small amounts of liquid and stirring constantly for 25 minutes. A detailed description of how to cook the perfect risotto is found in our previous posting: Risotto with scallops, May 2015, see above.

When the rice is cooked, add the pea purée, parmesan and the lemon pieces, and adjust the consistence. Add the baby salad leaves and mix. Divide the risotto into bowls or risotto plates, top with smoked salmon and drizzle with olive oil.