St-Jeannet to la Colle

Picnic at la Colle 844 m

St-Jeannet to la Colle track

Mont Macaron above Nice

Both the northern (806 m) and southern (797 m) summits of Mont Macaron, about 11 km northeast of Nice offer a magnificent 360° panorama in spite of their rather modest elevation. From both summits, one can admire the city of Nice, Baie des Anges as well as the Mercantour peaks in the north. Not surprisingly this is a very popular hiking area.

Both summits are situated on Crête du Mont Macaron, between the towns of Tourrette-Levens and Contes. There’s a vast parking at Col de Châteauneuf (626 m) by the D815 road. It’s here we headed after an almost two-month long COVID-19 lockdown.







From the parking, we started following a small road south and after 100 m forked left (signpost#741 indicating Crête du Mont Macaron) into the woods. We ascended along a path passing the ruins of medieval Châteauneuf, leaving them on our left-hand side. The ruins are perched on a hilltop (750 m) about 500 m south of the col.

We soon reached a clearing where the restored Chapel St. Joseph was located. The potholed road from the main road ended here.

From the chapel, we continued southeast then south, ascending gently towards the ridge, where both summits were visible. We took a small shortcut from the main path directly to the northern summit, then re-joined the path which lead to the southern summit just 400 m away.

After a break, we descended southwest to signpost #744 at Baisse du Macaron (666 m) where we turned north, and hiked back along the western flank of Crête du Mont Macaron along a good path first to Chapel St. Joseph then to our
starting point.

Climb: 280 m

Distance: 7 km

Duration: 2h 40 (active)

Map: “Nice-Menton Côte d’Azur TOP 25 n°0 3742 OT

Buckwheat pancakes with sardine fillets, savoury tomato sauce, and tapenade

Galettes de sarrasin, thin buckwheat pancakes are served in French creperie restaurants. They are savoury crepes usually filled with sausages or fried egg. You can make your own crepes if you have a crepe pan or a special crêpière, griddle pancake pan. My daughter- in- law is a specialist for this. But I opted the easy way and bought ready-made crepes from our supermarket in Nice.

The following recipe combines the buckwheat pancakes with tapenade, black olive purée, sardine fillets, and savoury tomato sauce. If you cannot buy ready-made buckwheat pancakes or tapenade, there are several recipes on the Internet. Tinned sardines can be used as a substitute for fresh sardine fillets.

2 servings

4 galettes de sarrasin, thin buckwheat pancakes
8 fresh sardine fillets
A small pot of tapenade noir, black olive purée

For the savoury tomato sauce:

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried Provençal herbs
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
200 ml tomato sauce
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200° C.

In a small saucepan, warm the olive oil over medium heat and sauté garlic and herbs for a few minutes. Add the vinegar, tomato sauce, and black pepper. Reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer.

Clean the sardine fillets with kitchen paper. Place in an ovenproof oiled dish and roast for 10 minutes.

Spread some tapenade on the quarter of each pancake. Top with the tomato sauce and 2 sardine fillets. Fold the pancakes into quarters to make little triangular cones. Serve with some green salad for a carefree lunch or a light dinner.

Chicken legs with Asian twist

Chicken is such a versatile ingredient; in this recipe chicken legs are first marinated and then simply roasted in the oven. Soya sauce, ginger, and lime juice in the marinade give the dish some Asian touch. Free-range organic chicken legs with skin are best for the recipe.

2 servings

2 free-range and organic chicken legs with skin

For the marinade:

1 tbsp. runny honey
1 tbsp. soya sauce
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried mixed herbs
Freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1 lime

Make the marinade by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl. Place the chicken legs in an oven-proof dish and pour over the marinade. Cover with film and refrigerate for a few hours.

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Roast the chicken legs for 45 minutes. Cover with foil if they get too dark.

Serve with brown rice and wilted Asia greens such as bok choy or chard.

Aspremont to Croix de Cuor and Mont Inarte

After having hiked to Mont Cima and Mont Chauve several times from Aspremont (490m), we wanted to explore a new itinerary in this well-known hiking area. The village of Aspremont lies only about 10 km north of Nice as the crow flies.

Mont Inarte (801 m) is situated immediately northwest of Mont Cima (879 m). While you can’t quite beat the views from the summit of Mont Cima, this easy and leisurely hike follows good trails along Mont Cima’s western flank, offering views down to the Var River Valley and beyond.







We started along the GR 5 trail north, ascending through the Les Salettes neighbourhood (streets and footpaths) as far as to a dirt track marked “CDV 14 De La Croix du Cuor” where we forked left, leaving the GR trail, and continued along it, heading northwest. At the next hiking signpost, we forked left making a short detour to a viewing point at la Croix de Cuor (744 m), a cliff above Castagniers and the Var River Valley. The scenery from here was great, practically 360°.

We then headed northeast along a path to the nearby Collet de l’Eurier (736 m), then straight north following a wide dirt track that ran along the western flank of Mont Cima. After about 600 m, we forked right and continued along a footpath whereas the dirt track started to descend. Our goal, Mont Inarte, was visible all the time. There were no markings nor signposts, but the itinerary was easy to follow. We came to a crossroads of some trails in the woods, and took the one that went northwest to Mont Inarte.

We used the same itinerary back to Collet de l’Eurier, where we forked left and soon reached the GR5 which we followed back to Aspremont.

Climb: 350 m

Distance: 8.1 km

Duration: About 2h 30 active

Map: 3742 OT «Nice-Menton Côte d’Azur »