Hiking and Cooking in the South of France

After the devastating storm named Alex in early October 2020, most of the trails in the Mercantour National Park and elsewhere in the northern part of Alpes Maritimes were closed.

On the other hand, many communes nearer the coast saw little or no damage. We designed a new variant from Tourrettes-sur-Loup (400 m), using mostly familiar paths from our previous hikes. We wanted do a circuit which includes the “twin peaks”: Puy de Tourrettes (1268 m) and Pic de Courmettes (1248 m). We have hiked up to them many times, but never ascended to both from Tourrettes-sur-Loup. We have instead used the village of Courmes (630 m) as our starting point.

From Tourrettes-sur-Loup, we started to ascend along the paved Route du Caïre. While not the most authentic route, it enables a rapid access to higher ground, and offers nice views.

Here in Nice, sea bass is called loup if it is caught in the Mediterranean Sea and bar when caught in the Atlantic Ocean. It is often sold as a while fish so for this recipe you have to fillet it or ask for your fishmonger to do it.

The fillets are roasted and covered with basil oil and raw vegetables, walnuts, and capers. Roasted sweet potato slices compliment this colourful recipe.

Instead of sea bass you can use any tasty white fish fillets in this recipe.

2 servings

2 nice fillets of seabass

Juice of ½ lemon

Olive oil

A small handful of basil leaves

A pinch of salt

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ clove of garlic

About 1 tbsp. walnuts, crushed

About 6 radishes, finely sliced

2 small spring onions, chopped

About 10- 12 small baby spinach leaves

About 6 large capers chopped

1 or 2 sweet potatoes

First make the basil oil with just a hint of garlic. Crush the basil leaves in a mortar with a pestle adding enough olive oil to get a green sauce. Mix in some black pepper, salt, minced garlic, chopped spring onions, and chopped capers. Set aside in the fridge until needed. 

Preheat the oven to 200° C, roast.

Peel and slice the sweet potato. Brush the slices with some olive oil and place in a large ovenproof tray so that you can later add the seabass fillets in the same tray. Sweet potato slices need about 20- 30 minutes of roasting and the seabass about 8- 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets. 

While the sweet potato is roasting, wash and thinly slice the radishes and coarsely crush the walnuts. Set aside the small baby spinach leaves.

When the sweet potato slices are soft, add the seabass fillets in the tray and continue roasting for 8- 10 minutes until the fish is cooked.

Divide the seabass fillets and sweet potato slices on the plates. Sprinkle the lemon juice on the fish. Divide the basil oil on the fillets and decorate with baby spinach leaves, crushed walnuts, and radish slices.

The landscape between Mont Mounier (2817 m) and Beuil consists of vast alpine meadows, larch woods and steep ravines. There are several easily reachable summits exceeding 2000 m elev. 

The River Cians has its sources below Col des Moulines and Tête de Pierrous (2046 m). We decided to explore the picturesque area, starting from Col de la Couillole (1673 m; excellent parking by the D30 road).

Signpost #51 at Col de la Couillole showed the path to Col des Moulines. We first ascended along a soft trail in larch woods interrupted in places by alpine meadows, passing signposts #102 and 102a. 

Chicken parmesan is a classic American- Italian recipe. Usually, chicken cutlets are beaded and fried first then covered with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan and baked until the cheese is melted and bubbly. 

I have somewhat simplified this American classic by leaving out the breading and parmesan and at the same time cutting out some calories. As there is no parmesan in my recipe, I prefer to call it chicken marinara.

I have made the tomato sauce from scratch using fresh ripe tomatoes, onions, garlic, dried Provençal herbs and freshly ground black pepper. This makes all the difference compared to even the best canned tomatoes and tomato sauces, and it doesn’t take long to make!

2 servings

2 chicken breasts

Olive oil

3-4 ripe tomatoes, chopped

1 tbsp. tomato paste

½ onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp. dried Provençal herbs

Freshly ground black pepper

4 slices Italian mozzarella

Basil leaves to decorate

Start making the tomato sauce. Warm 1 tbsp. olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and sauté the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs, and black pepper and continue cooking until the tomatoes are soft and you get a nice marinara sauce.

Preheat the oven to 200°C, roast.

In another frying pan, warm 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the chicken breasts 7 minutes on each side.

Transfer the chicken breasts in an oven- proof dish and generously cover with tomato sauce. Place 2 slices of mozzarella on each breast and drizzle with a little olive oil. Roast for 10- 12 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. 

Divide the chicken breasts on the plates, decorate with basil leaves and serve with brown rice, quinoa, or whole wheat pasta.

In search of new mid-altitude hiking trails in Alpes-Maritimes, we came across an interesting option above the village of Roure.

Although the trail to Mont Autcellier (2204 m) has been described and recommended by some French rando sites, both the trail and the mountain turned out to be less frequented than many other similar itineraries in the region.

One reason might be the access: The narrow and sinuous road which ascends from St-Sauveur sur Tinée (M30 then M130) first passing near the village of Roure then the Roure Arboretum above the village. There is a parking about 700 m from the Arboretum (La Barre; signpost #241 at 1373 m elev.).

Signpost #254 to Mont Autcellier

View down to Tinée Valley

Forêt de la Fracha Roure

Signpost #251 to Mont Autcellier

Mont St-Sauveur

View southeast from Crête de la Clouetta

Crête de la Clouetta higher up

Mercantour peaks seen from Autcellier southern flank

Alpine meadow before Mont Autcellier

Tête de Pommier and Roubion ski runs

Mounier seen from Mont Autcellier summit

Valberg viewed from Mont Autcellier

Southern Tinée Valley seen from Mont Autcellier

Mont Autcellier hike track

The island of Noirmoutier is famous for its new potatoes. They are gathered before their maturity, 90 days after plantation, and are known for their good taste and very fine skin. 

The following carefree recipe is adapted from a news clip on the French morning TV, Télématin. The chef cooked outdoors pollock on a bed of Noirmoutier new potatoes and fennel. Instead of pollock you could use any tasty white fish.

My recipe is for indoors cooking using a heavy Le Creuset pot but if you have an outdoor cooking stove feel free to experiment. It looked fun!

2 servings

About 8 medium size thin skinned new potatoes

½ bulb of fennel

3 tbsp. olive oil

A small bunch of dill

150 ml white wine

Freshly ground black pepper

2 nice pieces of pollock fillet

Warm the olive oil over medium heat in a heavy pot. Wash the potatoes, cut them into halves or quarters and add to the pot. Stir now and again for a few minutes. Wash the ½ fennel, cut into sections and add to the pot. Stir again and cook for a few minutes. Pour in the wine, cover, and cook for about 15- 20 minutes until the potatoes are soft.

Add the pollock on top of the potatoes and fennel and grind over some black pepper. Cover and cook for about 8- 10 minutes until the fish is done. Divide on the plates and decorate with chopped dill.

Levens north of Nice is a good starting point for hikes. Even the tourist office has eight suggestions on their web site. We planned to do the loop called Circuit de Péloubié but on the day of our hike there were road works in St Claire south of Levens, just where our hike itinerary would have passed on the way back.

Instead of doing the loop, we decided to start along the first part of the hike from les Grands Prés (soccer and other fields 546 m elev.) next to the M19 road. We walked to signpost #261, forked right and ascended along Chemin de la Madone, then Chemin Pré des Cavaliers, passing some nice properties. We came to signpost #265 where the public road ended. There is a small parking (Les Mulières) which we had used before. In fact, on a hot day, we recommend to drive up there instead of walking along the streets from Levens.

Les Grands Prés Levens

Path after signpost#265 Levens

Mont Arpasse

Heading to Col de Travail Levens

Crossing Péloubié

Mont Chauve and Cima

Colla Bassa

Rose bushes in Levens

Levens to Colla Bassa track

This recipe is a perfect example of combining vegetable and animal protein. It also shows how we should increase colourful vegetables and reduce carbohydrates from pasta, rice or bread in the modern Mediterranean diet that is now scientifically shown to be one of the best options for a healthy diet. 

In France, the scallop season runs from 1 October to 15 May. In summer, mussels could replace the scallops in this recipe.

2 servings

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 medium sweet potato

A handful or two of baby spinach

About 10 cherry tomatoes, halved

2 tbsp. black olives

About 4 tbsp. hummus

8- 10 scallops

2 tbsp. hazelnut powder

Olive oil

Warm 2 tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet over medium- low heat and gently sauté the onion and garlic for about 10 minutes.

Peel and chop the sweet potato. Microwave for about 5- 6 minutes until soft, then add to the skillet.

Preheat the oven to 200° C. 

Oil a smallish ovenproof dish and place the scallops in it. Sprinkle with hazelnut powder and some olive oil. Roast for 4- 5 minutes depending on the size. It is nice to leave them a bit mi- cuit, half- cooked, inside.

When the scallops go into the oven add the spinach, cherry tomatoes, and olives to the skillet. Increase the heat to medium. The spinach takes only a few minutes to be wilted.

Place a heap of hummus in the centre of large plates and surround with the vegetables. Divide the scallops on the vegetables and serve.

The Saint-Cassien Lake (147 m elev.) is an artificial water reservoir in the southeastern Var Department, inaugurated in 1966. The terrain west of the lake has a network of trails, offering several hiking itineraries, many of them not officially marked as hiking routes.

The GR 49 long distance trail runs along the forested western shore of the lake. Several tracks and trails connect the GR trail with the yellow marked PR trail which runs on the adjacent hills. We wanted to explore the area and tailor-make a nice loop.

We drove to the parking at the Fondurane Biologic Reserve. It took us less than an hour from Nice. 

GR49 bridge over River Biançon

GR49 from Fondurane

GR49 near Gayet

Glimpse of St-Cassien Lake from GR49

Pré Claou Bridge over St-Cassien Lake

Track leaving GR49 above St-Cassien Lake

Same track higher up

Esterel and the Med seen from trail

St-Cassien loop hike track

Kiwifruit is particularly rich in vitamin C and vitamin K and contains moderate amounts of vitamin E and carotenoids. French kiwifruits are in season from November to May. France is now the third European producer after Italy and Greece. Nowadays we can also choose organic kiwifruits.

Chimichurri is a green sauce of finely chopped parsley, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano, red pepper flakes, and red wine vinegar. No Argentinian could think of eating steak without chimichurri!

I have seen some kiwifruit chimichurri recipes to go with meat, but I think that this sauce goes really well with roasted salmon or trout. I have changed the parsley and oregano with dill and basil which seem to better compliment fish. 

2 servings

For the kiwifruit chimichurri:

2 kiwifruits, peeled and finely chopped

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 tsp. red wine vinegar

½ clove garlic, minced

Freshly ground black pepper

A generous amount of finely chopped dill and basil

For the rest:

2 trout fillets, about 200 g each, with skin

About 10- 12 cherry tomatoes

Olive oil 

About 100ml green lentils 

Make the kiwifruit chimichurri by mixing all the ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Cook the lentils for about 20- 25 minutes until soft but not falling apart. Stir occasionally and add more water if needed. When they are soft, cover and keep warm.

Preheat the oven to 200°C roast.

Wash and dry the cherry tomatoes. Place them in an oven- proof dish with a splash of olive oil and roast for about 15 minutes.

Oil an oven- tray with olive oil and place the trout fillets in it. Roast for 8- 10 minutes depending on the thickness.

Divide the trout on the plates and top with kiwifruit chimichurri. Place the lentils and cherry tomatoes on the side.