FR26.18 Bargemon

Sadly, all good things have to come to an end and so did our stay at the fantastic Lac de Sainte-Croix. On the bright side, there was still so much more to explore in Provence and we decided it was finally time to find out what all the fuss about Nice was.

Since Nice is a big city, that meant booking ourselves into a campsite once again. Our research showed that most campsites are located some distance outside the city, which meant commuting in every day. So we decided it would make the most sense to visit Nice over a weekend, giving us a couple of extra days to relax in the countryside or explore yet another tiny and lovely village.

That village turned out to be Bargemon.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that the village offers spacious official camper parking just a five-minute walk from the centre. Right next to it the locals gathered every evening to play boules and there were plenty of big trees providing much-needed shade.

The village itself sits high up in the hills, offering fantastic views over the valley below. It still has parts of its old city walls as well as a few remaining towers. One thing we noticed almost immediately was the amount of water flowing through the village. There were little channels, fountains and wells everywhere, many of which the locals still actively use, for example to water their plants.

The village centre itself is tiny, giving it an incredibly cosy atmosphere and, once again, our timing couldn’t have been much better because the weekly farmers’ market happened to be on as well.

We spent a couple of lovely days wandering through the streets, enjoying a few drinks and simply soaking up the atmosphere until it was finally time to continue towards Nice.

Not without one more stop along the way though…

Because there was yet another must-see waiting for us.