Sheeps eats greens in peace
After only a few days away from my last visit to Col de la Bonette, I decided to go back again and look for something different. Maybe another road would bring some new things to see and people to meet. Stopping in St-Étienne-de-Tinée was the right decision because the owner of Le Chamois D'Or, which is a great guy by the way, told me about Plateau de Sestrière found 20 minutes after St-Dalmas de Selvage. Once I heard that, nothing could make me change my mind, I had to go and see it for myself. And I'm glad I did!
Going up and down in the mountains allowed me to see and realize that this was the road I could observe from Col de la Bonette on the opposite side of the valley. I always wondered where that little road was going to and from. Now I know. The first stop was at a blockhaus called La Moutière, built between 1931-1935. What a surprise to see it there, I didn't even know it existed. Of course I paid a short visit inside and around it, but only briefly because I was alone in there and in complete obscurity (one strong torch, no backup). Wow! I can't explain why, but I find these locations fascinating. All the work, all the strategy and organization, etc. It makes anyone wonder how it was to be living in there for months.
Then I continued on an unpaved road for 3 kilometers until it reaches the main road around Col de la Bonette, all the way to the top. But just before that I crossed a flock of sheep in a very fertile green pasture in the mountain. I never count sheep, even in bed at night, but I think there was between 700 to 1000 of them. I took some pictures and I picked the one I'm sharing with you because sheep formed a line in the foreground. And the painting they have on the back, to differentiate them between different flocks and owner, makes me think of a huge Scrabble board with a strange word put together. Oh well, maybe I have to much imagination. Yet, I think this photo shows how vast and peaceful the area is in this beautiful region.
Good Light!
Norm
© Normand Primeau