Gourdon and the Gorges du Loup

I had intended this week to engage in rhetoric - or even open a debate- on a topic close to my heart. It's to do with the public perception of scientists in the UK media and elsewhere, prompted by some vapourings last week from our silver-tongued PM.

While I think about how to bring some light as well as spin to that topic, here's something to occupy today's slot. It's prompted by Angela's post on that superb must-see tourist destination less than an hour's drive from Antibes, namely Gourdon. It's a tiny village, described accurately as an eagle's nest, that sits on an outcrop of rock where the River Loup exits from a limestone plateau on to the coastal plain.





The first picture shows a view into the Gorges du Loup, ie looking north. Gourdon is just out of the picture, to the left. Superb limestone scenery, wouldn't you say ? It's like having Marcel Pagnol's Manon des Sources scenery - which is actually way to the west behind Aubagnon and Marseilles - in one's own backyard.

The second picture, taken from Gourdon, shows one of the approach roads along the side of the gorge. The local roads are not for the faint-hearted. Be especially careful of stretches where there's an overhang of rock. At the sight of one of those, approaching motorists, fearful it would seem of scraping their paintwork, tend to become sudden converts to our quaint old UK custom of driving on the left ........