The Gorges du Cians [map page] is a narrow, beautiful north-south valley, northwest ofNice, between the Var river in the south and the mountain village ofBeuilin the north. The Cians Gorges is closed 14 Nov (today) until 11 Dec at the level of Rigaud, near the southern end.
The northern part of the Cians Gorges is still accessable viaBeuil, either by using the Gorges de Dalius to the west or theVallée de Tinéeto the east.

This second photo is a shot of the lower Cians Gorges in the winter. You c

By Russ Collins

Paris is admittedly a bit beyond Beyond, but we love the place, get in long hours of walking there, and find wonderful things to photograph.
Some samples here from our trip there last week include chairs stacked in the early morning, and some “faces” on the Pont Neuf at night.

The “faces” are just a few of the Pont Neuf's 385 mascarons (masques) sculpted by Germain Pilon in the 16th century. They're apparently all imaginary, and don't represent any particular notabl

By Russ Collins

We did a nice day hike yesterday in theMercantour, with 10 hours hiking and nearly 1600 m vertical, and obtained a handful of delicious wild rasberries. There were fields of wild rasberries on the mountain sides, but there's always too much trail and not enough time.
Starting at the Salese Parking area, northwest ofSaint-Martin-Vésubie, the trail is barely light at 7 AM, and at 9-degrees C, much fresher than the coast. It's an hour's hike up to the Col de Salese on the GR52, where th

By Russ Collins

We've just added a link on ourVillefrance-sur-Mer pageto a new, high-definition webcam that looks out across the Rade of Villefrance-sur-Mer towards the Mediterranean.
The webcam, installed on the roof of a villa in Pont St.Jean, was established by Shin. Shin, based in Japan and a Friend of Beyond for many, many years now, is passionate about Provence and visits regularly.
The direct link to the Villefranche-sur-Mer webcam is:http://vsm.shinshu-a.com/.

By Russ Collins

We read an article a few months ago about city dwellers installing bee hives on their balconies. It apparently worked fairly well, and we never heard anything negative from the neighbors on the same floor with undesired visitors to their balcony barbecues.
    Now (beginning Sept 2009) we learned that the head of the department of Finestère (in Brittany) installed six bee hives (ruches) at their headquarters in Quimper [map], in sympathy with the protection of honey bees in the

By Russ Collins

Taxes (TVA) for cafés and restaurants in France were lowered at the beginning of this summer (2009) from 19.6% to 5.5%. The lower TVA was finally done, at the insistence of  the café-restaurant owners to “allow them to have lower prices, attract more customers and be more competitive”.
We were in Paris a month or so ago, just after the lowered-TVA law came into effect. There were immediate studies by newspapers and other more official organizations to determine how many, and whi

By Russ Collins

At the Medieval festival in theMedieval village of Entrevaux, this weekend we watched a wonderful Falconery and Horse show put on by Hippogriffe (www.hipppogriffe.net). Seeing birds of prey in action is a great experience. And being able to see the rapaces close-up, without intervening screens and wire enclosures is a rare experience.

This little group of photos is to share our experience with you, beginning with the American Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), above.

The Gyrfalcon (Falco rusti

By Russ Collins

This is a great Medieval festival in theauthentic Medieval village of Entrevaux, and you have one more day to attend — or never again!? We spent the first have of today (Saturday 1 Aug 2009) at the festival, and it's wonderful. It's probably too late for you to attend this evening, but there's all of tomorrow (Sunday 2 Aug 2009), and then perhaps never again. (This is the first time the festival had been held in 4 years, and there may not be any budget for future events.)
The whole v

By Russ Collins

The Medieval Festival in theMedieval village of Entrevauxis taking place this coming weekend, 1-2 August. We're going to try to make it there.

By Russ Collins

The silvery-white Genepi plant (Artemisia eriantha) with its little yellow flowers grows in rocky areas of the high mountains, at around 2000-3000 m altitude. The genepi flower has been used since the Middle Ages as a medicinal plant, and retains that reputation today. And its the star ingredient in the famous Genepi liquour.
The genepi has been somewhat protected for many years: depending on the area. In the French Alpes, especially in theMercantour National Park, it has been permitted to pick &

By Russ Collins