The Ruins of the Château

So here we are at the ruins of the Château. I was surprised, when I got here, to see a man selling entrance tickets. I don't mean I was surprised that tickets were on sale, but that someone should be way up here, all day long, waiting for the few visitors who come here. Perhaps it's a way of guarding artifacts.

The first record of Sainte Agnès (Sancta Agneta) was in 1150, when it was ruled by the Counts of Ventimiglia - in 1258 it passed to the Counts of Provence.

THIS WEBSITE gives the full history of the village, right back to Neolithic times - but you need to read French. If you don't speak French, it really is worth looking at tho just for the photographs as you go through the various centuries.

Walk to the Château ruins

Here's a collage of the walk to the Château. It's quite a hike and we'll need to stop for a rest every few minutes - at least I did. Start at 'top left' with the sign. The second photo shows a quite gentle walk, but then it gets steeper (bottom left) and we finish at cross. Thank goodness for the iron railings! Tomorrow: the ruins. Phew...time for a rest I think.

Bird's eye view

Here we are looking down on the village of Sainte Agnès. I'm about half way up the track to the ruins of the château. To the right of the photo, you can see the cemetery. That in itself is higher than the village. Come back tomorrow and share the walk with me. It's steep!

Renovation

Renovating a house in a hill village is no easy task. All the materials need to be brought up from Menton or Nice. All rubble needs to be removed and taken down the valley. In the old days, of course, donkeys were used. See the donkey track from Sainte Agnès to Menton - a two-hour journey.

Nowadays, renovation means the workmen need to walk up and down the narrow, steep streets, moving materials, little by little. In addition, if scaffolding is used, then inevitably you'll need your neighbour's house to provide some of the support. Hopefully you get on with your neighbour!

And the cost of all this - well, it's not cheap - and it's slow.

Église Notre-Dame-des-Neiges - 2

Churches in most of the Mentonnais hill villages, have a simple exterior, but surprise us when we go inside. Here you see three views of the interior of the 16th century church in Sainte Agnès.

Église Notre-Dame-des-Neiges

The parish church of Sainte Agnès, near to the entrance to the village, is dedicated to Our Lady of the Snows. You can see the entrance on the right of the photo. Do come back tomorrow and I'll take you inside this beautiful little church and show you the wonders therein.

Donkey Track

This is the old donkey track from Saint Agnès to the centre of Menton. The sign indicates it takes two hours. There are donkey tracks leading from all the hill villages around Menton to the town itself and at one time, this was the only method of getting supplies to and from a village.

Now these donkey tracks are used by hikers and it's one of the most glorious ways to see this part of the Côte d'Azur. I've walked the track from Gorbio to Sainte Agnès with my best buddy, Candy, and I suspect when she next comes to stay, we'll be walking this track. I'd better get in shape because if you walk down - guess what? - you've got to walk back up again for your car!

Note the viewing platform in the middle distance and below you'll see a better view of it. If you click on THIS LINK and scroll down to the second photograph, you'll see just how far we are from the sea and why it takes 2 hours to walk this track.

Le Saint-Yves

Mid-morning and time for coffee at Le Saint-Yves. On the terrace (see below) the tables are ready for lunch. Good, simple, cheap food (there's a 16 euros menu, for instance) and with a view that's worth a good deal more. Pasta is excellent - friends approve of the braised rabbit. You can also stay at this hotel and at a very reasonable tarif too.

Sainte Agnès - 4

In his plastic bag: a baguette and a bottle of wine. What more could anyone want? I'd like a nice fresh goat cheese to go with them. What would you choose?

Sainte Agnès - 3

Entrance to the village with its ubiquitous postcard shop. Come back tomorrow and we'll take a walk through the narrow streets which are glorious at the moment but can become wind tunnels on chilly winter days.

Sainte Agnès - 2

Not a pretty picture, but the promised Fort which is part of the Maginot Line. The Maginot Fort in Sainte Agnès was built in 1932. Solidly built, the fort sits on the edge of the village overlooking the sea, serving today as a popular tourist attraction. I found THIS LINK on the Internet which describes a visit by a group interested in all the forts of the Maginot line.

Tomorrow we'll have far prettier photos of the village.

Sainte Agnès - 1

Let me introduce you to the perched village of Ste. Agnès: at more than 800 metres above sea-level, it is the highest village, with a view of the sea, in the whole of Europe. And what a spectacular panoramic view it provides. Below you can see the view from a platform at one end of the village. (The camera faced the sun this morning, but another time I'll take better photos of the view).

Legend has it that an Italian princess named Agnès was trapped in these hills by a sudden violent storm . She prayed to her patron saint and found shelter in one of the four grottoes in the area. Agnès then built a sanctuary in the rocks which quickly attracted local inhabitants and so the village got its name.

Come back tomorrow and I'll show you the fort that is part of the Maginot Line.