The sun shone again and I headed north to Digne les Bains to catch the Chemins de Fer de Provence train. It's a combination scenic train and milk run train that makes four trips a day to Nice (150 km) passing through and stopping at little mountain villages along the way. Some people got on with luggage for a trip to Nice while others just had their backpacks - a couple of them with baguettes sticking out the top - for a day trip.
The train is more like a bus on tracks - small and the engineer seemed to be shifting gears for much of the trip!! Par for the course in this part of France!! It moves slowly in places (30-40 km) and reaches a top speed of 75 km, I think (from the signs I could see!).
The track is narrow and was built between 1890 and 1911. There are 50 tunnels, 16 viaducts and 15 metal bridges enroute. I went through 18 of the tunnels on the way to Entrevaux! Some of them were several kilometres long and took several minutes to get through. One tries not to think of half a mountain above one's head at a time like this!!! The engineer on the way there must have felt the same way because he always seemed to speed up through the tunnels. The one on the way back seemed to slow down?! Talk about looking for the light at the end of the tunnel!!
The train climbs to an altitude of over 1000 metres at times and follows a wonderfully roaring mountain river - the kind you see along the highway in the Rockies. But this was the French Alps!! There was snow on some of the mountain tops. It felt like ages since I'd seen snow instead of just over a week!
The trip to Nice is 3 1/4 hours but I got off after 2 hours. I had seen pictures and read about Entrevaux so it was one of the "I have to see it" items on my itinerary. I'm so glad I did! 
It is an amazing community that has been in existence since Roman days. It moved across the river when barbarians began their invasions and the construction of the citadel spans 50 years from 1697!! No wonder! The path winds up (almost vertically in places, I am sure!!) and zig zags across the mountain 
with walls (complete with arrow loops) and a series of gates along the way. 
Ramparts and drawbridges surrounding the village make it the perfect medieval unit field trip! Maybe next year?!
The citadel itself has some ruins and other more intact spaces. Things are well labelled and there are displays and pictures to see. I didn't spend a lot of time looking. My goal was to climb to the top...AND I DID!!! It was about a 20 minute climb (1.5/2 km?) and I was the only one there!! Breathtaking scenery and a real sense of just how secure this place must have been!! I would certainly think twice...and three times...about attacking!
I didn't have a lot of time before the train back to Digne came (and the one after that would have meant night driving on those winding roads?!!) so I had to get back down the mountain. My legs were certainly "feeling the burn"!! It wasn't far - just not a climb for the faint of heart...or anything else!
It was the lunch "hour" so there wasn't much in the village open....and hardly any people! I think I saw three!
I did manage to pick up some post cards and made it back to the station with time to spare. What an adventure! I was glad for the 2 hour train ride back to Digne to rest up for the drive back to the chateau!!
It had been raining the other day when I did the drive to Digne so the scenery was much more appealing today!
On my drive back through Riez, I discovered the Roman columns that I have read about and apparently been driving past and missing each time I've gone through Riez this week!! There are four Corinthian columns from the 1st century AD temple to Apollo - just standing in a field! Quite an amazing site! Like Britain, it is the sense of history here that really appeals to me. So much has happened and so many have left their mark!
Tomorrow I am driving down to Cannes (that sounds so pretentious, I know...but it's the truth!) for a couple of nights. I will take the train to Monte Carlo (and hopefully spend some time in Nice too) on Monday then drive back via Saint Tropez on Tuesday. I am excited to spend some time on the Riviera - even though I am so not a Riviera type of person!! The movie stars and filthy rich will be safe with me in the area!
