Entrevaux

What do the people do here all winter?

It's a beautiful little town, guarding the Var as it rushes between the upended sheets of rock, but in late October there are few tourists and most of the cafes, shops and restaurants are shut. Even in the evenings, the one bar in the old town centre was shutting its doors by 9:30.

The population, according to the tourist office, is less than 800, although at the time of WW1 it was 1400 or more. Many of the tall handsome buildings are crumbling, and most of the streets are now too narrow for modern traffic. Moonface and I stayed in the only hotel open, in the new part of town across the river, which is at least accessible by road. Fortunately the hotel served demi-pension, or otherwise we would have gone hungry in the evenings. The dining room felt hollow on the night on which we were the only guests, but we know that they catered for many more during the days, when we were out walking.

I guess that in the past this was an important staging post and depot; certainly the Romans had a fort here and the medieval walls are mostly intact - but what is it now?

:o]