The sun today is blinding! I’ve just returned home and my eyes can barely adjust to the interior light.  Maybe that’s because of the many straight days of gray, gloom and rain. What a wet spring we’ve had! But it is good for the plants, the reservoirs and the animals in the mountains.

Ah, there I go. There’s something good to talk about. Because one does not find it very often of late. And why should we? The world is undergoing dangerous tectonic shifts everywhere we look. France, and not only France, is worried.

My Easter (pissaladière, pâté, gigot d’agneau, pommes de terre dauphinois, fromage, Ile Flottante and champagne) was spent in the company of four native and well-informed French, who were not sparing in their expression of shock, horror and disgust at the willful demise of the U.S. They were all fluent in English (we spoke French however), and have spent long stretches all over the U.S. They despair as much as I do. Those Americans in power have opened the gate to the barbarians while no one was forcing them.

Where to go for some relief from the pressure? For me, spending time in nature is a sure antidote. There are a lot of natural spaces to enjoy not far from Nice, but without a car, forget it. However, recently I discovered Le Train des Pignes, a little train operating from its own small station that goes into the mountains, stopping at a smattering of Haute Provence small towns along the way, offering views of forests, fields and the snow-capped Alps. The terminus is Digne Les Bains, a town famous for its thermal baths. Bonus: the weekly market where we picked up some local products at bargain prices. 

From Digne, there are numerous trails with spectacular views, including a ten-day walk through a Geopark studded with earthworks created by major artists, like Andy Goldworthy, a Badlands of Jurassic dunes and other sites of geologic importance. It is enough to alter one’s mood for the better. A great escape.

I didn’t make it much out of the baths this time around, but when a dose of wide open green spaces beckons, I now know where to go.