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Depending on the season, the northeastern corner of Provence is two different worlds. In winter, the sheep and shepherds find warmer pastures, leaving the snowy heights to horned mouflons, chamois and the perfectly camouflaged ermine. The villages where shepherds came to summer markets are battened down for the long, cold haul, while modern conglomerations of Swiss-style chalet houses, sports shops and discotheques come to life around the ski lifts. From November to April many of the mountain road passes are closed, cutting off the dreamy northern town of Barcelonnette from its lower neighbours. In spring, the fruit trees in the narrow valley orchards blossom, and melting waters swell the Vesubie, the Tinee and the Roya, sometimes flooding villages and carrying whole streets away. In summer and early autumn you move from the valleys to the snow-capped peaks through groves of chestnut and olive trees, then pine forests edged with wild raspberries and bilberries, up to moors and grassy slopes covered with Alpine flowers. An uninhabited area of 68,500 hectares along the Italian border has been designated the Parc National du Mercantour . It can be explored from the small towns of St-Etienne-de-Tinee , St-Martin-Vesubie , St-Sauveur-sur-Tinee and from the upper Roya valley , but all the countryside in this mountainous region is breathtaking. To the south, the Italianate town of Sospel is a real delight. Transport other than by foot or vehicle is a problem. Apart from the Turin-Nice train line down the Roya valley, there are regular bus connections going out from Barcelonnette or from Sospel but they don't meet, and there are only infrequent buses between villages on market days.
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