Breil-sur-Roya

A hydro-electric dam forms a lovely little lake right at the edge of the town. (Our photo was taken while approaching town on the D2204 from the Col de Brouis; on the near side of the river you can see the tracks of the Nice-Cuneo rail line.) The Roya valley here is heavily forested, but a closer look might surprise you: the steep mountain hillsides are half covered by terraced olive groves. "Centre ville" is along the main road up the valley, with the widened river-lake on one side and the small squares, shops and the huge ancient churches on the other. There are usually fishermen along the riverside right in the center [photo-2], and this is one of the few places we've actually seen someone catch a nice trout.

The streets are narrow and many of the old houses are nicely restored or truly ancient. On the main square you'll find many buildings painted with trompe-l'oeil scenes. The heart of the town is the narrow old streets parallel to the river, lined with high buildings, and the even narrower connecting streets (ruelles) that pass as tunnels through the buildings.

There are two imposing old churches in Breil. One, a bit run down, is on one side of the Place Biancheri, with the Office de Tourisme beside. On the other side of the place is the 17th-century Eglise Sancta Maria-in-albis [photo-5], with its massive backside facing the center bridge over the river. Both churches have identical slender bell towers with rounded top of brightly-colored overlapping tiles [photo-6]. The bigger Sancta Maria also has a tall clock-bell tower with its pyramidal top of brightly colored tiles. Attached to the Sancta Maria is the 18th-century Chapelle de la Miséricorde, now split by huge cracks.

At the northern end of the central area, the main road crosses the top bridge to the west bank of the river. Just past that bridge is a great little playground and the tennis courts. There's another part of the town here, with streets along the river, lovely old houses, and the local camp ground and swimming pool.

Some interesting defensive sites nearby include the ruins of four 19th-century forts at l'Authion, 10 km over the mountains to the northwest.

Walking Around Breil-sur-Roya

For a nice walk out of the center, cross the river at the middle bridge, go up under the tracks, then follow the road north, come back down across the tracks above the station, then follow the main road back down past the station to town. Just after you go under the tracks you have a clear view up the valley to the west, with the tiny Notre Dame du Mont chapel on the slopes [photo-7]. Nearer at hand there's an interesting little house that seems to grow up out of a rocky projection.

Breil-Tende

Between Breil and the Col de Tende pass the road is good and well-traveled, and distances seem short (unlike the twisty roads over the Cols de Braus and Brouis). The valley itself is narrow and steepsided and beautiful, with occassional waterfalls coming down the mountains between the trees.

Dolls

We were in town once during the Foire de Printemps, and found a stand with lovely porcelain dolls (Poupées Porcelaine) [photo-9]. They stood about 30 cm tall and were priced about 50-90 F, with larger animated musical ones at 140 F.