"The Roya Valley"

Geographically close to Nice or Monaco,
but far from the French Riviera and it's traditional postal card with palm trees and blue sea. This place is a travel in the middle age at the limit between France and Italy:

Over the centuries this valley has had many ups and downs. The few villages built along the Roya river, belonged sometimes to the county of Provence, sometimes to the county of Nice, and was governed from 1388 by the duke of Savoy who became soon the King of Piedmont-Sardinia.At the time of the unification of the county of Nice with France in 1860, les villages of Tende and LaBrigue were still Italian while the others villages became French. On October 12, 1947, after the second world war, a referendum Tende and La Brigue became French and gave to France it's actual border. The traditional economy up until the industrial revolution was based on the agriculture and livestock farming (essentially sheep), which provided exchange with the coastal region and the Pô area.If you look closely, you will discover a lot of little walls, on the hillside, which shows the terrace cultivation of several products such as : wheat, rye, and even vineyard on the most sunny sides.Drystone litlle houses, called " Ciabots " were used to store tools and sometimes provided shelter to spend a few days to work on place.During the summer season, the shepherds took their flock to mountain pasture (between 1500m and 2500m). During the winter they would return to the less cold region : Nice, Cannes, Grasse area or in the Crau plain (near Marseille) or even in the Liguria region in Italy.Today, there are still flocks of sheeps or cows, and farmers brings their products to the markets of the region.Like in other regions, people speak a dialect which varies from one village to another.

As already stated, this valley is near Nice on the borders of the Alpes Maritimes department and the Italian region of the Piedmont on the North and the Liguria on the east.The Roya river which begins in the Tende pass, had made its valley between peaks of more than 2000 meters altitude, before joining another river, the Bevera. The rivers then flow into the Mediterranean Sea at Vintimiglia in Italy. During spring and autumn, this turbulent watercourse, received on its left bank the tributary : La Levenza river about the intermittent sourcesgaveise to many legends gave raise to many legends
.

From Breil sur Roya, and up to Fontan , the relief is already craggy but the vegetation is still Mediterranean. The hillsides are covered principally with maritime pines and olives-trees. After Fontan, the vegetation gradually starts to change and you will discover, depending on the altitude, mountain pines, spruce, chestnut trees, fir trees, and larch. You will also notice walnut, hazel, and lime trees. The relief is particular too. Breil sur Roya is only 300 meters altitude, however, you already have the feeling of being in the mountains. In the high valley, many peaks are above 2500 meters and are blanketed with snow from October to May. Some areas have a lunar landscape such as the Vallée des Merveilles (The valley of marvels) or the Massif du Marguareis.