Monday, Oct. 6, 2014 –
We had heard about the Train des Pines (Pine Cone Train), a narrow gauge track train that travels from Nice north into the French Alps through the sparsely populated back country. It sounded majestic so, with a picnic lunch packed we headed off on an early start to the mountains. The train traveled through the agricultural area north of Nice and up into the mountains. It was an opportunity to experience a bit of autumn that we were missing in New England.
The train was modern, the tracks (not all) were not. The old wavy tracks made for a jolting gosling ride which made us thing we were in another age of train travel, despite riding in the air conditioned cars on cushy seats. If it is the authentic travel you are looking for, every Saturday during the summer season there is a steam powered train vintage 1900’s that takes passengers on a small section of the run. Reservations need to be made in advance. It will be something we will look forward to at a future time.
We decided to explore the medieval village of Entrevaux, most of which dates from the 16th century, complete with a citadel on the top of the mountain. After our picnic lunch and a brief walk around the village we decided to spend the night and take the train back to Nice the following day. 
We discovered that there are no hotels and only one B&B open on a Monday night in the off season. Those made the hotel decision an easy one! After having walked miles, Sara took a nap while Bob climbed to the citadel. Heading out for dinner we then discovered that there are no restaurants open in the evening, but the only very small food store had not yet closed. We picked up a few things and enjoyed another picnic. This one, in our room at the B&B while watching The DaVinci Code on TV, dubbed in French. Bob was in heaven as he is spending a lot of time learning the language. The following morning it was raining steadily so we caught an earlier train back to Nice with a great plan to visit the Matisse Museum. Certain we could find it after seeing signs for it a few days earlier we walked miles, a bit of it in a circle. After asking directions we walked a few more miles and up a very steep hill to the museum at the top where we discovered that it is closed on Tuesdays! We headed back to the boat where I cleaned the refrigerator instead.