High above Saint Étienne de Tinée in the Mercantour, in the southern French Alps. The unusual thing here is how close the Mediterranean is. Nice and the Côte d'Azur lie a couple of hours away, which makes a combined trip possible in a way it is not anywhere else in France.

The sun is the great advantage. These are southern Alps, lighter and milder than Savoie, in country that belongs to the Mercantour national park. The village has kept a local French tone and a medieval mountain church, and the markets down the valley are worth a day out of ski boots.