Do something different this year and visit the Mercantour National Park close to the Italian border in the South of France. Situated east of Cote d'Azur in the Alpes Maritime the park covers over 685 km2 of stunningly beautiful mountain countryside. Ideal for walking, hiking and exploring. The park contains a collection of 100,000 prehistoric rock carvings which can be found in the Vallee des Merveilles. Wildlife includes the chamois, marmots, Ibex and it is also home to the wolf, which returned to France in 1992.

A Wolf in Wolfs Clothing

The Alpha Loup wolf center
by Liz Lord

The (un) holy trinity - the wolf, the lynx and the bear - human fearing; rare beasts - angels or devils? Decide for yourself?
Leave your Blahniks on the beach, bag your boots and take a trip to the wild side of the south of France.

Alpha - "he time of the wolf" Scenoparc at Le Boreon, just north of St Martin Vesubie, opened its' gates to the public for the first time in late April 2005 - and can already boast more than 30000 visitors.
No zoo this - the team at St Martin have worked tirelessly over the last 10 years, with a mission to give a "full on" presentation of the history of the wolf and its' turbulent relationship with man.

Situated in 10 hectares within the magnificent Mercantour National Park, leave behind normal life for a few hours and become immersed in myth, legend, and the harsh realities of conversation.

Enjoy the great fresh air at 1600 metres, surrounded by pine forests and locally crafted sculptures, before entering the carefully restored "Vacheries de Cerise" literally meaning cowsheds - but with a difference - for the scenovision experience.

This scenovision combines all the cunning of special cinema effects of cinema, presenting opposing points of view - the village elder, the shepherd, the ethnologue and the historian in 3 x 20 minutes sensory rich instalments.

The object of all the attention - the wolves themselves - (18 of them - including 4 cubs born since their arrival in St Martin Vesubie - split between 3 different enclosures), have been brought in from parks throughout Europe - Italy, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania.

Look out stations allow you to study the wolves, without disturbing their natural behaviour - fascinating for all, as the pack dynamics develop. Go enjoy Alpha...go enjoy... the 800 square miles of adventure playground that is the Mercantour National Park.

Further information

www.alpha-loup.com  Alpha Loup
www.space-between.co.uk  Space Between a local British adventure holiday company.
Tel: 00 33 4 93 03 48 57.
Parcs Nationaux de France  French National Parks Website

Alpha and the Mercantour are easily accessible just one hour from Nice.

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