i tend to tende
Tende, France is a medieval village perché about two hours by train from Nice, France. It goes inland up a valley and past several other villages perchés.
From Nice take the Train de Merveilles at 09:23. There is a train at 07:35 as well. (Check the #5 “Nice–Tende via Breil-sur-Roya” schedule. It can be found at the train station.)
Two trains return to Nice from Tende in the afternoon, one at 14:47 and the other at 17:12. That makes for a solid afternoon of exploring and taking photos before the return trip.
Along the route are several other villages worth a visit. For example, Peillon is above the Peillon-Sainte-Thècle train station. Walking to Peillon will take about an hour; it is approximately 4 kilometers distance along a winding road. (More about Peillon in another post.)
So, let us arrive in Tende by train. Thank you YouTube. You did it again. Seek and you shall find.
One characteristic of villages built during the Middle Ages is the narrowness of the streets. Walls crowd in; sometimes both hands can touch each wall as you walk through a street.
The light becomes shadows and often it is reflecting off walls well above your head.
Another characteristic that I like are the arches. These arches act as flying buttresses; they keep the walls from falling into one another. Sometimes they serve as a walk way between buildings. (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail.)
Tende has a number of these arches. They make tunnels into another realm. They take you down or lead you up into another street, invisible from the street where you walk.
Imagine a maze that is open and sometimes not. You can walk the street, or you can see what lays ahead in the mysterious street arched and a bit dark.
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un Voyageur 
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