Around Fréjus, heliotropism, softness and excess of climate
1- Sun sweets and consistency, seaside attractions
The coast here enjoys 2800 hours of sunshine per year on average.
An apparent and constant softness that is expected to soothe the pain of osteoarthritis and meet the vital needs of sunlight.
This year and at the start of autumn, it is the mildness that prevails.
No wonder then that a dynamic population of my 3rd age, or even 4th age comes to frolic there. Perhaps we will give in to the same siren songs in our turn one day.
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Would it be by soliciting more than elsewhere the income of those who wish to be the happy beneficiaries.
This population retains and maintains remarkable mobility here (soon it will be a question of -loss- of motor skills and autonomy, whereas before, we spoke of agility ...).
Without going as far as the cult of appearance in the Californian or Copacabana way ... Although.
P lutôt Carpe Diem, keen on physical activity by all kinds of means, they visit and travel the country in small, fairly elitist groups.
Along with swimming and hiking, the other new opportunity, boosted by distance, is the VAE (electrically assisted bicycle) which becomes the ideal mount. In fact, ATVs with large tires, very master key.
The medium heights towards the north do not exclude steep slopes; with less effort, many peaks in the region can be easily reached, while maintaining the form.
Perfect compromise between effort, distance and time available, under a constant sun.
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The beautiful roads, which are amply winding towards these heights, are an irresistible invitation, all the more so as they are equipped with cycle paths.
In addition, in the very particular context of confinement and / or curfew, even on the beaches, the space offered to everyone is so vast that they believe they have the exclusivity without disturbing the neighbor.
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2- Drought, climatic excesses, ... and water
The great coastal plains (Argens, Var more to the east, the hydrographic network north of Fréjus) are even more subjected to the overwhelming heat of summer than elsewhere.
In this quiet late season in any case, the drought, as normal as it is, is there.
As proof: the smallest ditch, the stream beds, the undergrowth of pine needles are perfectly dry.
As the prelates of Fréjus already did in the Middle Ages by taking refuge on the heights of Fayence in summer (more than 700 meters) , one can then quickly seek refuge in the altitudes further north, a few kilometers away; or like others, prefer to brown all day long on the sand with the reassuring certainty of being able to cool off at will in the Mare Nostrum.
With the risk of devastating fires fueled by the western fringe of the neighboring Mistral; and one can only visit the country according to a prefectural decision established on a day-to-day basis, which can prohibit access to such site today and allow it tomorrow.
Other plagues, sudden and excessive bad weather cause floods, magnified by the slopes of the hinterland, which brutally swell the smallest small rivers, making them irresistible and devastating monsters marking the history of the region (ex, storm Alex in the north of the Alpes Maritimes in 09/2020). Below, St-Martin-Vésubie before and after Alex.
The local climate is well known for suffering such severe weather, which invades the plains and causes disasters.
The effects are amplified by urbanization, concreting, short-term planning which loses the memory of old natural events.
Not even to mention the seismic activity, latent, and forgotten (except perhaps in the legal requirements of construction since 2011).
But the level of risk seems low, except for the tsunami which can devastate the immediate coastal zone.
Eden is not where some had imagined it.
But the country retains for the time being more advantages than inconveniences.
3- Water storage lakes, hinterland recreation centers
In this dry country, the need for a water supply is therefore very old .
From the ancient period, water is the primary concern as well as food.
In addition to the old aqueduct , several recent engineering structures (but their list is not exhaustive) have been fitted out to supply the villages and the coast with water, which in normal times (excluding Covid) is known to be extremely populated in summer.
Avellan lake
The Avellan lake (named after the stream on which it is established), of modest surface, 6 ha, was built in 1974. Its capacity is 33,000 m3.
A few km north of Fréjus, you can access it by the D7 from the same Testanier pass from which you start towards Mont Vinaigr e .
A wide, very sloping white stone track descends in laces towards the plateau where the rock dike has been built.
It can be taken by car at a safe speed. The very large empty car park lets you guess what is the frequentation in normal summer.
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A little in the shape of an anchor, it is an earth dam (gravity dam) to the west, set on a semi-plateau, with a peaceful surface.
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The path that goes around it does not really require the heartbeat. Quiet walk, it offers several quite interesting different points of view.
Clumps of water lilies thrive, and a few fishermen, obviously well-equipped regulars, have settled there; we can also access it from a ridge village to the east, 135 meters above, from the Adrets de l'Estérel area.
The usual fauna thrives there peacefully, ducks, dragonfly on the lookout doing its ablutions, water spiders that glide on the surface in quick and straight paths, frogs ...
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Obviously, the leisure facilities are very limited, and probably help to keep it a bucolic character that is still authentic.
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lake of St-Cassien
Lake St-Cassien (gravity dam built in 1966, capacity of 60 million m3).
It submerges a good part upstream of the Roman aqueduct.
Further above, it is another much larger reservoir (420 ha), organized on the confluence course of several rivers including the Riou Blanc and the Biançon.
Very stretched, he takes the form of an amphibian subjected to Galvani's electric shock, long legs outstretched.
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Its leisure dimension is more marked than for the 1st, with a nautical base and a biological reserve, that of Fondurane.
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In this season and the sanitary context, it is much more frequented than that of Avellan, without however reaching an excessive attendance.
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Unlike the 1st, you can swim there and do a little sailing, windsurfing; we come to picnic.
But the access by which we got there is not very pleasant; the vegetation here evokes rather a submerged valley where trees with their feet in the water. It is probable that other shores are more pleasant.
"Lizard calves" takes a break there, damn poseur !!!
Malpasset dam
The Malpasset dam
A masonry vault dam, it was completed in 1954 on the Reyran river valley, halfway between the current lake of St-Cassien and Fréjus on the north-south axis.
Its capacity was 50 million m3.
While it had taken a long time to fill because of the low flow of the Reyran which had dried up 9 out of 12 months, in December 1959, after intense precipitation (perhaps also from an insufficient analysis of the geological base in the study of the project), it gave way , devastating all the valley downstream and causing 423 deaths.
The remains can be visited and perpetuate the testimony.
