Since it was created in 1979, the Mercantour Park has become one of the most popular of the seven French national parks, with 800,000 visitors every year, enjoying the 600 km of waymarked footpaths and visiting its 28 perched villages.

In the heart of this setting of vertiginous summits (including Mont Gélas, the highest point in the Alpes Maritimes at 3143 m), lies a gem listed as a Historical Monument, the famous Vallée des Merveilles, the aptly named valley of marvels.

At the foot of Mont Bégo, climbers can admire some 37,000 rock carvings dating back to the Bronze Age representing weapons, cattle and human figures that are sometimes very mysterious.