There was one place I really wanted to take my daughter to when she came over to visit this time, just before lockdown number two, and that’s the plateau de Calern in Caussols. So, when she announced that she had some unexpected free time on the day before the restrictions started I jumped at the chance to zip up there with her in the car. I’m more aware now that I need to reign in my enthusiasm for some of the oddball things that I find exciting but there is a warm glow pleasure when I do get to share one and its appreciated.

“Where there is an observatory and a telescope, we expect that any eyes will see new worlds at once. “

- Henry David Thoreau

The Schmidt telescope

I had never been to the Calern plateau as the sun was setting before and I have to say it was extra special as the long rays of Autumn light played with the strange shapes of the clouds and transformed the colours of the mountains and the Caussols valley and the sea beyond into a quite surreal landscape. It really felt like we were somewhere else, on another planet.

Which is a connection because other planets are the preoccupation of the working occupants of the Plateau de Calern, indeed the majority of installations present were built for the purpose of finding out more about them. There can be few places on earth which at 1270 metres altitude have such a strange array of buildings and objects. It is like a scientific playground, made incongruous by the fact that you can see the Mediterranean bay of Cannes down below.

We had recently visited with our French grand children and their parents on a warm day back in the summer for a picnic and kite flying. The atmosphere was different then, we were hugging the shade and tourists were being shown around by guides. Yet when Caroline let slip that she used to come up here to meditate and contemplate when she was in the middle of a life crisis having gone through the trauma of giving birth to twins who were three months premature, it occurred to me, that yes, this is a special place where one could feel totally detached from the real world. Its not just the scenery but the somewhat nerdy scientific nature of the place and an obvious connection with outer space.

The Calern plateau and the southern Alps beyond

NETFLIX obviously felt the same as they made a film called IO based mostly on the Calern plateau. It’s entertaining, especially if you have visited and experienced the atmosphere of the plateau in person. Here is a clip of the trailor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FafYfZO0ctI

I had suggested to my local friend George that maybe we should cycle up to the plateau one night and gaze at the stars and perhaps see some of the instruments in action. He quickly squashed the idea when he alerted me to the danger of the dogs which guard the sheep in the area. Their primary role is to protect the herd from wolves. You do need to be careful not to approach them when walking in the mountains by day as they are very big dogs, rather like outsized golden retrievers, apparently at night they can be extremely dangerous. They are actually remarkably interesting as they are introduced to the herd as a puppy at which point, they are accepted or rejected by the lead sheep. Once accepted they live with the herd and grow up as a kind of adopted sheep and then become ultra-protective of the flock. These beautiful sheep dogs are known as Le Patou. Here’s a clip of Le Patou in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5dvvUfLJTY

Actually, in normal times there is an open night invitation for the public to visit the plateau observatories, usually around the 6th of July, every two years, and as many as 7,000 people have been known to turn up. As well as being guided around lucky ones get a chance to operate some of the instruments. Apparently as well as seeing the stars you can often hear wolves howling in the distance.

The Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur (OCA) which operates on four sites, Mont Gros, Valrose, Sophia Antipolis and the Plateau de Calern observatory, has an interesting web site for more information.

https://www.oca.eu/en/

And the Caussols webite is also useful for guided visit information.

http://www.caussols.fr/fr/les-activites/visites/observatoire-de-la-cote-d-azur

Interféromètre de Calern

Most of the scientific buildings and instruments on the plateau are for geological measuring and observing of the stars. Such as Le Tarot (a fast acting telescope for transitional objects) though some like the Schmidt telescope which was very advanced in its day are no longer operational. The strange Interféromètre de Calern building with its twin telescopes looks more like a Barbapapa house and there are numerous others. A particularly fascinating one is the MeO Laser station instrument which works in conjunction with reflectors placed on the moon by NASA and its function is to measure the distance of the moon by bouncing laser beams off them. It performs the same role for some earth-orbiting satellites which are equipped with similar reflectors. The moon distance measurement is fascinating as the moon's proximity is linked to tidal movements which vary in a rugby ball shaking sort of way and apparently the moon is moving gradually further from the earth at a rate of 4 cm a year with implications for tides of the future.

The MeO Laser station

On a more down to earth note there is a beautiful limestone crag running along the crest of the summit facing the sea and its quite fun to watch folk flying their noiseless long winged model aeroplanes off it, as it is an official site for “aero modalism”. There are numerous well-marked walks on the plateau for good hikes and its worth keeping an eye out for fossils as there are many to be found in surrounding rocks.

There are numerous places to visit in our area which deserve precedence but I was delighted to be able to finally share this one with my wonderful daughter who took some fabulous photos which I’ve been able to use here.

All the best