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France: Mountains and the Med A summer holiday safari

Just behind the resorts of the French Riviera lie some of Europe’s most rewarding wildlife habitats – and no more so than the Camargue, where flamingoes tinge pink a sun-baked landscape celebrated for its white horses and black bulls.

Montpellier snakes and beavers are among a wealth of other wildlife to seek out among the waterways and salt pans.

A morning’s drive west, the thyme-scented hillsides grade into the foothills of the Pyrenees, where a cooler upland world of bare escarpments and flower-splashed alpine meadows harbours a different suite of wildlife, with chamois filing across scree slopes and golden eagles wheeling above their rocky citadels. Serious naturalists can explore for days. Alternatively, a nature-loving family might simply enliven a summer holiday with a few wildlifebased excursions.

Either way, this being France, you can count on some excellent gastronomic diversion. Top tip In the mountains, listen out for the alarm whistles s of alpine marmots. How to book The Travelling avelling Naturalist (01305 267994;7994; thetravellingnaturalist. st. com) offers a sevennight small group tour ur spanning the Camarguegue and Pyrenees. From £2,195 per person, son, based on two sharing,g, including flights, full-board accommodation, transfers and in the company of an expert t naturalist leader/guide. de. Departs on August 26 6 2017.

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