The Vésubie is a short, steep Mercantour river that rises at the Col de Fenestre on the Italian border and runs south through Saint-Martin-Vésubie, Roquebillière and Lantosque before joining the Var. It is the kind of high alpine trout water that looks like it should be somewhere much further north than Provence — pines, cold water, granite boulders, wild brown trout in the clean pockets. Storm Alex in October 2020 hit the Vésubie valley harder than anywhere else in the Mercantour. Saint-Martin-Vésubie, Roquebillière and the hamlets along the river were devastated; dozens of people died across the Tinée, Vésubie and Roya valleys that night; the reconstruction is still going on more than five years later. The river itself has largely recovered hydrologically, though some reaches were entirely rebuilt, and the trout populations have begun to come back. Fish the Vésubie with a sense of proportion. It is still beautiful and it is still productive, but the people who live in the valley have been through something most of us have not, and a bit of respect for that goes a long way. Late May onwards, short rod, careful wading. The best fishing is above Saint-Martin-Vésubie in the headwater valleys.

• Granite