Four snaps from a late lunch stop in Lantosque, a sleepy town of about 1200 48km north-northeast of Nice and 15km south-southeast of Saint Martin Vesubie, one of the main gateways into Mercantour National Park.

Lantosque is one of 16 villages included in the Route des Village Perchés, a group of picturesque hilltop villages bundled and highlighted by the Nice Côte d’Azur tourist office. More on that is here.

The Church of Saint Pons, Lantosque’s dominant landmark, dates to 1668.

The town has three restaurants; we arrived just after two on a Friday afternoon and chose Lou Gust simply because it was open. That luck of fate worked out: the meals –a salmon risotto and gnocchis with a truffe cream sauce– were delicious and generous, making up for the somewhat aloof service.