Isn't this view absolutely glorious? This range of snow-capped mountains is one of the major attractions that makes the proximity of the French Riviera that much more beguiling. These are the Maritime Alps which, in turn, are part of the Western Alps. If you click on the above image you'll see the complete photograph as it was originally taken this morning. Throughout all of last night we suffered extremely high winds but which brought forth this morning's incredibly clear blue skies. As luck would have it, I needed to drive over to Nice and decided to take my cameras with me (Nikon D70 body with Tamron 18-200mm lens and a Kodak P880 with wide-angle lens) just in case I saw something that caught my eye. And indeed it did: these mountains.

In the foreground is part of Sophia-Antipolis' science and technology park (sometimes called France's answer to California's Silicon Valley), nestled in 2,300 hectares (around 6,400 acres) of beautiful pine forest. Strict regulations have been enforced to ensure that office buildings are kept lower than the surrounding hillside. This leads to wonderful open views, not just for office workers but also for people driving through the park (like me this morning). The dark hills in the middle ground belong to the Baou chain of limestone hills that create a natural frontier between the Mediterranean Sea and the Alps and are made up of five enormous summits: Baou de St Jeannet (807m) with its grey rugged and upright stance, Baou de Gattières and Baou de la Gaude (796m) more rounded and "layered cake" in  appearance situated to the left of the photo with Baou des Blancs and Baou des Noirs to the right.

Looming behind the chain of Baou are the Maritime Alps. Although the highest peak is Argentera (3,290m), the mountain is actually in Italy's Natural Park of the Argentera (merges into the National Park of Mercantour at the French Border) whereas the second highest mountain, Cime du Gélas (3,143m), is in the National Park of Mercantour and thus French.

Although visible throughout the year, to be greeted each winter's morning with such a stunning view while on your way to work is sheer poetry. But then, turning your head 90° to the right, the view becomes even more magnificent as you see the sun glinting over the Mediterranean Sea. In a word: truly outstanding scenery!

And for those of you wondering why I was off to Nice so bright and early - it was to fetch tomorrow's St Valentine's present. Flowers? Perfume? Romantic present? Nope . . . Nigel's gift to me is office furniture.  Well, you can't win them all can you?