Encircled by parkland, fields, and gardens, Quispiguanca was an Inca version of camp David, a retreat from the world, a place for a warrior-king to unwind after military campaigning.
In the open field, as the sun was setting under a golden sky, young girls told me they never wanted to leave home, but that one day they would go to work in Bangkok and send a lot of money home.
Peter Mayle has done to that region what the Cannes Film Festival did to the Alpes Maritimes, but in mid-May the roads were empty and the hills and fields retained the look of ancient days.