On the road

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region

Departments: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-Maritimes, Bouches-du-Rhône, Var, Vaucluse.

Population: 5.2 million inhabitants.

Prefecture: Marseille

Area: 31,400 km²

Specialities: Mediterranean cuisine, pizza, pissaladière, panisses, chichis, bouillabaisse, petits farcis (stuffed vegetable), alouette sans tête (beef rolls), pieds et paquets marseillais (mutton feet and stuffings), salade niçoise, pan bagnat (tuna sandwich), gardiane de taureau (bull’s stew), sea urchins, fish (sea bream, sea bass, red mullet, dentex, marbled seabream, pageots, pagres, sars), wines (rosés from Provence, Côtes de Provence, Côtes du Rhône, Palette, Bandol, etc.)

Sports clubs: Olympique Marseille, OGC Nice (football), Rugby Club Toulon. Cercle des Nageurs de Marseille (swimming).

Competitions: 2024 Olympic Games, football World Cups, Euro 2016 football, Rugby World Cup, rugby test matches, Tour de France cycling race, Paris-Nice, GP La Marseillaise, Classique Haribo, Tour du Haut-Var, Tour de la Provence, beach volleyball, beach football, rugby in Toulon. World pétanque championship in Marseille.

Tourist attractions: beaches and seaside resorts (Saint-Tropez, Nice, Saint-Raphaël, Fréjus, Cassis, Bandol, etc.), Palais des Papes in Avignon, Arles (arenas, Roman ruins), Marseille (Old Port, Panier, calanques, Château d'If, Mucem), Nice (Promenade des Anglais, Old Nice, Old Port), Mont Ventoux, Cannes, ski resorts in the Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-Maritimes (Serre-Chevalier, Le Sauze, Orcières-Merlette, Isola 2000), Briançon (citadel), Aix-en-Provence.

Economy: 7 pc of French GDP, 3rd largest region in France,16th largest in Europe. Agriculture (wine and market gardening), services (80 pc), universities (Aix-Marseille, France's leading university, Nice, Toulon), ports (Marseille, La Ciotat, Nice), petrochemicals (Fos), logistics, Nice and Marseille airports, tourism.

Festivals: Cannes Film Festival, Avignon Festival (theatre), Chorégies d'Orange, Aix-en-Provence Festival (opera), Jazz à Nice, Festival de Marseille (dance). Midem (Cannes), Marsatac (Marseille), Fiesta des Suds (Marseille), Plages électroniques (Cannes), Rencontres d'Arles (photography).

Websites and social media: www.maregionsud.fr

Km 4.3 – Volonne (Pop. 1,630)

Volonne is a small medieval village at the foot of a rocky outcrop overlooked by two towers (the taller one, dating from the 13th century, is a former fortress, while the shorter one, from the 16th century, houses the town clock). Volonne offers picturesque narrow streets that are cool in summer and steeped in a rich historical past. In the main street, you will find houses with medieval doors. In Rue de Vière, you will find old ramparts and a 16th-century aqueduct.

Construction: 17th century.

History and characteristics: the town hall is housed in a 17th- and 18th-century castle, built from 1609 onwards. It is decorated with magnificent plasterwork from the early 17th century: ribbed vaults with bases and corbels decorated with foliage in the entrance hall, pediments decorated with female-headed monsters above the doors, and barrel vaults above the staircases decorated with interlacing patterns, vases of flowers and various figures. and finally, a relief painting.

Listed as: historic monument in 1971. Grand salon and plasterwork décor listed as historic monuments in 1971.

Construction: 11th and 12th centuries.

Style: Romanesque.

History: Saint-Martin Church, located near the cemetery, is an example of 11th-century architecture. It may have originally been a priory dependent on Saint-Victor Abbey in Marseille. In any case, it served as a parish church in the 15th century. During the Wars of Religion, its roof was destroyed and was not rebuilt until the first half of the 17th century. In 1830, a fire destroyed the roof once again, and it remained in this state, with the nave cluttered with debris, until it was reported by Raymond Collier in 1965. His report led to its preservation.

Characteristics: basilica-style, it has a nave with five bays and two aisles of equal length, leading to an apse and two apsidioles. Its dimensions are unusually monumental: 24.6 m long and 10.6 m wide. It probably never had a vaulted ceiling, unlike the apses, which were probably built in the 12th century. All kinds of stones were used in its construction: pebbles, rubble stone and green sandstone; the cornerstones are sometimes well cut.

Listed as: historic monument in 1971.

Km 13.4 – Malijai (Pop. 2,000)

Situated on the right bank of the Bléone river since the 12th century, Malijai is strategically located on the road linking Sisteron to Digne. The village has an elegant château which welcomed Napoleon on his return from Elba on the night of 4 March 1815.

Today, it houses the town hall and a beautiful collection of Louis XVI-style plasterwork. The castle's classical architecture and interior decoration are typical of the late 18th century. Its French-style park is delightfully shaded by plane trees, with a few bowls courts nearby.

Construction: 18th century.

History and characteristics: the château is located between the village and the Bléone river. It was built in the late 1760s and early 1770s by Pierre Vincent Noguier, who had purchased the seigneury in 1759. Its façade is framed by two round towers and topped by a pediment, which is repeated on the rear façade on the Bléone side. The windows on both floors are arched. The ground floor is listed as a historic monument for the quality of its plasterwork, representative of the Louis XV and Louis XVI styles.

Listed as: ground floor listed as a historic monument in 1983.

Km 35.1 – Châteauredon (Pop. 75)

Construction: 11th century – 17th century.

History: at an altitude of 1,516 metres, it stands in an exceptional location, at the top of a cliff facing north towards the Cousson massif and overlooking the three valleys of Bléone, Eaux-Chaudes and Asse. It was founded in 1035 by monks from the Saint-Victor Abbey in Marseille, but no trace remains of the original building except for two Carolingian slabs decorated with interlacing patterns, which were reused and are now in the museum in Digne. The current chapel, built in the 17th century, forms an almost perfect square on the ground. The Oratory of Saint-Michel-de-Cousson is an example of the long survival of devotion to Saint Michael, as pilgrimages to it have continued to this day.

Km 62.3 – Moriez (Pop. 240)

The village is served by the "Train des Pignes" (Nice to Digne line), but the collapse of a tunnel in the municipality in 2019 has interrupted traffic until 2026.

Start of operation: 17th century.

History: a well was built in the 17th century. The spring has been in use since 1672.

Characteristics: the building is located a few metres from the stream (Ravin de Bouquet). Very thick walls protect the cut-stone well. The water is about 2 metres from the coping. The rear of the building, to the north, is an extremely sturdy stone shield, facing upstream and protecting the well from flooding from the torrent.

Listed as: historic monument in 1993

Km 73.2 – Saint-Julien-du-Verdon (Pop. 180)

Lake Castillon

Lake Castillon is a dam lake in France formed by the Castillon dam blocking the waters of the Verdon River, upstream from Castellane. Measuring nearly ten kilometres in length, it runs up the valley to the gates of the village of Saint-André-les-Alpes. When it was filled in 1948, it engulfed the village of Castillon.

Km 85 – Annot (Pop: 1,000)

A picturesque village famous for its sandstone, worth visiting for its typical narrow streets and picturesque houses with arcades.

Km 102.1 – Entrevaux (Pop. 990)

A village of character dominated by its Vauban citadel and surrounded by listed fortifications, Entrevaux is one of the Most Beautiful Villages in France. Also worth seeing are the two cathedrals of the former bishops of Glandèves. Entrevaux is home to a motorcycle museum.

Construction: 12th to 18th century.

History: the Gallic city of Glanate was founded downstream from the current village. The insecurity of the Middle Ages led the population to migrate to the current site of the citadel. Ruled by the barons of Glandevès, Entrevaux, a border town between Savoy and Provence, entered military history for five centuries until the county of Nice was annexed to France in 1860. In 1536, Charles V attacked Francis I. Entrevaux was taken but liberated itself thanks to its legendary barber: while shaving the Spanish governor, he slit his throat, signalling the start of a general revolt. Entrevaux was declared a "royal town" and exempt from taxes. Between 1683 and 1702, the citadel was reinforced by Vauban. In 1704, during the War of the Spanish Succession, the fortress successfully resisted attacks by the Duke of Savoy's troops. During the 1914-1918 war, the fort housed German prisoners. It was its last military mission.

Listed as: historic monument in 1921 and 1937.

Construction: 17th century.

History: the site of Glandeves, where the bishop's seat had been established at the end of the Roman Empire, was unsafe, and the town gradually emptied in favour of Entrevaux, which was easier to defend. The remains of the town's second cathedral, called Notre-Dame-de-la-Sed, can still be seen a little downstream from the town. The decision to build a cathedral was taken in 1604 by Bishop Octave Isnard. Work lasted from 1609 to 1630, with the decoration being completed in the 1650s and the bell tower in the 1660s.

Characteristics: due to the cramped site and the need to defend the city, the cathedral faces north-east. It is 40 metres long and 10 metres wide, with a vault height of 14 metres. It has a single nave with three bays and no side chapels. Only three stained-glass windows adorn its south façade, the north wall being blind. The cathedral was incorporated into the town's fortifications in 1692: its bell tower is crenelated and serves as a defence tower.

Listed as: historic monument in 1996.

Km 108.7 – Puget-Théniers (Pop. 1,800)

Puget-Théniers was a sub-prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes from 1860 to 1926. At the time, it was one of the least populated sub-prefectures in France. Since then, although its administrative importance has declined somewhat, Puget-Théniers remains a fairly active commercial centre.

It is the birthplace of socialist activist Auguste Blanqui (1805-1881), celebrated by Karl Marx and inventor of the expression "no gods, no masters", which became the slogan of the anarchist movement.

Puget-Théniers is the starting point of the Mercan'Tour Classic Alpes-Maritimes, whose last winner in 2025 was Spain's Cristian Rodriguez. In 1992, Leontien van Moorsel won a stage of the Tour de l'EEC to Isola 2000. Four years later, Fabiana Luperini won a stage of the Women's Tour that started in Puget-Théniers and finished in Valberg.

Km 143.8 – Levens (Pop. 4,740)

To mark the visit, the Levens Tourist Information Office has set up special signage: a bronze arrow, embedded in the ground, guides walkers throughout their discovery. Going from square to square, from cobbled alleyway to narrow passageway, pontis and "secret", they can discover exceptional panoramic views of the Mediterranean at Gelas, the Boutaù stone, the ancient gates of the feudal walls, the family home of Marshal André Masséna, the birthplace of François Malausséna, the first French mayor of Nice, and the Portal, where exhibitions are held throughout the year, not to mention the Church of Saint Antonin, the chapels of the Black Penitents and White Penitents, and, as a highlight, the wedding hall decorated with frescoes by Dussou.

Levens is well known to Paris-Nice cyclists, particularly because in 2021 it was the finish line for the last stage of the Race to the Sun, replacing Nice, which was unable to host the finish due to Covid-19. On that day, Primoz Roglic, who seemed to have the race won after three stage victories, was the victim of a crash and a mechanical and had to leave the final victory to Max Schachmann, crowned for the second consecutive year. The stage went to Magnus Cort.

Km 147.6 – Saint-Martin-du-Var (Pop. 3,000)

Saint-Martin-du-Var is a recent commune stretching along the left bank of the Var River. Built on land reclaimed from the Var by the embankment of the left bank in the mid-19th century, Saint Martin du Var was initially a hamlet of La Roquette-sur-Var, with which it shared its history (former fiefdom of the Lascaris), before becoming a commune in its own right in 1867. The village has a hidden treasure in its dark valleys: more specifically, the upper part of the Vallon de Saint-Blaise, which is a protected site due to its biotope and has been classified since 2004 as a site in the European Natura 2000 network.

Km 155 – Colomars (Pop. 3,420)

Located in the hills above Nice, Colomars is a recently built residential village surrounded by pine and olive trees, vineyards, carnations and fragrant broom. Among its treasures are its valleys, which are home to exceptional geological and botanical reserves, embellished with waterfalls and aqueducts that once supplied ancient oil mills. Fort Casal, an ancient fortified site built in 1888, has become a vast leisure area where events and festivities are held. Colomars is known as the land of olive trees: the famous "cailletiers du Pays Niçois" produce a variety of olive known for its lemony and aniseed flavour, which yields a highly sought-after golden oil. Often awarded medals, Colomars oil, olive paste and tapenade boast the prestigious AOC label.