Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
rounded by mountains rising 1000m, echoing the cascading river. Outside there's a wood-
fired hot tub. Gregarious owners Babette and Frédéric know every hiking and ski trail.
The
Barcelonnette Tourist Office
( 04 92 81 04 71;
www.barcelonnette.net
;
place
Frédéric Mistral; 9am-12.30pm & 1.30am-7.30pm Jul & Aug, 9am-noon & 2-6pm
Mon-Sat Sep-Jun)
and
Parc National du Mercantour, Barcelonnette Visitors Centre
(
04 92 81 21 31;
www.mercantour.eu
; D900;
9am-noon & 2-6pm Jul & Aug only)
can help with information.
A car is the easiest way to get around.
Autocars SCAL
( 04 92 51 06 05;
www.scal-
amv-voyages.com
)
operates daily service between Marseille (€25, 4 hours), Digne (€8, 90
minutes), and Barcelonnette.
Autocars Sarlin
( 04 92 85 50 85; www.autocar-sarlin)
buses operate within the valley. Barcelonnette's bus station is at place Aimé Gassier.
THOARD
An hour's drive along
la rte du Temps
(Time Rd) transports you through millions of years of geological history.
From Sisteron, follow the marked itinerary along D3 to remote St-Geniez, up and over
Col de Font-Belle
(1708m),
to the medieval fortified village of Thoard. Roadside interpretive panels explain what you're seeing.
Known regionally for its charcuterie meats, tiny
Thoard
sits atop a rocky promontory, dominated by a 12th-cen-
tury clocktower. The 2km-long
Balade de Suy
is a signposted walk through village and environs, passing the
Petit
Musée des Cuivres
( 04 92 31 57 46;
www.le-petit-musee-des-cuivres-de-thoard.org
; adult/child €3/free;
by appointment)
, a shrine to brass instruments, including a saxophone signed by eponymous Adolphe Sax. The stun-
ningly situated lavender distillery,
Distillerie du Siron
( 04 92 34 61 96, 06 25 12 67 17;
www.distilleriesiron-
lavande.fr
;
Thoard; admission free; tours by reservation 10am-noon & 2-5pm daily Jul & Aug, by appointment
rest of year)
, up a tiny lane from the village centre, offers free guided summertime tours. Call ahead for lunch or
dinner at detour-worthy
Auberge la Bannette
( 04 92 34 68 88;
www.aubergelabannette.com
;
Les Prés du
Riou, Thoard; menus €22, s/d from €48/53)
, which serves heaping farm-raised feasts on a vine-shaded mountain-
view terrace in summer, or beside a roaring fire winter; it also rents out country-simple, good-value rooms.
Vallée du Haut Verdon
Dizzying Col d'Allos (2250m and snow-blocked in winter) links craggy, narrow Vallée de
l'Ubaye with the undulating, wide Haut Verdon, whose south-facing rivercourse glitters
