Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
10. FORCALQUIER
This beguiling old town was once the seat of powerful local lords and capital of the
region. One gate of the old walled town, the Porte des Cordeliers, still survives, along
with the restored cloisters and stark library of the 13th-century Couvent des Corde-
liers, with its tombs of the town's medieval
seigneurs
.The convent is now the seat of
the European University of Scents and Flavours.
Google Map
CouventdesCordeliers•blvddesMartyrs•ContacttheTouristOfficetoarrange
a visit (04 92 75 10 02) •
www.forcalquier.com
Google Map
View photo
Napoleon at Sisteron
On 1 March 1815 Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from exile on Elba and landed at
Golfe Juan. Had the citadel at Sisteron been garrisoned by Royalist troops, his
attempt to regain his Imperial throne might have been foiled, but he entered the
town unopposed on 5 March to begin a triumphal progress to Paris, only to meet
final defeat at Waterloo.
A Morning Drive through the Canyon
Start after breakfast from the unassuming town of
Castellane
, gateway to the
canyons, and drive west on RD952. The landscape becomes progressively more
awe-inspiring as you enter the gorges and wind your way through towering
walls of rock to
Point Sublime
.
This is one of the most impressive viewpoints;
savour it while enjoying a coffee or a cold drink at the pleasant
Auberge du
From here, drive for about 15 minutes and turn left on to the vertiginous Route
des Crêtes, which winds past a series of ever higher viewpoints. Don't rush this
part of the drive, but stop at each for five or ten minutes, as the views vary all
the time. Finally, the road swings around the shoulder of the massif, and far
