Unterwegs

SOUTH PROVENCE-ALPES-CÔTE-D'AZUR REGION

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

Population: 5.1 million

Prefecture: Marseille

Surface area: 31,400 km2

Specialities: Mediterranean cuisine, pizza, pissaladière, panisses, chichis, bouillabaisse, petits farcis (stuffed vegetables), alouette sans tête (mea trolls), pieds et paquets marseillais (lamb feet), salade niçoise, pan bagnat, gardiane de taureau (bull stew), sea urchins, fish (sea bream, sea bass, red mullet, denti, marbled, pageots, pagres, sars), wines (rosés of Provence, côtes de Provence, côtes du Rhône, Palette, Bandol...). 

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

Competitions: football world cup, Euro 2016 football, rugby world cup, rugby test matches, Tour de France cycling, Paris-Nice, GP La Marseille, Haribo Classic, Tour du Haut-Var, Tour de la Provence, beach volleyball, beach football, rugby in Toulon. Mondial à pétanque in Marseille. 

Tourist attractions: beaches and seaside resorts (Saint-Tropez, Nice, Saint-Raphaël, Fréjus, Cassis, Bandol etc...), Palais des Papes in Avignon, Arles (amphitheatre, Roman remains), 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% of French GDP, 3e region in France, 16e in Europe. Agriculture (wine, market gardening), service sector (80%), universities (Aix-Marseille, France's leading university, Nice, Toulon), ports (Marseille, La Ciotat, Nice), petrochemicals (Fos), logistics, Nice and Marseille airports, tourism.

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

Website: www.maregionsud.fr

 CHÂTEAUROUX-LES-ALPES (POP : 1,210)

One of the highlights of the village of Châteauroux-les-Alpes is the La Pisse waterfall (Ecrins National Park). It is fed by a mountain stream from the Distroit valley. The village's monuments include the church of Saint-Marcellin in the hamlet of Saint-Marcellin, listed as a historical monument (the bell tower is listed) in 1981. Since 1988, eight new grape varieties have been planted in Châteauroux-les-Alpes: jacquère, altesse, marsanne, chardonnay, chasan, muller-thurgau, pinot noir and pinot gris, with the aim of identifying those best suited to the Alpine climate. There are 294 hectares of vines planted with 576 growers. The local wine is available in red, rosé and white, with notes of fresh fruit, reminiscent of the aroma of a fresh harvest.

 GUILLESTRE (POP: 2,200)

The town of Guillestre sits on a plateau 1,000 m above sea level above the Gull gorges, just before it joins the Durance. Protected by its mountains, Guillestre has some of the lowest rainfall in France. It is the main entry point to the Queyras valley and a crossing point between Briançon and Embrun.    

Stronghold of Mont-Dauphin

Construction: from 1693.

History: in 1692, the Duke of Savoy took Guillestre, Embrun and Gap. Vauban, sent to reinforce the border, chose the deserted plateau of Les Millaures to build a stronghold. He named the place Mont-Dauphin in honour of the king's son and began work in the spring of 1693. At the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, France relinquished Piedmont to Savoy in exchange for the Ubaye. Briançon became a border town, while Mont-Dauphin was no longer a border town. The town had a thousand soldiers and up to 400 civilians. But it never reached the 2,000 inhabitants that Vauban had hoped for. Having become a rear base, it was used as a warehouse for equipment and a prison camp for the Austrians in 1707 and the English under Napoleon. It imprisoned German officers and welcomed refugees from Serbia during the First World War.

Characteristics: Mont-Dauphin has three bastions protected by half-moons, an arsenal, a powder magazine, two barracks, a pavilion for the governor and another for the officers, and houses for civilians. But the church, which Vauban had planned to be monumental, had no nave. The bastion he had planned on the Guillestre plateau was too costly and never saw the light of day. However, at the end of the 18th century, new defences were added: the Arçon lunette on the Eygliers glacis, and a third barracks, Rochambeau, on the Embrun front. A fourth barracks, built in place of the military hospital in the 20th century, now houses a holiday centre run by the armed forces social services.

Listed as: historical monument since 1966. UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the network of major Vauban sites.

ALPES-DE-HAUTE-PROVENCE (04)

Population: 161,600 (2016)

Prefecture: Digne-les-Bains

Sub-prefectures: Barcelonnette, Castellane, Forcalquier

Surface area: 6,925 km2

Specialities: Lavender honey, lavender, Sisteron lamb, Banon cheese, Génépi from the Ubaye valley, truffles, olive oil, Pierrevert wines, apples from the Alpes de Haute-Durance, Ubaye ravioles, fumeton, Tomme de l'Ubaye and Cachaille.

Sports: rafting, white-water swimming, canyoning, canoeing, downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, hiking, horse riding, water sports, climbing, via ferrata, cycle touring, golf, fishing, gliding, hang-gliding, paragliding, speed riding. Alpes de Haute-Provence is France's No. 1 department for mountain biking. Three Grandes Traversées have been awarded the FFC label: the Alpes-Provence, the Transverdon and the Chemins du soleil.

Main tourist attractions: Verdon gorges, Lake Allos, Lake Ste Croix, Mercantour National Park, Luberon and Verdon Regional Nature Parks, Unesco Geopark of Haute Provence, village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, Valensole plateau and its lavender fields, Sisteron citadel, Gorges du Verdon prehistory museum, Salagon museum and its remarkable gardens, Gréoux-les-Bains and Digne-les-Bains thermal baths.

Cultural events: Prehistory Days in Quinson (July), Enfants du Jazz Festival in Barcelonnette (July), Nights at the Citadel in Sisteron (July/August), Été Astro in Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire (July/August), Corsos de la Lavande, Lavender Festival in Valensole (21 July), Latin-Mexican festivals in Barcelonnette in August, Les Correspondances in Manosque in September.

Economy: tourism, agriculture, cosmetics, flavours and fragrances, agri-food, renewable energies, chemicals and pharmaceuticals (manufacture of beauty products, perfumes, etc.), fruit and vegetables, hydroelectricity (the Durance and Verdon dams account for 12% of France's hydroelectric output), wood (forests cover almost half the département), and photovoltaics (1er département in PACA).

Websites and social networks : www.alpes-haute-provence.com www.mondepartement04.frwww.facebook.com/departement04

LA CONDAMINE-CHÂTELARD (POP: 15)  

Tournoux Fort

Construction: 1843 to 1865.

History: massive and spectacular, at the heart of the Ubaye valley's strategic system, Tournoux Fort was built to protect against invasions from Italy. Clinging to a rocky hill between the villages of La Condamine-Châtelard and Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye, it dominates the right bank of the Ubaye. Launched in 1843 to secure the outlet of Col de Larche, construction of the Tournoux fort was considered complete in 1865. It comprised Battery B12 (1,330 m), the middle fort (1,550 m) and the upper fort (1,690 m). During the organisation of the Séré de Rivière system, the fort was completed in 1880 by the Caurres battery, which covered it from the summit with new cannons. During the First World War, the fortress was used as a prison for German soldiers. In June 1940, Tournoux Fort housed the command posts of the units defending the Ubaye valley. It had its baptism of fire when it fired 500 cannon shots to stop the Italian troops. Kept in good condition, it was used as an ammunition depot until 1987. In 1991, the Community of Communes of Ubaye acquired the site, seeing its cultural value and wishing to develop it.

 ALPES-MARITIMES (06)

Prefecture: Nice

Sub-prefecture: Grasse

Population: 1,103,941

Surface area: 4,299 km2

Specialities: pissaladière, fougasse, socca, brissaouda, tapenade, salade niçoise, pan bagnat, porchetta niçoise, trulle, ratatouille, daube niçoise, bellet (wine)

Economy: tourism (64,000 jobs), second largest airport in France, perfume industry in Grasse, new technologies in Sophia-Antipolis, space centre in Cannes-Mandelieu.

Sport: OGC Nice, AS Cannes (football). Olympique Antibes (basketball). Olympic Nice Swimming. Paris-Nice cycling, Nice Ironman. Monte Carlo Rally. Nice Open.

Culture and heritage: Cannes Film Festival, Juan-les-Pins Jazz Festival, Nice Jazz Festival, Nice Carnival, Mouans-Sartoux Book Festival. Promenade des Anglais in Nice, Croisette in Cannes, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Matisse Museum, Maeght Foundation, perfume factory in Grasse, Lérins Islands, Mercantour National Park.  

Website: www.departement06.fr

SAINT-ETIENNE-DE-TINÉE (POP: 1,340)

The village belonged to the States of Savoy and then to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia (as did the whole of the County of Nice) before it became part of France in 1860. Because of the difficulty of accessing neighbouring valleys and the coastline, people lived in isolation. In 1388, Saint-Etienne-de-Tinée came under Savoyard rule. Its remote location spared it from the Saracen invasions, the proximity of Genoa and the fiscal pressure exerted by the Counts of Provence. From 1815 to 1860, the "Sardinian Restoration" brought no improvements to this remote commune. This economic retreat gave rise to pro-French sentiment, which led to the County of Nice becoming part of France on 14 June 1860. From 1860 to the present day, the Commune has gradually emerged from its isolation thanks to improved communications (roads and railways), which have significantly reduced journey times. The Auron ski resort, where the queen stage of Paris-Nice was due to finish in 2024 before being moved to La Madone d'Utelle for climatic reasons, is located in the municipality.  

Saint-Étienne Church

Built: 1492 then 1785-1789.

Style: Gothic, Lombard Romanesque and Baroque.

History: the choir is in 14th-century Gothic style, the remains of the previous church. The Lombard Romanesque bell tower bears the date 1492. The octagonal spire was rebuilt in 1669. In 1594, during the confrontation between Henry IV and the Duke of Savoy, Lesdiguières' troops took refuge in the church. Baron de Bueil set fire to the church. The Bishop of Nice, Valperga de Maglione, made a pastoral visit in 1783. Moved by the deplorable state of the church, he ordered the villagers to demolish the existing church and rebuild it. The plans for the new church were drawn up by a Swiss architect, Antoine Spinelli, who travelled to Saint-Étienne on 29 June 1784. The work had barely been completed when French troops entered the County of Nice. The church was consecrated on 4 December 1789.

Special features: the church houses a museum of religious art.

Listed as: historical monument since 1908.

Isola 2000

Das in den frühen 1970er Jahren erschlossene Skigebiet Isola 2000 begeistert seit mehr als 50 Jahren mit hervorragenden Pisten.

Mit seiner hohen Lage auf 2000 bis 2600 Metern über dem Meeresspiegel bietet Isola 2000 Skisportlern eine große Auswahl an Terrains und Pisten, atemberaubende Aussichten und viel Sonne.
Auch außerhalb der Skisaison hat der Ort Konjunktur. Als Tor zum Mercantour-Nationalpark bietet die umliegende Natur Spannendes und Sehenswertes. Im Sommer ist der Ort ein lohnendes Reiseziel mit vielfältigen Unterhaltungsangeboten und Aktivitäten sowie einem angenehmen Klima mit frischer Bergluft und warmer Sonne à la Côte d'Azur.