A couple of days in the Var

Our friends Nathalie and Herve (and their lovely kids, Titouin and Colin, of course) had decided to spend a couple of week in the South of France this summer – at Salernes, not too far from where we live (near the Lac Saint-Croix in the Var department). So, since we had some spare time this week, we decided to head out there and spend a couple of days with them.

After meeting up at their villa (a very nice place to spend a couple of weeks in indeed, located in the middle of the Var countryside, and mercifully, considering the temperature, furnished with a swimming pool), we made our way to the Lac Saint-Croix. It’s a very picturesque located at the end of the Gorges du Verdon (“the Grand Canyon” of France – a magnificent natural site). We settled in at a quiet little beach, and spent a couple of hours or so just relaxing, and swimming of course. Going to the sea is nice – but swimming at this lake is a lot nicer, and then there are no hordes of tourists out here… Later on, we moved to another beach, equally nice, for a bit more swimming (me and Herve even ventured out to swim across to an island in the middle of the lake).

We made our way back to the villa towards the evening. The heat was really quite overwhelming even in the evening, so in fact, we spent yet more time cooling down in the pool… For dinner, Nathalie and Herve prepared a rather delicious BBQ meal for us, which we gratefully washed down with some nice wines they had picked up on the way here to Provence… A pretty much perfect way to end a very nice day indeed, then!

The next day, we (or at least I…) woke up with a bit of a sore head. After breakfast, we headed out to explore the neighboring villages. The Var department is a lot less touristy than the Alpes-Maritimes (apart from some coastal resorts), and is blessed with a lot of very pretty Provencal villages. We started off with nearby Villecroze. It’s a typically charming old village, with its cobble-stoned streets, arcades and fountains. But what makes the village really stand out are the curious caverns that can be found just outside the village. The caverns themselves, if viewed in their natural state, would already be an interesting sight in their own right, but what makes these interesting is that they were used as a kind of sanctuary/fortification from the 10th to 16th centuries, for the habitants of the village. So the caverns were a kind of castle built into the rock, if you will.

After our troglodyte visit, we continued to Tourtour, another pretty Procenval village. It is a very pretty place indeed, and quite a bit more lively than Villecroze – I suppose since we arrived on the market day. The views from the top of the village over the surrounding countryside are rather pleasant, as well. The village has another interesting curiosity – there is a fossils museum there. And what’s even more interesting, is that fact that they sell fossils in one of the village shops (including dinosaur bones, eggs and even entire skeletons – it was a bit expensive though…).

After all that tourist action, it was time to head back to the villa for lunch – Nathalie prepared the biggest stuffed courgettes I’ve ever seen – more than enough to fill our bellies, methinks. This was naturally followed by more chilling out by the pool…

By then, it was time for us to head back homewards. But we did decide for a bit of more tourism on the way back – and headed to the Thoronet Abbey. It is one of the most famous historical monuments in the Var – it is one of the three Cistercian abbeys (together with Silvacane and and Senanque) in Provence. Apparently (I’m no expert!), the Thoronet abbey embodies the Cistercian spirit pretty much to perfection – the religious complex is indeed very beautiful in its austerity and simplicity. No baroque excess to be found here… (interestingly, apparently Le Corbusier was heavily influenced by the abbey) The place is also very well preserved, and is rather peacefully located in the midst of the Varois forest. All in all, a place well worth visiting!