Driving through the Verdon Gorge

And now…time for a road trip. We decided that driving in France was the best way to go, since many of the small towns in Provence were not as convenient to get to via public transport, especially if time is limited.

I have to say picking up a rental car (Europcar) at the Nice train station, was not the easiest. The cars are stored on the top floor of the parking garage at the Ibis hotel next door and the train station is pretty central, so there is some traffic to contend with. But when it was all said and done, we did escape Nice eventually. We were heading to Moustiers-Ste-Marie via the Verdon Gorge.

Driving out of Nice, the road climbed fast into the hills. First stop, La Chapelle du Rosaire designed by Henri Matisse, a small chapel with some gorgeous stained glass windows (no pictures allowed) and a small art museum. It’s just about a 30-45 minute drive from Nice. The hours are very limited and there is nearly no parking, so we ended up parking down the hill in a paid parking lot near the Casino Supermarche and walking up. It’s a quick stop, but definitely worth it. After exploring the chapel and museum, there is a small, pretty garden outside the chapel, along with nice views over Vence.

I was very pleased to find strawberries at the small produce shop that we snacked on as we drove onwards into the hills towards Castellane.

Castellane’s claim to fame is the Roc of Notre Dame, a church high on the hill above the city. It’s a pleasant place in the off season, it sounds like it gets crowded in the summer. We found a restaurant in the central square for lunch. Unfortunately the bakery was already closed for the afternoon, so we had to continue on.

Not far after Castellane, we had to decide which side of the Verdon Gorge to drive on. I read that the south side had better views from the main road, and the north side had a separate turn off loop road for gorge viewing, so we went with the south side, turning towards Trigance, instead of Rougon. Note to self, next time leave enough time to stay in the castle hotel in Trigance… . This is when the scenery got dramatic.

And the road got dramatic too. Really the driving was fine, but there were some tunnels, bridges, and road cuts to increase the drama.

And then we were heading downhill towards Moustier-Ste.-Marie and our hotel for the night.