I’m embarrassed to admit, that for all the time we’ve spent in Provence we had never been to Les Gorges du Verdon. And it’s not far from Lourmarin, only about an hour and a half, in the hills of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. We’d heard it was worth a visit, but what an understatement, and having now gone there we can’t believe we’d never done so before. If you’re in the south of France you must go! We went there from Nice having dropped family at the airport, we headed down the A8 autoroute back towards Marseille and turned off at Draguignan.
Le Parc Naturel Régional du Verdon
Tourtour
Our first stop was in the picturesque village of Tourtour, one of our much loved Les Plus Beaux Villages de France ~”The most beautiful villages of France”.
We entered the Parc Naturel Régional du Verdon and followed the twisting road up through the pine trees. When we arrived it was easy to see why Tourtour is known as “the village in the sky of Provence” (le village dans le ciel de Provence). The views were beautiful, stretching across the Mediterranean coastline near Frejus to the east and Montagne Sainte-Victoire, frequently painted by Paul Cézanne to the west.
Moissac Bellevue
It was August in Provence and very hot so we spent the rest of the late afternoon under the olive tree branches by the pool where we were staying the night, Bastide du Calalou in the small village of Moissac-Bellevue. A charming hotel where we dined that evening on the terrace.
As we have found so often in Provence, the presentation of the food was impressive,
and perhaps more importantly it was très délicieux!
Le Lac de Sainte Croix
We were already in Le Parc Naturel Régional du Verdon and the following morning we really began to explore. Our first stop was by the sandy shores of Le Lac de Sainte-Croix. It was bustling with holiday makers, many of whom were on the lake on canoes, kayaks and paddle boards.
Les Gorges du Verdon
But the most spectacular spot was when we crossed the bridge at the end of the lake and looked up the gorge. Ribbons of boats were making their way between the towering cliff sides spilling out into the lake at the far end. An approximately 25 km (15.5 mi) long waterway up to 700 metres (0.4 mi) deep, the view was breathtaking!
We then climbed the hills above the canyon towards the tiny village of La Palud sur Verdon where we’d been told you could take a road which offered the best views over the gorge.
We stopped several times as we made our climb, almost every twist and turn a ‘Kodak moment’.
Les Routes des Cretes
And at the top, nestled within the rolling plateau we found the small village of La Palud sur Verdon. From here we took Les Routes des Cretes. This specially designated road is well sign posted, there’s no toll, its about 23km long, and thankfully it’s mostly one way as the hairpins are quite something! But the views were magnificent.
As the road wound its’ way high up above the gorge there were lots of places to pull in to try to capture the utterly spectacular sights, as memorable as The Grand Canyon.
It really was an incredible drive and one not to be missed!
The road eventually loops you round to the plateau where you started,
back in the village of La Palud sur Verdon, where there’s several places to grab lunch or a drink.
Our next stop a further 20km west was in another Les plus beaux villages de France, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie. I’m excited to tell you about that next time!
Click here for a map of Les Gorges du Verdon
What. a magnificent area! What fabulous pictures! We spent some time at the Gorges du Verdon last year and I agree with you, it is not to be missed.
Thank you Andrea! So glad to hear you enjoyed Les Gorges as much as we did, it is breathtaking!