OLDEST & MOST FAMOUS PERCHED MEDIEVAL VILLAGES

Gourdon is just about the most famous perched village of them all. It has a stunning Chateau with an equally breathtaking view of the Cote d'Azur. Chateau Gourdon houses two musuems; the Historical Museum, which can be contacted on 04 93 09 68 02 / contact@chateau-gourdon.com, and is open from 11-13.00/14.00-19.00 between June and September and 14-16.00 October to May, tells the fascinating past to this imposing fortress.

The second is the Musuem of Decorative Arts and Modernity, housing one of the foremeost collections of Art nouveau (1880-1925), Art Deco (1925-1939), and the U.A.M. in particular (1930-1939). It really is World-class, and both surprising and entertaining in equal measure, even with nothing more than a passing ineterest in such things.

The rest of the village is an opportunity to fill your shopping bags with gifts from Provencal artisans offering many products from the perfume industry, sweet making and lace. Also worth mentioning is Sophie Tudors small but perfectly formed collection of colourful silks and hand-made jewellery - our guests never leave her shop empty handed and usually return at least once during their stay.

But it is the panorama of the French Riviera that really draws your breath. From the edge of Nice to the start of the Estorial beyond Cannes, it's not only a to-die-for view but also quite handy in orienting yourself on the coast.

And there is no place better to ponder this view than the Taverne Provencal - a great restaurant with the the perfect terrace for taking in the atmosphere.

Greolieres, the oldest perched village in Provence, has less than 500 inhabitants, just 4 restaurants, a tabac, mini-market and a boulangerie. It's a sweet place to stroll about, but to really understand the history of Greolieres you need to walk a further 10 minutes up the mountain to the ruined old town, now known as Haute Greolieres. Only the chapel has been restored since it was left to the elements when the plague came calling.

The inhabitants of Greolieres fled the town and crossed the valley to the village of Cipieres, taking the disease with them. The survivors who returned vowed never to live in the old buildings again and rebuilt their village just a short distance away. Even today most of the locals still own a few walls among the ruins, but the decision to leave the old village at rest remains.

The commune of Greolieres extends to 5267 hectares and once used to be predominantly farmland. Le Foulon itself was a farm, with the present building being the Maison de Maitre, or in other words, the bosses hous. The farm workers lived just down the valley.

It's difficult to imagine the forested hills being cultivated, but take a walk and you'll be stunned at the work that must have gone in to terrace the land. Massive stone walls are everywhere, and when you stop to think about how they were built before the days of mechanical power you begin to picture how tough life must have been in the mountains.

Despite their efforts farming was not a profitable business, and with better lines of communication with the coast it only took a blight year to kill the industry altogether. Forest took back over and the deer and boar had a bigger playground once again.

In the village today take a moment at the 9th century fountain at the entrance to the Barricade; a small square with a restaurant and pizzeria of the same name, run by the friendly Corsican Phillipe. Ask him ‘comment ca va' and you'll get the same reply every time ‘toujours!', probably a symptom of living in such a beautiful part of the World.

Further through the narrow streets is the Cheiron, a great restaurant with a changing menu that makes up in quality what it lacks in choice. Marguerite and Patric, the husband and wife who own and run the place,and make everyone feel very welcome - another superb and unpretentious Provencal restaurant.

The village, at 800m, is dominated by Mount Cheiron to the north, which rises to over double that at 1778m. This is a beautiful mountain, with a striking ridge and a face known as Les Miroirs because of the way it reflects the sun. I have been to few places in the world where the sky is so blue - I don't know the scientific reasons for it, just that if you look south the sky is incredibly blue, but if you look north above the Cheiron the sky is just about the bluest it can possibly be. It's this view that first encouraged us to create a mezzanine level in the top floor rooms - just so we could put roof windows in and expose this breathtaking panorama - of course we then had to make sure you got the best vista whilst laying in bed!

If you study the ridge you'll soon locate 2 aerial masts (which will explain why you've got such good mobile phone reception up in the mountains) - the first to the West is known as Cime du Cheiron and the second a little to the East is called Jerusalem; these are the highest points to our very own ski station, Greolieres Les Neiges, which drops down the other side of the mountain. Obviously it's incredibly far south for a ski resort, but being north facing what snow it does get stays for quite a while.

What's more the Department Des Alpes-Maritime (that consists of this whole South East corner of France and Provence, including the Cote d'Azur) took over the running of the resort in Jan 2004 which means investment; more snow cannons, more runs and like anything council run, a complete ignorance to the commercial viability! Which is good news for locals.

The resort is open from Christmas to March and is great fun for a day or two whatever your level of competence, and a great place to learn snow boarding or skiing. What's more, it's only 15 minutes drive from Le Foulon. Which is nice.