The Oldest Perched Medieval Village
4kms, 50 minutes uphill walk through the woods, 30 minutes back! Gréolières, the oldest perched village in Provence, has less than 500 inhabitants, 3 restaurants, a mini-market, gift shop and a hairdresser.
It's a sweet place to stroll about, and very un-touristy, but to really understand the history of Gréolières you need to walk a further 10 minutes up the mountain to the ruined old town, now known as Haute Gréolières. Only the chapel has been restored since it was left to the elements when the plague came calling.
The inhabitants of Gréolières fled the town and crossed the valley to the village of Cipieres, taking the plague 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 many 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 Gréolières extends to 5,267 hectares (13,000 acres) 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 boss' house. 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 effort that must have been expended 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 here.
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 that marks the entrance to the Barricade; a small square with a restaurant and pizzeria of the same name. Run by the chic Charlene and her husband they make excellent pizzas in the wood fired oven along with a complete menu of local dishes.
At the top of the village, next to the parking, is the Relais snack bar that also does some great plat du jours. It has a sunny terrace with a lovely view up the mountain and is run by the friendly Corsican Phillipe - ask him "ca va?" (the French national equivalent of 'is life treating you well?', uttered a million times a day throughout the country) and you'll get the same reply every time "toujours!" (always!) probably a symptom of living in such a beautiful part of the world. Open all day it's a top spot for a quick bite or a refreshing drink.
In the centre is the Vieux Auberge - a restaurant offering great value, great big portons and is a great place to lose a few hours at lunch. The summer terrace s nicely shaded and you can sit and watch the world go by as Didier and his partner look after you. For €26 you can choose any starter main and dessert - the foie gras is really very good, and the pruneaux (prunes marinaded in wine and served with a boule of vanilla ice cream and a fresh sprig of mint) is a healthy if dangerous way to end a superb meal.
The village, at 800m, is dominated by Mount Cheiron to the north, which rises to over double that at 1,778m. 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 two aerial masts - 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 mountain station, Gréolières 1400, with skiing, mountain biking, zip lines through the forest and a chair lift to get you to the top for a magnificent summer pic-nic with a view of the Mediterranean, with minimal effort.
