By a sunny Sunday
we visited the Var department in the
back-country rich in historical sites.
We drove the road from Draguignan to
theThoronet Abbey then the road in
the High-Var while crossing by Entrecasteaux,
Sillans-la-Cascade and Tourtour.
Thoronet Abbay
Founded in 1146 Thoronet is one of the
most remarkable abbeys built by the
Cistercian Order.The proportional
purity, spatial simplicity, rigorously
dressed stone and absolute sobriety of
the architecture give it an austere
beauty depleted of any artifice, in
accordance to the spirituality
advocated by St Bernard. The most
characteristic buildings are the
church, the cloisters, the chapter
house and the lavatorium, fountain in
a hexagonal building.
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| The Thronet Abbay, Var |
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| The church |
The cloisters |
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| The chapter house |
The lavatorium |
Castel of Entrecasteaux
This high and narrow masonry was built in the 17th century by
Castellane before belonging to the family of Grignan, of which one
of the members married the countess of Sévigné's daughter. It owned
to the family of Bruni of which the admiral d'Entrecasteaux died
during an expdedition looking for La Pérouse. The castle was
restored at the beginning of the 20th century by the painter Ian Mc
Garvie-Munn.
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| Bridge over La Bresque |
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| French garden |
The Castle |
Sillans-la-Cascade
The village is perched
at the edge of La Bresque river with remainders of
ramparts and picturesque streets. The high cascade
of 42 meters high is enchased in a green site. Its
access walks on in a pretty landscape.
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| Signpost |
The cascade |
Tourtour
The village is perched in an timbered area with well restored
pretty houses. The central square planted with ormeaux is next to the
castle decorated with sculptures by Buffet. The area is rich in
fossils as the museum testifies by exhibiting eggs of dinosaurs
and ammonites.
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| The central square |
The castle, sculpture by Buffet |
Les Arcs-sur-Argens
The village was built as from 11th century by Gerard de Villeneuve,
lord of the Arcs, who built the castle in the 12th century and was
destroyed during the French Revolution. The village medieval built on a
rock piton is furrowed cut by tortuous streets, staircases and
vaults. It is called Le Parage because it is from the top of the keep that
the guetteurs supervised the plain to avoid Sarrasins' invasions.
(شرقيين sharqiyyīn, Wikipedia)
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| Le Parage quarter |
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| The Keep |
Street |
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| Middle-age quarter |
Beautiful house |
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| The clocktower |
Landsscape |
Guy at work
During my stay I helped the Lord of Les Rochilles,
Sir Christian, with the maintenance work.
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| Mathys & Marie |
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| Guy as logger |
Back to Miami
Thursday 24 May I took a direct TGV train from Les Arcs-Draguignan to
Roissy-CDG where I spent a night at the Hotel Ibis. The next
day a direct flight by Air France transported me in 9 hours 25 from
Paris to Miami where I disembarked at 14:10, local time, to remain
four nights at Hampton Inn & Suites to visit the city.
