Inland on the Riviera

Grasse and the Gorges du Loup by Jane Tolbert

In past years when the crowds thickened and coastal traffic intensified on the Riviera, I used to seek respite in the hillsides of the backcountry. The inland villages, once strongholds against Saracen invasions, have replaced pots of boiling oil, bows and arrows and war machines with boutiques filled with perfumes, lavender honey or provençal herbs and pottery.

Grasse, once a city of tanners, gained renown for its perfumeries that developed after Catherine de Medici (16th c.) ordered perfumed gloves. Until recently, travelers needed to take a bus or drive here, but a train now links Grasse to the coastal cities. For the tourist, the city provides a cathedral with paintings by Rubens and Fragonard, museums, perfume factories, a labyrinth of old city streets plus the market and bistros on the Place aux Aires. Although ornate buildings and exotic vegetation give the old city a turn-of-the-century elegance, it continues to struggle to attract new businesses and year-round residents. The networks of narrow alleys and the lack of convenient parking within the city walls would probably discourage most of us from settling.

On a road that climbs inland from Pré du Lac to the 11th-century fortified village of Gourdon, I cross a few tour buses, quarry trucks and determined cyclists. This perched village, built high on a rocky crag, has withstood centuries of invasions but now caters to tourism. Instead of entering Gourdon, I head in the direction of the Plateau of Caussols, known for the CERGA observatory, and I turn off on the Chemin des Claps. The landscape is desolate, and I feel like I am at the top of the world. Below is Gourdon and a glimmer of the Mediterranean Sea. Paragliders hover, suspended in the in the air. Traces of the Via Aurelia, or Roman Road, and abandoned sheep folds are all but camouflaged in the rocky landscape, which contains ammonite fossils, hints of the marine environment once here. Tufts of wild lavender have gained a foothold, but small vipers also lurk here.

Returning to the entrance of Gourdon, I head in the direction of the Gorges du Loup (Loup Valley) along switchback turns that bring out the rally-car driver in us all. Signs point to Gréolières, a small, local ski station, then Bramafan, plunged in perpetual darkness because of its dismal history. According to legend, a 15th-century seigneur locked his wife away in a tower to die of starvation. Her cries were heard by villagers (hence the name, Bramafan, or “cry of hunger”). A large American ragtop, a relic from the days of cars with big fins, scrapes by on the narrow road. Pont du Loup, the end of the circuit, has a candied fruit factory, worth a detour to sample my favorites--the rose petal, fig or citrus jellies. From here, the courageous hiker—which has never been my case—may opt to climb a small footpath marked “Chemin de Paradis” (Road to Paradise) that leads upward to Gourdon. However, I remain in my car. Bar-sur-Loup is a small village directly below Gourdon with a micro-climate favoring the cultivation of citrus. The village has undergone a substantial facelift. The once-dark alleys now have brightly painted village houses, and the town boasts two gourmet restaurants--the Hostellerie du Chateau, opened by a former opera singer, and La Jarrerie, located on the main road. Historically, the village has ties to the States. In the American Revolutionary War, Admiral François-Joseph de Grasse, who was born here, played a critical role in the defeat of Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown. The village church (13th-15th c.) houses the “Danse Macabre,” or Dance of Death,” a painting depicting dancers dropping dead amidst festivities, surely a sign of divine retribution for revelers.

Over the years, even the backcountry has become increasingly populated on a year-round basis in part due to the development of the research park of Sophia Antipolis and its employees who seek housing. Although small corners of the region remain inaccessible to tourism, but they were likely already known to the Saracens or earlier invaders.

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Photos: Grasse, Place aux Aires. Bar sur Loup seen from the Chemin de l'Hubac.