Alison Wonderland: Entrevaux and River Var

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Entrevaux and River Var

When we went to Entrevaux last week, we took the Train des Pignes run by Chemins de Fer de Provence.
The railway dates back to the late 19th century and there are some steam trains in summer that run from Puget-Théniers to Annot.

We went on the ordinary train service. The scenery is spectacular as the train follows the valley of the Var river with wooded steep slopes, cliffs and mountain crags and the milky blue water of the river meandering towards the sea. We picked a really good day for the trip and the sky was brilliant cornflower blue which really set off the pale grey stone of the mountains.

I took a lot of photos of different parts of the trip, which i will be posting about over the next few days.

This is the view from Entrevaux station. You can see the train tracks leading up to a tunnel. There are several long tunnels on the route that go through the side of hills.

Across the road from the station, the Var river runs past the mediaeval village of Entrevaux with the Citadel fortress perched on the rock spike above the town.
Its not easy to see in this photo, but there is a zig zag route up to the Citadel. Its a very steep path and somewhat scary and vertigo inducing, for me at least. However the views from the top were worth the effort and adrenaline.

Part of the defensive wall which protects the village protected . Its an excellent defensive position as the rock defends the back of the village and the river and wall take care of the front.
The village moved to this position in the tenth century.

The village and citadel defenses were improved by the military architect Vauban in the 17th century.

The river acts much like a moat . There is even a drawbridge over the river.

This is the view down the Var valley

This is the way in - a fortified gatehouse which gives access to the drawbridge over River Var

The bridge is a fair height above the water. The follwong photo was taken to the side of the gatehouse and shows the bridge, drawbridge and entrance to Entrevaux.