Page 112 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Provence & The Côte d'Azur

110  PROVENCE AREA B Y AREA

View over Bargemon’s terracotta rooftops to the wooded hills beyond
5Fayence Part modelled on the Cadet 6Bargemon
school in St Petersburg, it was
Road map E3. * 5,500. @ n Pl
Léon Roux (04 94 76 20 08). ( Tue, constructed in 1824 for General Road map E3. * 1,550. £ Les Arcs.
@ n Ave Pasteur (04 94 47 81 73).
Thu, Sat. ∑ paysdefayence.com Alexandre Fabre, who once
worked as a military engineer ( Thu. ∑ ot-bargemon.fr
The hillside town of Fayence for Tsar Alexander I of Russia.
is the largest between He originally intended to make This medieval village, fortified in
Draguignan and Grasse and is the building a public museum, AD 950, has three 12th­century
an international centre for local but failed to finish the task gates and a tower from the mid­
crafts as well as gliding. Domi­ and so it remains private. 16th­century. The village is laid out
nated by a wrought­iron clock There are a number of around a number of squares with
tower, it still has a few remains attractive villages nearby. fountains, shaded by plane trees.
of its 14th­century defences Among the best are Callian The angels’ heads on the high
including a Saracen­style gate. and Montauroux to the east altar of the 15th­century church,
The Eglise St-Jean-Baptiste and Seillans, 5 km (3 miles) St-Etienne, now the Musée­
was built in the 18th century to the west, where the Galerie Honoré Camos, are
with a baroque marble altar German­born painter Max attributed to the school of Pierre
(1757) by a local mason, Ernst (1891–1976) chose Puget, like those in the Chapelle
Dominique Fossatti. Its terrace to spend his last years. The Notre-Dame-de-Montaigu
offers a sweeping view over prestigious Musique en Pays above the town. The chapel also
the town’s glider airfield. de Fayence festival in October contains an oak­wood carving
On the hillside opposite, brings string quartets who of the Virgin brought here in
in the community of Tourettes, perform in some of the 1635. The Fossil and Mineral
there is a striking château. charming local churches. Museum on rue de la Résistance
displays over 3,000 pieces.
Traditional Pottery and Crafts
Cotignac, Aups and Salernes are at the centre of an 7Draguignan
exciting revitalization of Provençal crafts, which
includes weaving, pottery, stone and wood carving. Road map D4. * 38,317. @ n 2 ave
A regional speciality is hand­crafted domestic Lazare Carnot (04 98 10 51 05). ( Wed,
pottery made using traditional techniques and Sat. ∑ tourisme-dracenie.com
designs, as well as local clays in a wonderful
variety of colours. Examples of all these During the day, the former
crafts can be found in small shops and capital of the Var département has département has département
studios, or craft fairs and local markets. the busy air of a small market
There are good buys to be had, but
do shop around to avoid being town. At night, however, the only
unknowingly overcharged. sign of life is groups of young
people in the place des Herbes.
A Provençal potter at work Baron Haussmann, planner
of modern Paris, laid out
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp199–200 and pp211–12