Page 193 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Provence & The Côte d'Azur

ALPES-DE-HA UTE-PROVENCE  191

uSt-André-les-
Alpes
Road map D3. * 920. @ £ n Place
Marcel Pastorelli (04 92 89 02 39). ( Wed
& Sat. ∑ saintandrelesalpes-
verdontourisme.com
Lying at the north end of the
Lac de Castillon, where the
river Isolde meets the river
Verdon, is St-André. It is a
popular summer holiday and
leisure centre, scattered around
the sandy flats on the lakeside.
The lake is man-made, formed
by damming the river by the
90-m (295-ft) Barrage de Cas-
tillon and is a haven for rafting,
canoeing and kayaking as
well as swimming and fishing.
Inland, lavender fields and
orchards make for picturesque
walks and hang-gliding is so
popular here that one of the
local producers advertises its
wine as “the wine of eagles”.

iAnnot The steep path of zigzag ramps leading to the citadel of Entrevaux
Road map E3. * 1,120. £ n Place oEntrevaux
du Germe (04 92 83 23 03). ( Tue. local builders have constructed
∑ annot-tourisme.com houses against these haphazard Road map E3. * 950. £ @
rocks, using their sheer faces as n Porte Royale du Pont Levis (04 93
The town of Annot, on the outside walls. The vieille ville lies 05 46 73). ∑ tourisme-entrevaux.fr
Train des Pignes railway line (see behind the main road, where
p185), has a distinct Alpine feel. there is a Romanesque church. It is clear why Entrevaux is
Annot lies in the Vaïre valley, The tall buildings that line the called a “fairy-tale town”, as
crisscrossed by icy waters narrow streets have retained you cross the drawbridge
streaming down from the some of their original 15th- to and enter through the Porte
mountains. The surrounding 18th-century carved stone lintels. Royale. The dramatic entrance
scenery however, is a more Most Sundays (May–Oct) in is flanked by twin towers and
unfamiliar pattern of jagged summer, a 1909 belle époqueépoqueé from here you enter the
rocks and deep caves. steam train chugs its way from Ville Forte.
Vast sandstone boulders, Puget-Théniers to Annot, a Fortified in 1690 by the
known as the grès d’Annot, are pleasant way for visitors to military engineer Vauban (1633–
strewn around the town, and enjoy the unspoiled countryside. 1707), Entrevaux became one of
the strongest military sites on
the Franco-Savoy border. Even
the 17th-century cathedral was
skilfully incorporated into the
turreted ramparts.
Unlike most military
strongholds, the citadel was
not built on top of a hill, but
strategically placed on a rocky
outcrop. It was last used during
World War I as a prison for
German officers. A steep,
zigzag track leads to the
citadel, 156 m (511 ft) above
the village. The 20-minute
climb to the top, past basking
lizards, should not be made
Houses in the town of Annot built against huge sandstone rocks in the midday heat.