Walking in Provence

The guidebook provides an excellent selection of 42 walks in France's Provence. Covering the Alps Maritimes, Var, Vaucluse and northern Provence, the suggested walks are of short and medium length, and include all the practical information required for an enjoyable trip.

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Walk 32 - Three Chapels Walk from Digne-les-Bains

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Difficulty: Easy although there is some climbing.
Time: 2hrs.
Height gain: 270m.
Maps: Cartes IGN 3340 ET Top 25 Dignes-les-Bains/Sisteron & Les Mées 1:25,000; Cartes IGN 3440 ET Top 25 Dignes-les-Bains/La Javie/Vallée de la Bléone 1:25,000; Editions Didier & Richard No. 1 Alpes du Sud 1:50,000. (This walk is spread between two 1:25,000 maps and is clearer on the 1:50,000).
Depart from: Place du Général de-Gaulle, Digne-les-Bains.
Sign posting: Very good – follow yellow splashes.

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This is an easy short walk from the town – the views are glorious and there is the added interest of the three chapels, two of which are due for restoration. For information on Digne-les-Bains see the Introduction to ‘Northern Provence’.

How to get there:
Park your car in the Place du Général de-Gaulle in Digne-les-Bains.

Directions:
1    Go down the Boulevard Victor Hugo (just off the Place heading north) and turn right on to the Rue du Capitaine Victor Arnoux to a roundabout. Take the first street left signposted PR les Trois Chapelles.

2    After about 100m turn up right opposite the Institut St Martin onto a paved lane which, after a house with green gates, turns into a wide stony track. Pass the gates of another house on the right as you wind up the hill through pines following the yellow splashes and reach a signpost (10mins) at a T-junction – right is the chapel of Notre-Dame des Lourdes and to the left Chapelle St-Vincent.

3    Go right and then 50m later right again (here you get your first view over the town of Digne and surrounding hills). Almost immediately the path forks. Keep to the lower path which leads to the chapel. There is a primitive little grotto here with lots of artificial flowers and a tiny statue of the Virgin Mary. Then take the steps on the left going up to the chapel.

4    The chapel itself is an empty shell, open at the altar end with a gaping hole in the roof. Unless it is renovated in the immediate future it is likely that the whole building will quickly fall into ruins. Retrace your steps or return to the junction by the upper path.

The area around Digne-les-Bains is the most northerly point of the Mediterranean climate and on this particular hill you will find Le Pin d’Alep (Aleppo Pine) recognisable by its pyramidal or rounded crown and egg shaped cones.

Retrace your steps to the first T-junction (No. 3 on map) and follow the sign up right to the Chapelle St-Vincent (20mins). Continue upwards by a small electricity pylon onto a wooded ridge and a pleasant undulating path through stunted oak trees. Beyond is a wide field which sweeps up to another wooded hill where you are heading. You emerge from the woods with the field on your left and straight ahead is the chapel of St-Vincent on a grassy knoll. There are glorious views of the surrounding hills from the front of the building, including the Cousson (Walk No. 36) on the right and straight ahead the Couard (Walk No. 35).

The Chapelle St-Vincent possibly replaced another edifice on the site which housed the remains of the first Bishop of Digne. Dating from the 12th century it was destroyed during the religious wars but reconstructed in 1597 and restored in 1950. The bas-reliefs dating from the 12th century, which disappeared at the end of the 19th century, are actually preserved in the chapel of the Maegt foundation at St-Paul de Vence. This chapel also needs to be restored again rapidly as nothing remains but the walls.

4 cont. Cross the end of the field (north) to a signpost which you can see clearly from the chapel (ignore a path on the left shortly after the signpost) and follow the stony, winding path upwards until you come to the third chapel called La Croix. It consists merely of a small edifice of stones on the summit of the hill 870m (1hr).

5    Follow the sign here to Digne on a pleasant path down the other side of the hill through the inevitable stunted oak trees. At a clearing on a ridge go left (there is a yellow cross on the tree ahead). You are winding round to the north side of the hill now and the air feels fresher. Down on the right you can see the outskirts of the town, the River Bléone and the radio mast at the summit of the Andran mountain on the other side.

6    Do not take the smaller path to the left at a T-junction. Follow the main path round two further bends before coming to a road (not indicated on the map as it is a new housing development). Cross the road (yellow crosses to left and right) and continue down a narrow track with new houses to the right to another road (also not on the map).

7    Turn right and then left into Rue Charles Grouiller following consistent yellow splashes. Continue along with houses on both sides to a crossroads. Here go straight on the Avenue des Arches.

8    Turn left at traffic lights and go straight down the Avenue Victor Hugo till it reaches the Place Général de-Gaulle (2hrs).