Montbrun-les-Bains

 Friday 18/04/25

We wish everyone a peaceful and safe Easter weekend (with lots of choccies!)

Having initially decided not to drive too much on the long weekend, we realised most of France doesn't treat Good Friday as a public holiday so we thought the roads might not be too busy.  

The weather forecast was clear for the first time since arriving, so we decided to drive into the Baronnie mountains and visit the spa town of Montbrun-les-Bains.  

Dassie's done well - on the trip to Haute-Provence as well as on the mountain roads here

We had seen a house to rent online and, although we hadn't heard back from the agent (normal in France) we thought we would use the chance to explore the area anyway as are trying to get to know the surrounding villages and regions.

Traffic was much heavier than we had expected along the main road, but once we headed into the mountains we encountered very few vehicles, mainly cyclists tackling the daunting Col Saint-Jean.  This was a narrow, winding and very steep pass through the mountains; we were treated to the most spectacular views (and were glad we were not suffering the sore legs - although it's a potential future 'to do' with our bicycles if we settle in this area.) 

We passed many lovely villages along the way and Montbrun was absolutely lovely - well worth the trip.

Montbrun-les-Bains old town perched on the hill

The steep walk to the old town was worth it for the views over the valley

We decided to skip the narrow Col on our way back and took an alternative route which unfortunately turned out to be impassable, possible due to the recent heavy rains.  Our drive back ended up taking much longer than expected and we both arrived back at camp rather frazzled.

The lavender field looks like a Zen garden

A lovely day out.