Day 2 Castellane to Chasteuil

Recounting our 2002 journey, a 6 day walk from Saint-André-les-Alpes to Riez in Southern France...

Day 2
Sept 19, 2002

There was no big hurry to leave this morning as we only had 10 km to Chasteuil, so we wandered around the village to start with, looking for somewhere else to find breakfast than our hotel.  We were hoping to find something else besides the usual croissants and baguettes, but had no luck so it was back to the hotel...for croissants and baguettes.  We shopped for some lunch items for a picnic on the way and then were ready to go.

With some wine for the trail Cheryl is ready to go

Ready to leave Castellane in the morning

Castellane sits in a valley, unlike many villages that occupy easily fortified hilltops.  But such was not always the case.  The clifftop in the background of the picture on the left depicts the Chapel Nôtre-Dame-du-Rock sitting on it's summit.  At one time a Roman fort occupied this spot, alonside the Roman settlement of Petra Castellana, but in the fourteenth century the inhabitants abandoned the rock and moved into the settlement below.

Castellane sits on the Route Napoleon, which follows the route Napoleon took on his march from Elba to Grenoble.  On April 3rd Napoleon arrived in Castellane and rode right through the center of town, where we are pictured.

Heading out of town on the GR4

We left Castellane in the late morning and followed the Gr4 out of the town and up a gradual incline.  In the valley below was the Verdon River.  The scenery today was much more spectacular that the previous day.  And because we had time we stopped for a leisurely picnic lunch, accompanied by a bottle of good Cote du Rhone wine.

Spectacular scenery on the way

Approaching Chasteuil

Chasteuil Chambres

et Table d'Hôtes 

Chasteuil Bed & Breakfast Inn

Chasteuil is only a small hamlet, comprised of only about 20 people when we were there.  We were greeted by Nancy and Pascal upon entering Chasteuil, who have wonderful restored home in this 16th century hamlet that they operate as a Bed and Breakfast Gite.   They only have five rooms and because we were a last minute booking the four of us would have to share a room with a double bed and two singles.  A coin toss, that I luckily won, decided who would get the double bed.

There was a pottery shop in Chateuil when we there, operated by a husband and wife, who also also served café au lait and some snacks.  We sat outside sipping our drinks and then went back in and admired the owner's collection of ancient rifles and pistols.  He brought down several and showed them to us.  Not far away, in a courtyard, a game of boules was being played. 

Meanwhile back at the Gite, we chatted with Nancy, who was putting up her hand made soap.  Nancy is originally from San Francisco and Pascal is a qualified stone mason, and they both have stories to tell. 

Afterwards Nancy and Pascal served us apertifs before dinner, our first taste of pastis, which would definitely have to be an acquired taste.  For dinner Pascal served, what was called a tomato soup, but was more like a rich stew than a soup and very delicious, accompanied by bread, of course.  The French have a love affair with bread, which has endured for centuries, and will no doubt endure for many more.  Following this was a plate of cheese, another French passion, and an apple pie for dessert, all accompanied by wine, of course.  There were 11 of us sitting around the table that night, including Pascal, and the conversation flowed from French to English and back again, and Pascal kept both the wine and the conversation flowing, interpreting where necessary between the 11 of us.  The candlelight flickered on the walls and outside a full moon rose over the hamlet.  It was a magical scene and I am sure only one of many that this room has seen.

Nancy and Pascal are still receiving travellers from around the world and judging from the reviews on TripAdvisor there are still a lot of satisfied visitors stopping by Chasteuil Chambres et Table d’Hôtes.