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| Moustiers circa 1800. Attributed to Jean-Antoine Constantin |
Sept 23, 2002
We decided that Moustiers-Sainte-Marie seemed like an interesting enough destination that we would spend an extra day here, rather than hurrying on our way this morning. The hotel said there would be no problem with having us stay over, so we stayed and explored the town, lingering over café au laits and tasting the gelato.
The extra day resulted in a newspaper article awhile later...
The Miracles of Moustiers
By
Sam Frederick
We
are foot weary and far from our homeland when we arrive in Moustiers
Sainte-Marie, a tiny village tucked up against the French Alps. Our feet
are weary because, like pilgrims of old, we have walked some 16
kilometres to be here, hoofing our way along the edge of the French
Alps, from the neighbouring village of La Palud.
Walking
into the village, we are met with a labyrinth of narrow winding
streets, lined with cafes and shops selling mainly souvenirs and crafts.
Picturesque, vine covered buildings cling to the side of a
ravine, begging to have their picture taken. The ravine, a natural cleft
through the center of the village, is home to the river Maire, as it
tumbles and cascades its way under bridges and walkways.
When we see the
“gold star of Moustiers,” hanging suspended from a chain above the
village, we know that we have arrived in a special place.Extraordinary happenings during the middle ages had made Moustiers a popular pilgrimage destination. Miracles, attributed to the Virgin, had occurred here at an alarming rate – so much so, that in 1363 the bishop of nearby Riez sent an envoy to conduct an investigation. The most common miracles involved “suscitations,” whereby stillborn children were briefly resurrected for baptism. The municipal archive records 131 suscitations for the years 1669 – 1670 alone.
Perhaps it was with this in mind that we decided to approach Moustiers humbly – on foot.
We were staying in the neighbouring village of La Palud, a climbing mecca, for those wishing to test themselves on the nearby 450 meter limestone cliffs. Our walking route took us along the GR4, a popular hiking trail that follows a forested ridge between the two villages. We had booked a hotel in Moustiers for overnight, threw some food and clothes in a pack for the journey, and were off. At 16 kilometres, we estimated that it would take us six or seven hours – so we brought along a bottle of wine too, in case we were in need of a little suscitation ourselves, on the way!
Our ridge took us up along the edge of the French Alps, with the vast Valensole Plateau opening up before us.
Moustiers Sainte-Marie sits in the enviable position of being the gateway to both the French Alps to the east and the lavender fields to the west.
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| Above the Verdon River Gorge |
From Moustiers, in the summer, you can drive across the Plateau de Valensole and let the scents and sights of lavender fields pervade your senses, exploring towns, chateaus, and Roman ruins as you go.
To the west, the French Alps and the Verdon River Gorge beckon. A winding highway, complete with hairpin turns, snakes its way along both the north and south banks of the Verdon Gorge for 130 kilometres, with many spectacular viewpoints and points of interest.
White water rafting and kayaking, parasailing, hiking, and rock climbing are just some of the adventurous methods for exploring this natural wonder.
With all this going for it you would expect Moustiers to be a popular tourist destination – and it is! Traffic jams and crowds are the order of the day during the summer. The best time to visit is during the off-season.
Our hike took us along hillsides of grazing sheep and goats. Beautiful, turquoise-blue Lac de Sainte-Croix provided a scenic backdrop for a picnic lunch. Descending past giant limestone crags and hoodoos, we arrived in Moustiers at the end of a long day.
Like many villages in the south of France, Moustiers Sainte-Marie occupies a defensive position, huddled up against rocky cliffs and towering limestone minarets, daring anyone to attack it. Its dramatic setting looks like an artist’s fanciful impression of how and where a village should be: if it wasn’t already here, it would have been necessary to invent it.
From the open window of our hotel room, the view takes in the chapel, as well as a 12th century church across the courtyard form our hotel. The church has a 14th century bell tower and inside is an alter with a 5th century carved sarcophagus.
Most intriguing of all is the gold star of Moustiers that hangs above the village. The star is the symbol of a vow made by a crusading knight. Captured and imprisoned by the Saracens, during the Seventh Crusade in 1249, Blacas d’Aups made a vow to the Virgin, that should he ever see his family and homeland again, he would hang a chain and silver star above his village.
Blacas was eventually released from prison, and the knight, true to his vow, did hang a chain and silver star, suspended between two rocky peaks, above the village. The star has a history of its own. Stolen during the Wars of Religion in the 16th century, it was eventually replaced with a metal one. That one too, suffering the ravages of time, has been replaced along with the chain, several times -- most recently, in 1995, when the chain snapped during a storm and the star fell into the ravine below.
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| The Gold Star of Moustiers suspended over Moustiers |
Soon, the demand for Moustiers faience spread through the aristocracy and by the middle of the eighteenth century more than a dozen workshops were operating in the village.
The French and Industrial Revolutions changed all that, however. As Moustiers’ wealthy cliental faced the guillotine, the demand for faience gradually diminished – and with the advent of industrial manufacture it withered completely. The last traditional kiln closed down in 1874.
Marcel Provence revived the craft in 1926 using traditional methods. Today there are about twenty shops operating in the village, making reproductions of old faience, as well as new creations. The Musee de la Faience located in a medieval crypt in the heart of the village houses some 300 works from 1680 to the present.
The morning following our arrival we followed the cobblestone path, as so many have done before us, to the tiny chapel above the village. Here, above the red roofs of Moustiers, with the French Alps clustered at our backs and the vast Valensole Plateau spread out before us, it is easy to understand an imprisoned knight’s yearning. Like Blaucas, before us, we make a vow to return.
IF YOU GO
Moustiers Sainte-Marie can be reached from Nice or Marseilles by bus or car. Nice is the closest avenue of approach (150 km. approx. 2 ½ hours).
SPECIAL EVENTS
A pilgrimage to the chapel above the village for high mass takes place each year, on the weekend following Easter, with villagers dressed in 18th century costume. A daybreak mass is also celebrated on Sept. 8th, the day of the birth of the Virgin, with musicians playing fife and drum and leading a pre-dawn torchlight procession.
HOTELS
La Bastide de Moustiers
Le Relais
© 2004 Sam Frederick
Originally published in the Vancouver Sun, May 2004
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