Towns around Les Arcs-sur-Argens

 

Draguignan - capital of Dracenie and former capital of the Var.

 



 I thought in this blog, I would give a round-up of all the little towns near Les Arcs-sur-Argens.

Draguignan (above) is not so small. Its population is around 45,000 and it's the former departmental capital (now Toulon). The houses are typical of 'Provence profonde'. There is a daily market in the square, museums, cinema, bookshops and it's great just to browse around the back streets of the central vieille ville.

Trans-en-Provence, halfway between Les Arcs and Draguignan, straddles the Nartuby River gorge.



Trans-en-Provence is a secret delight, cut in two by the rushing water of the Nartuby River over cascades and waterfalls, past former mills and under ancient stone arched bridges.

Main square at La Motte.



 

 

 

 

La Motte, also on the Nartuby River, is a little further south of Trans-en-Provence.

 

Set on a steep hillside, it is riddled with steep alleyways and fun to explore.

 

The river continues along its gorge south of the town.

 

La Motte is the scene of the Liberation of Provence on 15 August 1944, when Allied troops parachuted into the town on their way to Draguignan.



Still following the Nartuby River, you reach Le Muy.

Street leading toward the fortified Church of St Joseph in the main square of Le Muy.

Le Muy is located on the junction of the Argens and Nartuby Rivers and has been designed with a wide and graceful main street. There are plenty of restaurants and from here you can get good views of Roquebrune - better than from the town of Roquebrune-sur-Argens (below).

 

 

The summit of the rock barely peeps over the new development opposite the vieille ville of Roquebrune-sur-Argens.

The town is lively and art-filled with many exhibitions filling the main square with art and easels and there are regular marches nocturnes - night markets - with excellent craft stalls lining the narrow streets that meander around the centre. Lots of superb restaurants here. Also a lake for a variety of water sports.

And lastly, back to Les Arcs and the Milenta Porte - the high entrance to Les Arcs' Parage at the top of the town centre. Our house is located by the lower arched entrance.

The high entrance to Le Parage was restored during restoration of the entire medieval village in the 1960s.