Annot and Le Train des Pignes

I do not remember seeing any other English tourists during our stay of nearly a week at Annot and it is certainly not a well-known tourist resort here, but there were any number of French people on the railway when it ran its steam trip on the Sunday.

Annot itself is a small town, the newer part lying beside a river and the old town, the subject of a separate page, is built on the adjacent hillside.

The immediate area around the town, as seen from the railway, is full of vast rocks and cliffs and is much frequented by French climbers. There are any number of walks in the area and near the railway, the nearest one to Annot being among the huge rocks or Grès. It includes a walk along a fairly narrow shelf on a cliff with a terrific drop to the right. The whole area is covered in chestnut forests.

Quick Tips:

Entrevaux, on the railway on the way to Nice, is well worth a visit. The railway line can be used in the other direction to start high up and walk back to Annot.

Best Way To Get Around:

There are buses, but the railway really is so appealing that you will probably not want to bother with anything else. It is the subject of a separate page.

This hotel is a short distance along the road from the village. Turn right along the main road through the town as you walk up from the station. There were several possible places and we chose this as giving the best balance between interest and price. Obviously we do not know what the others might be like, but we never regretted our choice.

It was a very friendly place with comfortable and clean rooms. The meals were simple but delicious. I particularly remember the bouillon - Pam had chosen it and I had chosen something else. There appeared to be an inexhaustible supply she had already had two helpings when they decided I might like to have a helping! I also particularly enjoyed the rabbit which I never eat at home as it is anathema to Pam.

On our last night there we enjoyed an extra course provided by the proprietor.

This is a private narrow gauge railway between Digne and Nice through the Alpes de Haute Provence. The guage is one metre, compared with the normal 1.4 in use on SCNF railways.

I do not know whether I am as thick as the wall or whether it is a closely guarded secret, but the type of pass I had on Air France and SNCF which allowed half price travel on the Train des Pignes is no longer available and it took me ages to find any details of a pass which still allows it. Eventually I found it at this website, which looks as if it may help. We were able to travel four days out of about sixteen on SNCF and half price on the Traun des Pignes throughout that period. Obviously this allows for various possibilities.

Ordinary prices are easier to find. These and other details are to be found on this website. Note that there are reductions of 25% for seniors and 20% for students.

There are two main purposes for the train. The first is the normal one of getting to places and enjoying the spectacular scenery of the line. In this context Annot and Entrevaux are both great. The other is to increase the number of walks which can be undertaken from any place on the line.

It is fascinating to watch the Chef du gare put on his official hat at a station just before the arrival of a train and shake hands with the driver - every time.

I have no idea why Entrevaux is not better known. I had never heard of it before staying in Annot and I can't remember hearing of it since until I found some web references when I was researching for this. Yet it compares in my view with Vauban's better known places like Briançon.

Entrevaux is a site that lends itself to defence and siege resistance. It was probably first formed in the 10th century for precisely its natural defensive capabilities. Residents of Glandèves, once the Roman settlement of Glanate which had been a bishopric for some time, moved to Entrevaux for the greater security of its site in the face of local skirmishes and Moorish incursions.

Vauban carried out major fortification work at the start of the 18th century and left the near fairytale place that still exists. Oddly enough it would appear that at one time this sort of thing was not appreciated and the immediate adjuncts of the station are very far from impressive. It would be difficult to devise planning regulations that this area could pass. However you do not feel called upon to wait far the first train in either direction as it is apparent that within an easy five minutes you can enter a very different world of narrow twisting roads, of archways, bridges and fortifications.

If you should tire of this Entrevaux, like Annot, is a good start for walks into the mountains although there is nothing else of particular appeal in the town - but for most people strolling around for a few hours would seem a pretty wonderful experience.

The old town of Annot seems a place apart from the modern part, although the whole town is by no means large. The steps and narrow passages make most routes unsuitable for motor vehicles and it can not have been so very different 100 years ago. There are beautiful things on a small scale too. Some of the doors, and knockers on the doors, are superb. There are outside washing places and fountains, attractive and unexpected squares, and the like. However, much of the attraction of the place overall is that it is not pretty in the way that many older villages and towns are. It's too uncoordinated and "higgledy-piggledy" for that and it feels more real in consequence. I can still 'see' and 'feel' many parts of it and I recommend it warmly. In the modern part of the town there are several places to stay

This area of France is mainly noted for its limestone gorges, in particular the famous Verdun Gorges. Yet you will not find limestone at Annot. Here there is a particular type of sandstone which has been much impacted to produce massive - and I do mean MASSIVE - lumps of rock and a number of sheer ascents. These Grès provide a number of fine climbs very close to Annot.

However for mere walkers, which is all I have ever been, there is much delight in this area and, as long as you do not suffer from vertigo, one of the very best is the circuit of the Grès - quite a short walk near Annot itself. Provided obedience can be anticipated, this walk is ideal for children; exciting with every scope for the imagination to work wonders In one section there is a rock face - quite broad enough to take two abreast though possibly more comfortable for one at a time - with a long steep fall for anyone who wants to act daft.

All around are forests comprised mainly of chestnuts and in many places you sink down almost to your thighs in the old leaves. There are 75 routes near the railway in a book (French of course) which was widely available locally and it gives a terrific selection of gorges, chapels, and peaks. I particularly remember one old house in a fantastic tiny village at the top of one of the more accessible gorges that sold ice cold apple juice and it was simply wonderful to sit and admire the view while the sweat dried off in the hot sun.

It was fine when we were there but in some places the very bottom section of a walk above the road looks like thick grey mud, and I did wonder whether it could be treacherously slippery when wet.

Much as I recommend the area, I hope not too many people will let themselves be diverted here from the better known walking places as the absence of foreign visitors was quite refreshing (yes, I do know that we were foreign!).