Rumour has it that the main road that
winds through the lovely Gorges du Loup
was built by workers paid by the Cycling
Club of France. True or not, the area is
certainly a favoured cycling route today, and
being just 35 minutes (by car) from the
French Riviera, it remains one of the region’s
most popular all-round natural attractions.
Les Gorges du Loup is located close to Le
Bar-sur-Loup, a petit medieval village with
lots of lovely old houses clustered around a
central 13th-century château. Perched on a
rocky spur between Grasse and Vence, the
village offers panoramic views of the Loup
Valley. The site itself, a mile or so away, has
70 pitches (plus a few chalets and mobile
homes) set on attractive terraced slopes where roses and lavender were once grown
to make perfume. Though the pitches are
fairly small, the site has an organic intimacy
that’s perfectly suited to the region.
To wear out the kids there’s a decent-sized
pool with a diving board and slide, and if
you fancy a night off from cooking there’s a
restaurant and bar. It’s in a prime location
for all kinds of activities, from hang-gliding
and climbing to cycling and hiking.
Plus there are lots of other pretty outposts
to explore, such as Tourrettes-sur-Loup and the plus beaux village of Gourdon
(as seen in Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief). And
don’t worry – you don’t have to be a cyclist
to see them all. A car will do just fine.
