Gréoux-les-Bains

Towns and Villages - by Provence Beyond

Villages > Gréoux-les-Bains

Nearby:  | Aix-en-Provence 50 km | 12 km | 5 km | Manosque 15 km | Moustiers-Sainte-Marie 34 km | Quinson 21 km | Riez 20 km | 14 km | 30 km | Valensole 13 km |

Below: | Thermal Baths | Lac d'Esparron | Museums | History | O.T. | Dates | Transportation | Fun | Sports | Hiking | Dining | Lodging Hotels |

The Gréoux (you pronounce the "x") town center is grouped around the side of the hill, with some narrow streets between the tightly packed houses, but we didn't find the narrow streets that interesting for wandering.

The old center has pedestrian streets lined with small shops, outdoor stalls, restaurants, and such, running down to the main road where there are more terrace cafés, restaurants and shops. But there isn't really a town square that serves as a focal point.

Bakery

Yvon Durandeau is the baker at the Boulangerie Durandeau. He's passionate, and skilled, about pâtisserie (pastry), and his bakery is very popular. He also makes his own Callisons [d'Aix].

Chateau

The ancient "Templier" chateau overlooking the town adds a lot of character, especially when viewed from a certain distance. It dates from the 12th century, with building or restoration in the 13th, 14th and 17th centuries. An up-close visit isn't very interesting, being mainly a walk around high stone walls. The inner courtyard is packed with bleacher seats for a summertime outdoor cinema.

Church

The Eglise Notre-Dame-des-Ormeaux (or Saint-Pierre -des-Ormeaux?) is Provençal Romanesque, an ancient priory of Montmajour.

Parks

The Parc Morelon, a short walk from the center, has tall trees to shade the walkways, park benches and modern-art statuary.

Down by the riverside are more paths and shady areas, and a nice cool river.

Anecdote

Stopping at a local café for an an after-dinner drink, we asked if we could get a glass of of Cote du Rhone.

cafe: Of course, sir. Would you like red or white?

beyond: Red, please.

cafe: Ok, but it's not Cote du Rhone, it's Cote de Provence.

beyond: That will be fine.

cafe: And you Madame?

beyond2: White wine, please. What kinds do you have?

cafe: We have Cote de Provence, red and white.

Thermal Baths

The old Roman baths are now controlled by a modern thermal establishment, probably no different in idea than when the Romans ran the place. Water from the thermal springs are at 42°C, containing sulphur, calcium, magnesium and trace elements. Like the original troglodyte baths, the current establishment is underground (topped, of course, by large buildings and spacious grounds).

Lac d'Esparron

The lake, only 4 km from town, is formed by a dam, the Barrage de Gréoux, on the Verdon river. Take the main D952 road east out of town and turn right in 2 km. The road passes by the dam and the edge of the lake, then loops inland and returns to the east side of the lake at Esparron-de-Verdon.

For a more isolated area on the west shore of the lake, take the D8 south out of town, cross the bridge and immediately turn left; this little road is a beautiful drive through the wooded hills to the lake.

Museums & Sites

La Crèche de Haute Provence is a marvelous santon museum and wokshop. Martine and Gérard Moine are a master santonniers. Their shop offers santons and regional products for sale, and a small fee is charged for the sound-and-light show of their magnificent santon village, Le Village Provençal. We were really impressed, and have presented it on it's own Beyond page.

Atelier Musée du vitrail et de la mosaïque.

La maison de Pauline - exposition provençale. Built in 1827, it's now a museum of Provençal art and traditions.

History

Name
First record, Roman Nymphhis Griselius; 1084 Grésols; 13th century Greols.

Although known as a Roman site, the area had neolithic habitation and celtic habitation.

More "recently", the town was destroyed by the barbarian invasions. In the 12th century it was recovered by the Templiers who resored the baths. In the 16th century the town was ravaged by the Huguenots.

Gréoux became popular in the 19th century, visited by many famous people, inclulding Pauline Bonaparte.

Gallo-Roman: The Roman hot spring healing baths were dedicated to the nymphs of 'Griseliae'. Fine remains of a swimming pool and other buildings were discovered here ine recent excavations. The second-century baths were visited by Anna Faustina, a relative of Marcus Aurelius, later murdered by Commodus. The site of the old Roman baths, with Roman inscriptions, are now a modern thermal establishment east of the center.

Office de Tourisme

Tel: 04 92 78 01 08; Fax: 04 92 78 13 00
Email: tourisme@greoux-les-bains.com
This one was, unfortunately, the worst we've seen in all our years in Provence. They do have basic information about tranportation and lodgings, but are quite uninterested in tourist information about their town. We are used to sometimes needing to find the right questions, but our request for some info on the history of Gréoux-les-Bains, or its hot baths, was answered rather abruptly by "you can get that at a bookshop in town". Apart from the attitude, they were wrong: we couldn't find any appropriate books in the shops.

Dates

Every Thur - Marché - Market (Place Brossolette)
Every Tue - Marché - Market (Place de la Mairie)
Every May - Festival d'orgues de barbarie- 2ème quinzaine
Every July - Fête provençale- 3ème semaine
Every Oct - Foire aux santons- 4ème semaine
Every Dec - Crèches (Santons) - 300 giant santons, up to 1-meter high.

Transportation

Bus

There are two buses a day, each way, between Greoux-les-Bains and Vinon-sur-Verdon, Manosque, Saint Martin-les-Eaux, Montfuron, Les Granons and Reillanne. [see Bus Schedules page 12].

There are three buses a day, each way, between Greoux-les-Bains, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille. [see Bus Schedules page 12].

Fun - Amusement - Kids

Zoo

Park Animalier Domestique - Farmyard Animal Park

5 km southwest, at Vinon-sur-Verdon

Open: All year, 10h-19h.

tel: 0492 788 825

Includes donkeys of Provence and Greece, cattle of the Camargue and Thailand, camels, llamas, alpagas, Angora goats, poneys, ducks and swans. Playground, video games, kids games, mini-golf, free poney rides.

Sports

Gréoux-les-Bains has a cinema, tennis, swimming pool (piscine). Equitation is popular in the surrounding countryside, and a centre equestre is located northeast of the center at Laval.
Fishing. We saw a few early-morning fishermen along the Verdon by the bridge at the edge of town, including fly fishermen.
Cycling. There are kilometers of clearly marked mountain-bike (VTT) paths in the surrounding hills. VTT rentals are available (we did not identify the location).

Hiking

Maps:

IGN (1/25,000) #3343 OT "Greoux-les-Bains, Rians"

There is excellent hiking in the wooded hills surrounding Gréoux-les-Bains, including trails that start at the town.
The GR4 (Grande Randonnée) passes directly through the town. Eastward it goes along the bank of the Verdon, then northeast through the hills to St Martin-de-Brômes, along the ridge north of Allemagne-en-Provence and to Riez. Northwestward the GR4 crosses the low wooded hills to the Durance, to Manosque, and on into the Luberon.
South of town, across the bridge, there are several loop hikes of varying lengths.
North and east of town there are many more hiking trails, including one out to the Lac d'Esperron (going along the road for part of the way).

Dining

A hot-baths town used to visitors, Gréoux-les-Bains doesn't lack for dining possibilities. The preponderance seems to be towards the high end, but there's still a fair selection of reasonably priced places.

Our dinner in the restaurant La Caverne on the Grand-Rue was a good experience. Run by Gabrielle and Fréderique, the welcome and service were good, and Fréderique is an imaginative and excellent chef. It's popular, so get there early. Menus from 18.50 euros.

Lodging - Hotels

There are a fair number of hotels, and very many weekly/monthly vacation rentals (studios; chambres mublés; résidences hôtelières; chambres d'hôtes).
We stayed the night (end Aug 2004) in:

Hotel Logis de la Rose

M. et Mme LEPETIT

25 rue Grande

Tel: 0492 704 680; fax: 0492 704 681

52 euros. In the center of the old town, very satisfactory, with very friendly welcome and service.

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