Tour

Towns and Villages - by Provence Beyond

Villages > Tour

Nearby:  | Clans 19 km | Marie 22 km | Nice 48 km (airport) | Plan-du-Var 24 km | Rimplas 30 km | Saint Sauveur-sur-Tinee 27 km | | Villars-sur-Var 20 km |

Below: | Mills | Communal Oven | History | Dates | Transportation | Hiking | Lodging Hotels |

Getting There. Only 5 km up the Tinée Valley (from the Pont de la Mescla where the D2205 turns off the N202), turn right and follow the narrow and very twisty D32 for a 7-km drive up to the village. Twisty in this case means some hairpin switchbacks as the road climbs from 228 m at the river, up the side of the mountain, to 600 m at the village. It can take a half an hour to drive up, as you'll probably stop occasionally for the spectacular view down the valley. The mountain sides are covered with oak and Scots pine, with fig trees nearer the village. Along the road there is a monument to a pair of aviators who were lost in the valley in 1934.
You can also get here from Utelle, above the Gorges de la Vésubie to the East. The road from Utelle is just as small and just as twisty, and much longer.

Place des Tilleuls, the center square of the village, is shaded by large lime trees (tilleuls). The 16th-century gothic Eglise Saint Martin dominates one end of the square. Other buildings have arcades, and some are painted (in 1975) with outstanding trompe-l'oeil facades. A pretty fountain dated 1895 sits in the shade of the trees. The 15th-century Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs on the northwest side of the village has a nicely restored facade. The inside isn't restored, but the frescos, painted in 1491, are still in pretty good condition with bright colors.

A tall mountain towers over the village at the northeast end. Look closely and you'll see a waterfall coming down from the very top, as if there were a giant spring at the peak. In fact, the water is coming down the (hidden) ridge from a spring 15 km further to the north at Les Granges de la Brasque. The water comes down the mountain side and passes through the mills as it arrives at La Tour. If you take the short walk out to the north end of the village, you'll pass the lavoir along the way, and then an old waterwheel sitting back to the left in the shadows of trees, identifying the oil mill. The lavoir was built in the 18th century, and rebuilt in 1847, 1876, 1906 and 1966.

Commerce and Lodging
The Auberge de la Tour, on the Grand Place, is open all year, closing for vacation in January. The restaurant, with its pleasant outdoor tables, serves only lunch after the summer season. The hotel has one room, with one or two more to be added (end 1996). tel: (33) 493 02 08 20.
The Café des Panissiers (Chez George) is beside the square, and has outdoor tables shaded by climbing lilacs.

Mills

Both the olive-oil mill and the flour mill are beautifully restored, and you can probably get a guided tour. Ask anyone in the village, or contact C. Robles (see below).

The old oil mill is in the first building, with the pastel-orange front, and the mill is still used. Come by in February to watch the process. A lever inside channels the water to the wheel outside the building. Inside, the olives are crushed by the heavy stone wheel, then put in baskets and pressed, with 50 tons pressure. The pressed oil flows into one container, and overflows into the "decalitre" beneath, insuring that the water from the olives is separated and only the virgin oil remains. The olive pulp is then pressed a second time, to obtain the non-virgin second pressing.

The flour mill, just above and behind the oil mill, is nicely restored, but no longer working. An old man passing by (photo) who had worked many years in the mill commented that there's no more grain for the mill anyway. The waterwheel, beneath the building, is an all-steel wheel mounted horizontally, and the grinding wheel inside the mill is also horizontal.

A distillery, located at the back of the oil-mill building, was used for making the village's eau-de-vie. The space is empty now, but is going to be re-built and working alembics installed.

Communal Oven

A four communal (communal oven) in located in a small street just off the square. The oven dates back "over a hundred years" according to the baker, and is still used daily to bake the bread for the village. The room with the oven smells, of course, of fresh bread and pizza. A table holds several glasses recently emptied of red wine; this is a social stopping point for local people going to or from the square.

History

Name
First record, 12th century: La Torre

Gallo-Roman: La Tour was on the "Voie Romaine" that went between Nice, Embrun and the northern Alps, well before a road was built in the Tinée valley below.

Medieval: Part of the medieval community of St. Jean d'Alloche (mentioned in 1251), the original village was in the mountains to the northeast (possibly at the Chapelle St. Jean), until completely decimated by the plague (la peste) in the 14th century. With no survivors, the "new" village of La Tour was build at its current location. La Tour belonged to the lords of Grimaldi de Beuil from 1400 to 1621, when Annibal Grimaldi was executed. In the 16th century, the village was wiped out by another major plague epidemic. By 1754, the village had grown to 1300 inhabitants.

Some of our historical information came from an old resident [photo], born here not long after the turn of the century. Good at ancient history and with a good memory, he remembered well when this area became part of France and he therefore became French.

Dates

Foire: 15 July
Fête patronale: 2nd Sunday August
Information: C. Robles - tel: (33) 493 02 06 01

Transportation

Bus - La Tour is on the Nice-Isola (Tinée-Valley) bus route, Travel-Bus section.

Hiking

The GR 510 (Grande Randonnée) goes through the village, exiting through a low arch just at the entrance to the oil-mill.

Several hikes are sign-posted in the village (Balise #9, Moyenne Tinée).

Chapelle Ste. Elizabeth (alt. 523 m)

Pas Masséna

Brec d'Utelle (alt. 1427 m). This is a day-long loop, via the GR 510, northeast to the GR 5

Another hike is to Roussillon and back: Go north out of La Tour, east to le Cianet (587 m) and northeast to Roussillon (314 m). Once in Roussillon, you can return on the same trail, or loop back on another trail that passes further to the north. That will take you past La Borne (1058 m) and give you some good solid climbing.

Lodging - Hotels