Châteaudouble, a hilltop town just south-west of Bargemon which is perched at an altitude of 540m, is named after the two castle forts that were built in the 11th Century to defend the ancient village–Castel Diabolicum and Castel Duplum. The one built on the top of the hill has only ruins and remnants of walls left to be seen. The second, built lower down, has entire structures still standing, including the tower called The Belvedere.
The steep, windy roads heading up to Châteaudouble lead to a spectacular tunnel, just before entering the town borders. The tunnel was built by blasting a hole through the rocky hillside and it is very cool to drive through. We wanted to get a better photo from the side of the tunnel leading into town and so we risked our lives (in my opinion) to run back through the tunnel and stopped on the edge of the winding road to get the shot. It was only on the way back that we realized that there was a steep pathway down from the Belvedere Tower that led to the spot we wanted. So we took that safer path on the way back.
Once we reached Châteaudouble, we had lunch at the restaurant Le Tour, which our research indicated would provide us with a stunning view from their terrace. This was no exaggeration as the scenery was breathtaking. It was a bit chilly and breezy to sit outside, but none of the diners including ourselves considered moving inside as an option.
To top off the gorgeous setting, the food was really good at this restaurant. The bread was freshly made and served with locally grown olives. We chose the 3-course set menu for 27 Euros. Rich had escargot in a parsley, garlic sauce while I had the porcini mushroom soup with onions and crème fraîche, since mushrooms are apparently the specialty of this restaurant. They rave about picking mushrooms fresh from the forest and feature it widely on their menu. For the main course, we both had chicken breast stuffed with more mushrooms in a fois gras sauce. I took mine with fresh garden vegetables which included tomatoes, beans and zucchini while Rich had fries which we shared. For dessert, Rich was able to pick the regional specialty that he has been hankering to try. Ile Flottante (floating island) is a meringue floating on crème anglais (a vanilla custard). This didn't appeal to me at all, so I went for the apple tart. Having such good food was a bonus since we went mostly for the view.
Although it was clear that the place to have lunch was at La Tour, I was mildy tempted to join the community sardine and fries barbeque in a park at the top of the hill, which was advertised for the date of our visit. It would have been interesting to join the locals in this meal/picnic.
There was not much else to see within the town, but we did find the Mairie (town hall) and the church. It was fun to wander around the narrow little streets, ducking under tunnels and archways. Occasionally we would encounter a street where it seems like part of the mountain is sprouting out from the middle of the road.
Half way up the hill, we found
Terrain d'Art, an outdoor metal sculpture garden by a sculpture named Za. He is quite ingenious in using scrap metal and repurposing found objects for the creation of his whimsical creations that include bugs, dogs, robots, jazz playing musicians and more. He gave us a tour and tried to explain what each sculpture was supposed to be, through French, hand gestures and sounds
On the way home from Châteaudouble, we made a quick stop into the little village of
Figanières to visit Le Jardin des Senteurs, a pretty little flower garden several levels high, with nice views from a pagoda at the top and a cute little maze. This was a very nice road trip a mere 30 minutes away from our Bargemon home.
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