Avenue of plane trees in Céreste

Cultural and natural site

duration of the visit
1 h 0 min
shade
bridge

Provence is famous for its long avenues of plane trees along country roads. The trees provide pleasant shade on the streets on the plains, some plane trees are very large and the avenues are often tended and cared for. Unfortunately, these are also often very busy roads such as near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Just east of Céreste, between Manosque and Apt, there is one of these beautiful stretches that is less well known. It is straight with a slight kink in the middle, which increases the perspective effect. From both sides you can see into the green tunnel, but you can also get a good look at it from the outside from the fields around.

Access by public transport

Public buses are quite rare here. There is essentially the Forcalquier-Apt connection, where line 62 runs on the Zou! (only french) network. The appropriate stop is in the town centre, the avenue is at the exit for Forcalquier and Manosque.

Access by car

The D4100 and D900 roads link Forcalquier to Apt in an east-west valley north of the Luberon massif. Céreste is on this connecting road.

Of course, you can only admire the avenue while driving through it. In this case, it is more impressive if you come here early in the morning.

Photo all rights reserved © by André M. Winter. Photo taken 2008 during our field research for Provence-Guide.Net.
No reproduction is permitted without the written consent of the author. (id1924)
sites photo

An old courtyard by the bridge is being restored

Parking site

It is better to park in the car parks at the eastern entrance to Céreste. Then you can take the little walk down here.

Short trail

The avenue is not ideal to be explored by foot, the accompanying footpath is unfortunately not continuous and there is of course traffic. You can first run errands in the village centre, the place is lively even in the off-season and is far from dead. We then head east out of town, going slightly downhill. The town's car park is also on this section.

Leaving the centre you are already walking under plane trees, but first we take the road on the left towards the Prieuré de Carluc. On the left you can see a newly renovated courtyard that already shines in its old glory. Shortly afterwards we come across the so-called Pont Romain on the creek L'Encrême, but the bridge dates from the 18th century. The plain through which we walk is criss-crossed by natural waters and streams, you cannot take every dirt road because there are not bridges everywhere.

After the bridge we turn right and continue east. On the left (to the north) you can see the course of the former railway line from Cavaillon to Saint-Maime, we then pass the houses that were part of the former station. Later, we come to the hardware store Céreste Matériaux. Here we turn right to go straight towards the plane tree avenue.

We cross the main road and since we are travelling without a car, we can wait for the moment when there are no cars and admire the avenue from the middle of the road. Opposite, a gravel road leads south with a lavender field on the left. At the southern end you can bypass this field to get a wider view.

Unfortunately, there is no footpath on the road for the way back. We go a little further south to turn onto Avenue du Dauphiné. This road leads us back to the main road at a roundabout. From here there is a footpath back to the village.

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Photo by Technob105 (source) under licence CC BY-SA 3.0 taken on the reference day 6 December 2017 and reproduced under the same conditions here. The reproduction is possible if the authors are named and this license is applied. (id1920)
sites photo

We cross the so-called Roman bridge in Céreste

Photo all rights reserved © by Alex Medwedeff. Photo taken 2009 during our field research for Provence-Guide.Net.
No reproduction is permitted without the written consent of the author. (id1926)
sites photo

Avenue of plane trees east of Céreste

Photo all rights reserved © by André M. Winter. Photo taken 2009 during our field research for Provence-Guide.Net.
No reproduction is permitted without the written consent of the author. (id1927)
sites photo

View of the avenue from the south

Photo all rights reserved © by Alex Medwedeff. Photo taken 2009 during our field research for Provence-Guide.Net.
No reproduction is permitted without the written consent of the author. (id1928)
sites photo

The plane tree avenue

Note

The information about this site was collected with the greatest care in 2008. Nevertheless, all information is provided without guarantee. Should you find any errors, please contact the author of this site, thank you!

This page has been seen 15 times since 20 March 2024.