Le Crestet and Mount Ventoux
France > Provence > Western > Vaison > Le Crestet and Mount Ventoux

Lavande © OT Vaucluse

South of Vaison, 3.5km down the Malaucène road, a turning to the right leads to the tiny hilltop village of LE CRESTET from where signs direct you the short distance to the Crestet Centre d'Art (permanent and free access), where modern sculptures have been placed, almost hidden, in an expanse of oak and pine woods. There's a map on the wall at the Centre but the idea is to wander freely: to start off, go behind the building and then turn sharp left within 20m. Some of the sculptures are formed from the trees themselves, others are startling metal structures such as a mobile and a Meccano cage.

MONT VENTOUX, whose outline repeatedly appears upon the horizon from the Rhône and Durance valleys, rises some 20km east of Vaison. White with snow, black with storm-cloud shadow or reflecting myriad shades of blue, the barren pebbles of the uppermost 300m are like a weathervane for all of western Provence. Winds can accelerate to 250km per hour around the meteorological, TV and military masts and dishes on the summit, but if you can stand still for a moment the view in all directions is unbelievable. A road, the D974, climbs all the way to the top, though no buses go there.

If you want to make the ascent on foot, the best path is from Les Colombets or Les Fébriers, two hamlets off the D974, east of BEDOIN, whose tourist office on the espace M.-L.-Gravier (July & Aug Mon–Fri 9am–1pm & 2–6pm, Sat 9am–noon & 2–6pm, Sun 9am–noon; Sept–June Mon–Fri 9am–12.30pm & 2–6pm, Sat 9am–noon; tel 04.90.65.63.95) can give details of routes (including a once a week night-time ascent in July & Aug), plus addresses of campsites and gîtes ruraux.

Mont Ventoux is one of the challenges of the Tour de France, hence its appeal in summer for committed cyclists. Around the treeline is a memorial to the British cyclist Tommy Simpson, who died here from heart failure on one of the hottest days ever recorded in the race; according to race folklore his last words were "Put me back on the bloody bike."