Summer séjour at Méolans-Revel, from 04 to 11 September 2021

Enrico Alberini, Christophe Badonnel, Bernard Giraudeau and our IT team have contributed to this page.

Barcelonnette from the belvedere (© Kris Claeys)

Our summer séjour in 2021 will take place in the Alpes de Haute Provence départment , based at Méolans-Revel. It has been prepared by a trio of locals : Paulette Autric, Robert Yonnet and Phillipe Fee.

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Méolans-Revel is a short distance (8km) from Barcelonnette in the Ubaye valley.

We will be staying in the Cap France holiday village Lou Riouclar, at an altitude of 1270m.

You will find below the following pages :

Introduction to the region.
Road and off-road rides
Accommodation
Administrative Council’s note
Bookings
Other activities and things to see

A few things for your arrival, your stay, and the COVID-19 requirements

COVID-19

Access to the holiday village : for the moment, our hosts have not made any conditions (PCR test or vaccination certificate).

Wearing a mask will be be required within the holiday village, and you should bring enough for the week.

Bike shops:
Cycle Ubaye Sport
ZAC du Pont Long
04400 Barcelonnette
04 92 34 36 15
Open from Monday to Saturday 08.00-12.00 and 14.00-19.00

Introduction to the region

Following the spring séjour in Digne in 2014, we visit the Alpes de Haute Provence départment again, this time for our summer get-together in the Ubaye valley. We will stay at the CAP France holiday village Lou Riouclar, located on the heights of the village of Méolans-Revel, on the right bank of the river to which the valley owes it’s name. Rich in road and off-road cols, the Ubaye will not disappoint our members who come to this séjour. The valley lies at the extreme north-east corner of the Alpes de Haute Provence départment, which is part of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region. Two French départments and one Italion region form the administratve boundaries, and the valley’s principal town is Barcelonnette, with a population of 2575. The river Ubaye flows through the valley, south west from it’s source at the Col du Longet (FR-04-2660/IT-CN-2660a) then west until it joins the river Durance at the Lac de Serre-Poncon, where it forms the lake’s eastern arm. This is the valley’s lowest point, at 771m, while it’s highest is the Aiguille de Chambeyron at 3412m. A significant road network follows the various side valleys that make up the geographic whole, and provides a number of ways out of it, nearly all by means of cols, from the lowest, Le Collet (FR-04-0991) to the highest, the Col de la Bonnette (FR-04-2715). The Col de Larche (FR-04-1991) or Colle della Maddalena (IT-CN-1996) provides access to the Stura valley in the Italian province of Cuneo. Both the primary and secondary ridges above the valley offer numerous off-road cols, including perhaps the most mythical of all, the Col du Parpaillon (FR-04-2637 tunnel). The presence of many military roads, initially constructed for defence purposes, offer an easier approach to several of these cols. The valley’s economic activity is for the most part in the tourism sector. There are a few ski-stations, but their small size has helped to maintain the valley’s nature and traditional character. Other sporting activities, including road and off-road cycling, complete the picture. Sheep rearing, and the sale of local products are other sources of revenue.

The high peaks visible all along the Ubaye valley and it’s satellites, and the Lac de Serre-Poncon, offer spectacular views. Barcellonnette, the town of the ‘Mexicans’ (Ubayens who returned to the valley after making their fortunes in Mexico) as well as other villages, possess many historic monuments well worth seeing. In its geographical situation, and having a ‘low’ col, the Col de Larche at 1991m, the military history of the Ubaye dates from antiquity. The nineteenth century’s remarkable fortifications are this history’s last remains, and an important part of it’s touristic heritage.

The Ubaye lies in the southern Alps, so has a mountain climate with a mediterranean influence, characterised by an exceptional amount of sunshine, very cold in winter, and hot and stormy in summer. Animals and plants are typically alpine – marmots, chamois, foxes, grouse, choughs and golden eagles. A pack of wolves settled in the Parpaillon massif some years ago. In the main valley, running east to west, the opposing slopes show different characters, with dark forests of fir, spruce and larch on the north-facing slopes, and cultivated terraces on the south-facing.

Rides

entre Durance et Monges – 118 km – 2090 mètres – 9 cols : Col de Saint-Martin, col des Garcinets, col des Sagnes, Le Coulet, col du Château, Col du Haut Forest, col de Grêle, col des Meyères

R2 : Vars – 96 km – 1900 mètres – 3 cols : Le Pertus, le Collet, Col de Vars

R3 : tour du lac de Serre-Ponçon – 80 km – 1968 mètres – 5 cols : col de Pontis, le Collet, col de Charmentier, col Lebraut, le Collet

R4 : Restefonds – 60 km – 2050 mètres – 3 cols (en option col de la Moutière) : Faux col de Restefonds, col de la Bonette, col des Granges Communes

R5 : Basse Ubaye – Blanche – 95 km – 2000 mètres – 9 cols : col Saint-Jean, le Coulet, col du Fanget, col du Labouret, col de Maure, col de Fillys, col de Font Sainte, col de Charamel, le Collet

R6 : les trois cols – 120 km – 3300 mètres – 3 cols : col de la Cayolle, col des Champs, col d’Allos

R7 : rassemblement – 50 km – 920 mètres – 2 cols : le Pertus – col Saint-Jean

VTT :

V1 : Bersezio – 30 km – 1550 mètres – 5 cols : Colletto Ferriere, Bassa di Colombart, col de Pouriac, Bassa Ferriere, Colletto Incianao

V2 : Vars – Risoul – 31 km – 1230 mètres – 5 cols : col de Jaffueil, col de Saluces, col du Vallon, col de Valbelle, col de Chérine

V3 : le Parpaillon – 41 km – 2130 mètres – 4 cols : col du Parpaillon (tunnel), col de Girabeau, col de la Pare, Pas du Reverdillon

V4 : Restefonds – 32 km – 1075 mètres – 5 cols : Pas de Toureis, Faux col de Restefond, col de la Moutière, col de la Bonette, col des Granges Communes

V5 : Orrenaye – 24 km – 1200 mètres – 6 cols : col Rémy, col des Monges, col d’Aguya, col de la Gypière de l’Orrenaye, col du Ruburent, Colle della Scaletta

V6 : col d’Allos (pas encore reconnu à cause de la route fermée suite à l’éboulement)

V7 : rassemblement – 21 km – 530 mètres – 3 cols : col de Font Sainte, col de Charamel, col Saint-Jean

The annual assembly of the Club des Cent Cols

At first, this was to be at the summit of the Col d’Allos, but given a significant landslide that took place on the 16th April 2021 between Uvernet-Fours and the col, and the uncertainty about the reopening of the road, it will now be held on Saturday 11th September from 11.00 at the Col St.Jean FR-04-1333.

Here Article from La Provence published on Monday 13 September 2021

Accommodation

The CAP France holiday village Lou Riouclar 04340 Méolans-Revel Tel: +33 (0)4 92 80 75 75. Email : – site de Lou Riouclar. It has 118 double rooms all with bathrooms with shower, basin and WC. Towels and bed linen are provided. The restaurant offer local products, dishes prepared and cooked on site and favouring short delivery distances with local producers. Parking can accept camping cars who have opted for the ‘7 evening meals’ or ‘7 days board’ services.

Please note, that if you would like extra days, either before or after our week, you will need to deal with the holiday village directly.

For camping car drivers who desire a little more comfort we have two addresses:

Parking area behind the municipal arena ‘Leon Signoret’. 6 euros per day. Power 2 euros per day. Payment by card only in the on site machine.

Camping restaurant River Le Martinet 04340 Méolans-Revel 04 92 85 57 13 07 86 93 65 site du camping

Bookings

To book, download the pdf form with the link below. Please note, the form has two pages : the form itself (please complete fully and sign at the bottom), and a page of special conditions, that you should also sign. If you mean to bring someone with you, please inscribe them beforehand as an associate member with your DT, and don’t forget to enter their associate membership number in the space provided for it. For those who wish to arrange their own accommodation, we offer the ‘Participant Only’ service, which covers all the costs of séjour (except board and lodging) such as preparing the séjour, producing the ride and trombinoscope posters, the welcome and farewell parties, guide book, organising companions’ activities and Club insurance.

The full list of services is :

‘Full board’, at 478 euros, plus incidental expenses of 18.50 euros.

‘7 evening meals’, at 117 euros, if you arrange your own accommodation but wish to dine with your clubmates. Please add 18.50 euros for incidental expenses.

‘7 days board’, at 233 euros, comprising breakfasts, picnic lunches and evening meals. 18.50 euros are required for incidental expenses.

Optional Gritchen insurance for 2.34% of whichever of the above options you have chosen, with a minimum of 8.00 euros per person (so, 16.00 euros for a couple).

‘Participant Only’ at 18.50 euros if you intend to arrange your own board and lodging.

If, and only if, you do not have FFCT insurance, you must take out our obligatory insurance at 7.00 euros.

You can pay by cheque or bank transfer to the Club’s account. Because of the extra costs imposed by Paypal, we do not offer this method of payment. Bookings will be accepted in the order in which they are paid for, whether by cheque or by bank transfer. For the former, it is the date of postage that counts; for the latter, please send a copy of the transfer order. If the séjour is fully booked, a waiting list will be set up that will work in the same way as the bookings : first come, first served.

Trombinoscope : If you haven’t already sent your photo for the trombinoscope and would like to, please tick the appropriate box and send us a jpg photo.

Further information will be placed on our site in the coming months. Each time something is added, the séjours officer will put notice of it on our Liste de Diffusion. If you would like to see these, please subscribe to the Liste, if youy have not done so already.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask the sejours officer : +33 6 78 87 33 67.

Booking form Méolans-Revel in English
conditions générales assurance Gritchen
conditions générales assurance Gritchen
montant assurance Gritchen

The closing date for bookings is 10th August 2021.

You can look here at the guide book that will be given out at the sejour. It will contain, apart from welcome messages, information about the area, access, security advice and detailed descriptions of the rides.

Other things to see and do

Diverse hamlets, scattered up to 1500m of altitude, have kept their character, harmoniously combining their activities in agriculture, crafts and tourism. Méolans, just visible from the route nationale, nestles behind a rock on which proudly stands a belltower, surrounded by woods. The commune and the forest extend as far as the valley of Laverq, with its Benedictine priory, a dependent of the Bascodon abbey and a preserve of pioneer monks.

Rioclar is the principal hamlet of the commune, with a school and a church, the latter decorated with stained glass windows depicting the surrounding chapels through the seasons.

The Chauvet house, now the auberge ‘des Terres Blanches’, carries a sundial with the words ‘give me the sun and I will give you the time’.

The Maison du Bois (house of wood) is a window on the wood industry that welcomes the public with places of observation, information and play, all dedicated to the forests and timber of the Alps. Each visit ends with an exhibition of turning wood, and cutting it with a jigsaw or with a router, by the resident demonstrator. http://www.maisondubois.fr

HERITAGE

With its rich patrimony, from the high altitude fortresses (from Vauban to Maginot) to the villas and tombs built by the returning emigrants from Mexico, the Ubaye valley, a conduit for peoples and cultures, looking as readily towards Italy as towards France, asks you to experience its living landscapes. To tell the stories of its adventurous pedlars and daring emigrants, the patient making of a living from the soil, and the gestures and knowledge of its inhabitants, five museums have been established, as well as themed visits to its forts, its chapels and churches, its villages and stations, its landscapes and its natural riches. A strategic military crossroads between Provence, the Dauphiné and Savoy, the Ubaye was for a long time a disputed territory. Attached to France in 1713 by the Treaty of Utrecht, it was strongly fortified. In the nineteenth century, under the direction of first General Haxo then General Sere de Rivieres, the main forts were built at river confluences or on summits, ending with the Maginot Line works after 1931 : a witness of French history in a landscape where frontiers are now a thing of the past, this unique architectural heritage must be seen.

MUSEUMS

Un musée au fil de la vallée (a museum of valley life) : Showing the valley’s country, and its wealth of animal and plant life, the Lauzet-Ubaye museum displays the know-how that man developed for raising livestock, architecture and crafts, and hunting and gathering. It is housed in a former shop in the centre of the village.

Musée de la vallée (museum of the valley) : In a nineteenth century villa, the only ‘Mexican’ villa open to the public, with collections from the world and other cultures : popular art from Mexico, China and Burma, as well as the orientalist paintings of Jean and Marie Caire; the cabinet of curiosities of the migrant and traveller Emile Chabraud, and of course the New World adventures of the emigrants from the Ubaye (called ‘the barcelonnettes’) in Mexico from 1805-1950, as told by one of their descendants.

For those interested in archaeology, the museum holds the bronzes of the famous Olivier collection (Donation Glieze). Parc de la Sapiniere, Avenue de la Liberation, 04400 Barcelonnette.

Museoscope du Lac : This tells the story of the construction of the Serre-Poncon dam (the biggest in Europe) and the villages that it drowned. By means of a visual and aural journey, it shows how the lake became a favourable site for an association of leisure and culture. http;//www.museoscopedulac.com