Sisteron: from the Alps to the garrigue

The neat but ruined 11th century Chapelle Saint Donat
The 11th-century Chapelle Saint Donat, overlooking the wooded garrigue.

As we drive away from Barcelonnette heading south towards Sisteron, the landscape gradually changes. The mountains are softer, less mineral, greener. The forests, fields and orchards tell us we are slowly entering Provence. Deciduous oak gives way to the shorter, evergreen oak and Provençal pine, and we see the first olive groves; the houses take on a paler shade of ochre, their roofs covered with terracotta tiles rather than flat stone.

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