Moustiers-Sainte-Marie

Moustiers is built into a cleft where a stream falls between two limestone cliffs, with the chapel of Notre-Dame de Beauvoir reached by two hundred and sixty-two steps up the ravine. Between the cliff tops hangs a chain about a hundred and thirty-five metres long carrying a gilded metal star; the tradition says a crusader knight hung it in thanks for release from captivity, and the star has fallen and been replaced many times, most recently in 1995. The village has made tin-glazed faience since the seventeenth century, decorated in blue monochrome and later with grotesques, and workshops and a museum cover it.

What you actually see

• The hanging star - a gilded star on a chain strung between the cliffs.
• The chapel steps - 262 steps up the ravine to Notre-Dame de Beauvoir.
• The faience workshops - blue-decorated tin-glazed pottery made in the village.
• The waterfall cleft - the stream falling through the middle of the village.

When to go

April to June and September to October; summer is extremely crowded because the village is the gateway to the Verdon gorge and the Lac de Sainte-Croix. Mornings are calmer.

Honest expectations

Parking is outside, charged and full by mid-morning in season. The chapel climb is steep in heat. Much pottery sold in the village is not locally made, so ask.

Nearby

The Verdon gorge lies east; the Lac de Sainte-Croix is below.