Aups, Provence, France
Aups is located about 20 kilometers south of the Lac de Sainte-Croix (the last element of the Verdon Canyon), near the village of Salernes, Villecroze and Sillans-la-Cascade, in beautiful surroundings of "green Provence". The town ranks third in France in terms of the volume of trade of black truffles. The market is held here without interruption from November to the end of February, and sometimes even until mid-March. We were here in warmer months, so we could not take place in this market. Anyway, strolling picturesque streets of the old town you can admire beautiful antique doors of medieval houses, ancient fountains and beautiful sundials.
Parking in Aups
We can leave the car on the Place Marin Bidaure (P; GPS: 43.627020, 6.224378), right next to the collegiate church of Saint Pancrace and tourist office. You can also stop along the Avenue Georges Clemenceau, which begins at this square.
Touring the town
If you parked your car on Place Marin Bidaure, the first object to visit is the collegiate church of Saint Pancrace built in the early sixteenth century. One obtrusive thing you will see for sure is the slogan of French Revolution "Liberty Equality Fraternity" just over the entrance to the church. It's odd, because the French state still indicates that it does not interfere in the affairs of the Catholic religion, and the inscription (pejoratively received) on the church manifestly denies the church-state separation.
We leave the square and walk the Rue Gabriel Péri street in the northern direction. We get to a small square where the street splits into two streets (A; GPS: 43.628145, 6.224375). We turn left and after about two minutes we can see interesting tower of Saracens ("la Tour Sarrasine") on the right side, under which there is the gate Porte des Alpes (B; GPS: 43.629187, 6.223882). We go forward and soon on the left side we see the museum of Simon Segal (artist of modern art), which once was the Ursulines convent. The building itself (C; GPS: 43.629787, 6.224048) comes from the eleventh century and during its history it was owned by various religious orders, to become a kindergarten at the end of the twentieth century, and finally a museum.
Then we walk the Avenue Victor Maria, turn right and go towards the gate Porte des Aires. On the way we pass the chapel of Notre Dame de Délivrance (D; GPS: 43.629432, 6.225152) on the right side, built in the mid-nineteenth century on the ruins of the Aups castle. We re-enter the old town by the Porte des Aires (E; GPS: 43.628995, 6.225645). Then we walk down the Rue des Aires until nice square Place Louis Gauthier, which features a clock tower (F; GPS: 43.628662, 6.225065) of the sixteenth century. We go the back the street Rue du Marché to the parking lot. This street is the right arm of Rue Gabriel Péri, which we previously walked.
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