Valbonne, French Riviera, France
Valbonne is located on Côte d'Azur, about 10 km from Antibes and 8 km from Grasse. The town has a very regular layout of streets. It was built on an strictly orthogonal pattern, very unusual for the region of Côte d'Azur.
Parking in Valbonne
There we have at least two large parking lots: the first one at the Place des Anciens Combattants (P1; GPS: 43.641647, 7.010181), and the second one - even larger - on the Route de Plascassier street (P2; GPS: 43.642290, 7.006636).
Strolling Valbonne
The town really surprises with its regular grid of streets - it's particularly well visible on a map. We just stroll narrow streets admiring the houses in ocher colours and surrounding plants. Finally we reach centrally located Place des Arcades (A; GPS: 43.641551, 7.008614). In fact, we find there very nice houses with arcades. You can sit down and relax in cafe or restaurant. You can also do some shopping - cheese lovers can visit the store "365 Fromages" located next to the square, on the Rue Eugène Giraud.
Abbaye de Valbonne
You can also visit the thirteenth-century church of Saint Blaise (B; GPS: 43.640554, 7.008864), located at the southern borders of the town, and the abbey of the Order of Chalais, adjacent to the church. Architecture of buildings is similar to original architecture used by Cistercian Order. Only the bell tower was added to the whole structure in nineteenth century. The buildings were renovated in the 70s of the twentieth century.
The trail along the valley of the river Brague
The trail "Sentier de la Brague" (about 12 km) allows you to have a nice relaxing walk on path along the river Brague between the towns of Valbonne and Biot. The trail is partially cobbled with local stone and walking it you have to cross a few times the small river Brague. You have to reserve at least half a day for this walk (about 3 hours one way without stopping). The trail starts nearby the church of Saint Blaise (1; GPS: 43.640492, 7.009405). First we go down the street Avenue de Pierrefeu, and then at the streets fork (2; GPS: 43.6388017, 7.0128672) we turn right into the local road, which in a moment will lead us to the river Brague. Walking along it, we reach the town of Biot (3; GPS: 43.6287494, 7.0904367). In general, the route is fairly simple, but near Biot gets a little steep. Of course, if you left the car in Valbonne, you must also return this route unless someone from the company did not take part in the walk and in the meantime went by car to Biot.
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