Chateau de Gourdon

[robert brown]

There’s a recently-born afternoon’s outing you can indulge yourself in the next time you’re in the South of France. It rivals any other you can name. I found it more enthralling than Monaco, Eze-Village, even Saint-Paul-de-Vence, and compared to its Fondation Maeght, no comparison. But that’s the somewhat biased opinion of a former researcher in the field in question.

You should begin with lunch in the town of Le Rouret where there are two excellent restaurants. One is Le Clos St. Pierre, a Michelin one-star and the other, to which I haven’t been, but will before the summer is out, is the newly-arrived La Table du Mon Moulin (see dedicated thread). After lunch, drive as if to Grasse and after 3.5 kilometers turn right toward Gourdon, eight kilometers more. Don’t be put off by the town’s touristy nature: the cute restaurants, little shops selling pain d’epices and junked-up souvenirs. Instead go to the Chateau de Gourdon, making sure you have made an appointment a few days in advance (although we made ours the morning of our visit) to book a time for a private tour of the Musee des Art Decoratifs et de la Modernite.( Phone 04-93096802). The museum is the collection of Art Deco furniture and other objects (rugs, tapestries, screens, lamps among others) formed in just the last 10 years by the chateau’s owner, the son of the founder of Vedior Bis, France’s largest temporary employment agency. The hour-long tour is extraordinary. We left feeling overwhelmed by the quality and the rarity, which is no easy task for someone like myself who has devoted his career and alleged intellect to the decorative arts of the early 20th century. To the neophytes of the field, there are a few names you may recognize among the mostly artistes-decorateurs. There is the largest rug of Fernand Leger. Outside the period, but magnificent is a tapestry from the 1960s by Francis Bacon. Jacques Ruhlmann, whose furniture will be exhibited in Montreal and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, is represented by several extraordinary examples. One room is devoted to Eileen Gray and there are many works by the illustrious French architect and designer Robert Mallet-Stevens.

The admission is 10 euros plus the tip you should give to the guide who speaks little English, but knows the collection well. We think he is the curator since he mentioned that M. Negro, the owner, lets him use his swimming pool. When you leave the exhibition and are at the back of the immense chateau, you are in a magnificent multi-level topiary garden that extends for acres. Here you can grasp the privileged setting of the chateau. Approaching it, the chateau sits high above on the top of a hill. Yet, it also sits in a valley while looking down into a very deep gorge. It’s quite incredible.

[Jonathan Day]

Robert, thanks for a great tip. If the museum impresses someone of your connoisseurship, it's unquestionably worth a visit. I have been to the chateau and to the gardens, which are lovely, but never to the museum.

Gourdon is a touristy town, as Robert says, but it has some interesting features. Go to the end of the town, where the views down the gorge are incredible. There are four or five hiking trails leading away from Gourdon, including the "chemin du paradis" which leads from Bar sur Loup up to Gourdon. Be careful if you take this: one path is lovely, the other leads you through damp caves and along a rusty aqueduct. Other paths away from Gourdon go along high cliffs, where you can see hang gliders take off and fly. The tourist office can give you a hiking guide to the area.

At the end of the town is Le Nid D'Aigle (the eagle's nest), a restaurant cut into the side of the cliff. It has tables for three that are literally hanging from the edge of the cliff; you feel as though you are floating in mid-air. The food is nothing to write home about, but it's not horrible.

A different approach to Gourdon is via Valbonne and Opio, where you can stop at the olive oil mill, l'Huilerie d'Opio. The oil is reasonably priced and of decent quality and there are lots of olive-related items for sale.

[Bux]

That is indeed a valuable piece of information for anyone in the area. It's no less noteworthy for the fact that the less interesting destinations will be packed with tourists. We need to devise a way to be sure that tips such as these are not lost by falling below the radar.

[robert brown]

Let's not get too many people there. Between this and the wine at La Table du Mon Moulin, we don't want to shoot ourselves in the foot.

[greenwich st]

We just had a very good meal at the Clos St. Pierre after a visit to the chateau garden at Gourdon -- great recommendations. We had the cheaper lunch menu -- 27 Euros for melon/jambon (ordinary), magret in a delicious jus with simple courgettets and a chocolate ice cream/chantilly dessert that was naive but absolutely satisfying, plus wonderful canapes and almond cookies. There is a more elaborate menu we'll try next time, but no ordering a la carte, at least for lunch. The terrasse was very charming, though the town is not much to look at otherwise. I would recommend reserving, which we did, because it filled quickly, and the inside is fine but not as lovely. Only drawback that day -- a plague of nastly little fliesl, so we did a lot of swatting while gorging.

[menton1]

Thanks for resurrecting this thread--I missed it the first time-- yes, a few years ago we buzzed through Gourdon, and left after 10 minutes of seeing the tourist-trap type little shoppes. The view was spectacular, but we got right out of there. The Chateau does sound quite worthwhile, as well as a nice little secret.

We did enjoy riding through some other towns in the Arriere-Pays, including Peille, Peillon, and Sospel. Any news on Auberge de la Madone in Luceram? Is it worth all those hairpins, switchbacks and slow roads? Sounds like lunch would be a better idea, since I would hate to get back on those roads after dinner at 11PM!

Edited July 9, 2005 by menton1 (log)

[Jonathan Day]

I stayed and dined at Auberge de la Madone many years ago. It was excellent, and the rooms were very comfortable. They were brilliant with our son, who was perhaps 18 months old at the time -- he's now 15! He was hungry, it was too early for us to eat, so they brought him a steaming dish of nouilles au beurre et au parmesan; he scarfed this and went happily to sleep. We went out onto the terrace and had drinks and a delicious dinner. If you don't spend the night, it may be better to have lunch there -- the numerous "lacets" (hairpin turns) would be tough to drive after dinner and wine.

Friends tell me that the food is still good, but I haven't got recent information.

A few of the shops in Gourdon have genuinely interesting products. Most are tourist spots, though. I've since been to the museum and can confirm Robert's warm recommendation.

If you enjoy hiking, Gourdon can be a starting point for a number of interesting walks, ranging from the easy to the challenging. Get a hiking guide (Guide de la Randonnée), free at any tourist office. If you take the chemin du paradis (path of heaven), though, be careful -- one wrong turn and you end up walking next to a rusty iron pipe and through damp caves: more like a chemin de l'enfer (path of hell).