Barrème Provence-Beyond (Beyond the French Riviera) ® Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04330) Population: 473 Altitude: 720 m Nearby:      [ Castellane 24 km | Digne-les-Bains 30 | Saint André-les-Alpes 21 | Senez 5 | Route Napoléon | Clue de Taulanne 8 ] Photos:             1  This is the lavender distillery beside the Barrème station. (25 k)             2  A view behind the station, looking west. (13 k)             3  Barreme from the top of Chapel St Jean hill; the station and distillery are at the right. (30 k)             4  The fountain at the Place des Tilleuls. (22 k) Below: [ Museums | Dining | Hiking ] Barrème is at the junction of the N202 (122 km from Nice) and the N85, Route Napoléon (87 km from Grasse), and on the line of the Train des Pignes. The town center, with a couple of outdoor cafés, is right on the busy N202, so take a five-minute walk up the pretty lane, over the footbridge by the weeping willows and past the old lavender distillery to the train station. At the side of the station is an outdoor picnic area, with wooden benches and tables shaded by Giant Sequoias and pines a hundred-plus years old (like those at St. André-les-Alpes and Moriez). Photo 3 and 4 were contributed by Bas Bruning from Holland. Museums Barrème is named after a geological stage in the Lower Cretaceous period, and the town is located in an area rich in geological fossils. The tiny Train-des-Pignes station has a one-room geological museum dedicated to this period. This museum is small and personal, made by someone with love and care. It includes a large three-dimensional wall display of the different geological periods, charts, maps, and many local fossils. Napoléon stopped overnight here, on 3 March 1815, and there is a plaque to this effect on the wall of a house at the side of the N85 in the center of town. Dining Hotel-Restaurant de la Gare. This is a small hotel-restaurant-café beside the station, with tables set out beneath the shade of climbing grape vines and huge lime trees; it's very quiet and very lovely. Its cuisine familiale, by René Carron. Tel: (33) 492 34 20 03. Camping Hiking Maps: IGN "bleue" (1:25,000) 3441 ouest "Barrème" Didier Richard (1:50,000) #19 "Haute Provence Verdon" Barrème is surrounded by hills and mountains with peaks between 1700 and 2000 m, and several forests. For a picnic hike, go out through the back of the town (north) and climb up to the Chapel St. Jean. You can sit on the hill (821 m) overlooking the town and see the valleys below and the surrounding hills. This is just less than an hour's climb, and only partly shaded, so it can get pretty hot in the summer. There's plenty of grass for picknicking, and you can shelter in the chapel if you're caught by a sudden shower (as we were). Hikes marked by wooden signposts at the train station are for: Montagne de Pieyes, 8 h Château plus haut, 6 h. There's a ruin here, near a 1266 m peak northwest of Barrème. Chaudon-Digne, 10 h. This trail will take you northwest, past the tiny village of Chaudon (at 1016 m) and on to Digne. This hike could be done as a "loop", using the Train des Pignes to return to your starting point. Check the Hiking part of the St André page.