Junction with rail to Mont Dauphin-Guillestre, 51 m. N.E. This branch line extends to the passes leading to the roads which traverse the valleys of the Waldenses.
Gap. Le Lauzet.
On this branch line, 16¾ m. E. from Veynes and 34¼ m. S.W. from Mont Dauphin, is [Gap], on the Luye, 2895 ft. above the sea, pop. 9300. Inns: Poste; Nord; Provence; France. This, the ancient Civitas Vappium, has a large Champ de Mars, extensive barracks, long avenues of walnut trees, and a handsome modern cathedral, built on the site of one of the 11th cent. In the Préfecture is the mausoleum of the Connetable Lesdiguières, originally one of the leaders of the Protestants. In the hamlet of Tareau, close to Gap, Guillaume Farel, a celebrated French reformer, was born in 1489. He died on the 13th Sept. 1565. The most remarkable features of his character were dauntlessness and untiring energy and zeal. He possessed a sonorous and tuneful voice, fluency of language, and passionate earnestness; yet, although seldom failing to arrest the attention of large audiences, he often, by imprudent torrents of denunciation, aroused against his doctrines unnecessary opposition.
[Gap to Barcelonnette], coach daily; distance, 42 m.; fare, 8 frs.; time, 8 to 9 hrs. The road follows the Luye to its confluence with the Durance, 5 m. S. from Gap. From this point it ascends by the N. side
of the Durance, passing the pretty village of Remollons, 10 m. from Gap. 3½ m. farther is the roadside station of Espinasse, where the horses are changed. 300 yds. above the confluence of the Ubaye with the Durance the road crosses the Durance by the bridge of Saulze, and ascends by the right side of the Ubaye to the village of Ubaye, 23 m. from Gap, producing large quantities of walnuts, of which oil is made. The apples of this neighbourhood were once famous. From almost every part of the road between Espinasse and Ubaye are seen the picturesque fort and extensive forest of St. Vincent. 28½ m. from Gap is [Le Lauzet], pop. 1000, Inn: France, surrounded by great mountains, with narrow gorges and lofty waterfalls. In the neighbourhood is a lake abounding with trout. 3 m. higher up is the hamlet of Martinet, at the entrance to the beautiful valley of the Laverq, extending to the S. side of Mt. Siolane, on whose slopes the spire of the church of Meolans occupies a prominent position. From Martinet the road crosses to the right side of the Ubaye, whence, passing by Les Thuiles. 4½ m. from Barcelonnette, and St. Pons, 1½ m., arrives at Barcelonnette. St. Pons contains the ruins of a castle, a church said to be of the 7th cent., and a Via Crucis up a steep hill. The most curious part of the church is the S. portal, under a soffit, having pillars on each side. Above the pillars are small quaint figures of the apostles, and over the door one of J. C. On the tympanum is a fresco representing the presentation of the kings to the child Jesus. On N. side of chancel is a square tower with short spire, which seems to have served as a pattern to all the church towers in, the department of the Alps, the characteristics being that the height of the tower is proportionally great to the height of the spire.
Barcelonnette. St. Paul.
[Barcelonnette], 3718 ft. above the sea, pop. 2100, Hotels: Nord; France; on the Ubaye, in the midst of meadows, surrounded by mountains clothed with walnut, larch, and fir trees. The present village was built in 1230 on ground given by Reymond Beranger, in honour of whose ancestors, the Counts of Barcelona in Spain, the newly-erected town received its name. The parish church, begun in 1230, was, on account of a conflagration, nearly rebuilt in the 16th and 17th cents. The tour de l’horloge at the corner of the “Place” is all that remains of the church of N. D. de Confort, built in 1290 and destroyed in 1789.
From Barcelonnette, besides the coaches daily to Gap and Digne, there is also one to the village of [St. Paul], 4730 ft. above the sea, and 13½ m. N.E. from Barcelonnette, fare, 2½ frs.; time, 3 hrs., by the Maddalena road, the length of 2 m. above La Condamine, where it diverges 6½ m. N. up the narrow and picturesque gorge of the Ubaye. The wheel-road continues 10 m. beyond St. Paul to Maurin, 6565 ft. above the sea. From this a bridle-road enters Italy by the Col Longet, 8767 ft., and the hamlets of Chenal (Italian custom-house with a fair inn) and Château Dauphin and the river Vraita.
Jausiers.
[Barcelonnette to Cuneo] by the Col della Maddalena, Vinadio, Demonte, and Dalmazzo, 62 m. E., 12 hours’ walk to Vinadio; whence there is a diligence to Cuneo. Wheel-road all the way (see [map, p. 304]).