We are situated
in the Provence/Alpes/Cote d’Azur region of
the South of France, PACA for short, just
where the lavender fields of Provence meet
the mountains of the Southern Alps. We are
couple of kilometers from the village of Ribiers
some 12kms to the north of the town of Sisteron,
which is known as the “gateway to Provence”,
and some 8kms south of Laragne, a free flyers
mecca.
The
area is generally unspoilt and retains much
of its character being off the tourist track,
though benefiting from many of the advantages
particularly climatic of the busier areas
further South. We are however only 12kms from
the main A51 Auto route just 1 hr away from
excellent winter skiing and 1.5 hrs from the
mediterranean coast.
Climate
When
we were planning our move to France,
we took great care in choosing an area
with an excellent climate. We are on
the South West side of the Alps, and
enjoy sunshine hours very similar to
or better than the south-east coast
- the Cote d'Azur, although with slightly
cooler temperatures. We are East enough
to avoid the worst of the mistral and
rain of the Rhone valley yet North enough
to avoid the intense summer heat and
sweltering nights of the coastal region.
We consider the climate just about perfect.
We generally have hot sunny summers,
warm sunny springs and autumns, and
cold sunny winters!. In July, we get
an average of over 11 hours of sunshine
each day and over 2700 hours of sunshine
per year. Although we can’t promise
you perfect weather, we can say that
it is very very likely to be good!
By
Car
Driving
from most of the cross channel ports
(Dover, Caen etc) takes some 10 hours
driving time, if you use the autoroutes
(motorways). The quickest route is to
follow the autoroutes to just south
of Grenoble, (get on the ROCADE SUD
bypass) after which you follow the main
N75 road, signed Sisteron, over the
Col de Croix Haute to Aspres and then
Laragne. From the rest of Northern Europe
head for Geneva and then Grenoble and
as above. From the South follow the
A51 autoroute from Aix or Marseille
to Sisteron, leave the A51 at the Sisteron
Sud exit and head through Sisteron and
thence follow signs to Ribiers. We are
approximately 1 hour from Aix en Provence.
From Nice either take the A8 motorway
to Aix en Provence and then join the
A51 or come cross country via Entrevaux,
St Andre les Alpes and Digne les Bains
on the N202 (the route via Grasse takes
much longer so is best avoided). A local
map and local directions from Sisteron
& Laragne can be found at the bottom
of the page or click
here for map . Ferry fares in our
experience are considerably cheaper
through agents or on the net rather
than directly through the bigger companies.
Also we have special prices through
our booking agents, please ask us to
send the details and reference numbers
with booking forms. The new generation
of ferry companies like Speed Ferries
are again often very cheap compared
to the traditional operators
By Air
The nearest
airport is Marseille followed
by Nimes, Toulon, Avignon Grenoble
and Nice. Marseille Provence airport
(Marignane) is approximately one
and a quarter hours drive away.
Easyjet and BA and now Ryanair
have cheap daily flights, including
to Liverpool (Easyjet) and Glasgow(Ryanair);
BA are bookable up to 11 months
in advance.
Marseille
airport is very easily accessible
to train or bus services to Sisteron
and Laragne with a regular bus
shuttle between the airport and
the train station at Marseille
or the bus station at Aix en Provence.
See
Marseille Airport for details
of shuttle buses. There are 4
trains per day to Sisteron from
Marseille, see SNCF website, all
of which call at Aix. There are
also 5 buses a day to Sisteron
from Aix en Provence and Marseille.
Nimes airport is just under 2
hours motorway drive away, and
Ryanair often have some very cheap
flights available, flying from
Stansted, Liverpool and East Midlands.
Nice airport is just under three
hours drive away. Either by Autoroute
or through the mountains, Easyjet
fly to Nice from London Liverpool
Newcastle and Bristol among others,
whilst many other budget carriers
(Flybe,JET2, EUJET, MAERSK, Thomsonfly
Transavia and German Wings) also
fly there from various destinations.
Prices can be very cheap if you
book well in advance and out of
peak season. There is a shuttle
bus from the airport to Nice train
station. From Nice there are trains
to Sisteron changing at Aix or
Marseille see SNCF Website. and
buses to Sisteron direct from
the airport. Those wishing to
experience an interesting scenic
train journey the Chemin-de-Feu
de Provence train runs from Nice
to Digne. For details of trains
and booking. Other accessible
airports include Avignon - 2hrs
drive, Grenoble - 2.5 hrs(more
on a summer Saturday) and Toulon
- 2 hrs or even Montpellier -
3 hrs drive,. Lyon is a little
further at 3.5 hrs. Scheduled
flights into all these airports
are also available at very reasonable
rates particularly from some of
the smaller companies or if you
manage to catch some of the special
offers - click
here to search all low cost
airlines and where they fly to
and from. Alternatively, fly yourself
direct into the airfield where
we aero tow and teach mountain
microlighting from click
here
Car
Hire is available at all
the above airports, see
the By Car section above
for directions. By Train;
Now the fast (a little over
3 hours) TGV link has been
completed between Paris
and Marseilles, coming by
rail is a real possibility,
especially when there are
special offers available.
There are SNCF train stations
at both Sisteron and Laragne,
with direct trains to Marseille
and links to Gap, Grenoble
and Lyon. Cyclists will
appreciate the bike friendly
French train services but
book ahead.
For
details of trains and booking
see SNCF Website. Eurostar
also run some trains from
the UK to Avignon in the
summer. At some times of
year there are direct (no
changing) services from
London to Avignon (Eurostar)
and from Paris to Gap (SNCF
- please
click here), including
a sleeper service on the
Gap route. Car Hire is available
from most train stations
or we can pick you up from
Laragne or Sisteron stations.
By
Bus
French
bus services are generally very good though,
like British rail, the links between the different
companies can be difficult and inter company
communication and information is often non-existent.
Buses are available from Geneva, Grenoble,
Marseille, Nice and Aix en Provence to Sisteron.
A 'navette' runs every 30 minutes from Marseille
airport to either Aix en Provence bus station
or Marseille train station. Details are available
on the Marseille
Airport website. For those on cycling
holidays the bike bus passes only a day or
so ride away, depending on fitness.
By
Car
Car hire costs vary greatly in France and
often seem to depend on where you come from.
We recommend using one of the internet booking
agents or the airline special deals, they
can often supply the same car direct from
the bigger companies at a third of the cost
of booking direct. Please note most companies
do charge an after hours fee if collecting
the car outside normal office opening times.
Local
Directions
From
Laragne heading South turn right at the roundabout
after the centre of town then turn left at
Casino supermarket which puts you on the D948
towards Ribiers, we are about 2km after the
turnoff to Chateauneuf de Chabre. There is
usually a windsock at the end of the drive.
From Sisteron heading North, go through the
town, through the tunnel, straight on at the
Roundabout and left at the bottom of the hill
before the river, signposted Ribiers. Pass
through Ribiers village and Rebinelle is on
the left after 2km (after the La Marmotte
apple packing building we are the third road
on the left) there is a sign for Rebinelle
and usually a windsock at the end of the road.
