Trans-en-Provence
• Var (83720) • Population: 4,003 • Altitude: 146 m
Gallery of 9 photos for Trans-en-Provence
See map
This ancient little village sites astride a waterfall-part of the Artuby river, and beside the busy N555 highway south of Draguignan. Along the highway is the start of the uglyness area of billboards and used-car lots into Draguignan. Getting off the main road, however, you'll find an ordinary little village with the river running through the center, either peacefully beside fields [photo-4] or coursing down over rocky waterfalls [photo-1]. • Market day Sun.
As pretty as the old village is, this isn't a touristy place and there aren't any of the usual attractions. Along the banks of the river are the old mills and other related industrial buildings, some visible in photo-1 (left). The village had a couple of silk factories in the 18th century. A couple of narrow old stone arched bridges crossing the river are still in daily use. Just across the lower bridge is the old communal olive-oil mill and the Auberge du Vieux Moulin [photo-2] with its grotto dining room [photo-3] where the Beyond team had our wedding reception.
The front of the 18th-century Mairie (town hall) has a nice wrought-iron balcony and an interesting old cadran solaire (sundial) [photo-7].
If you walk out of the village to the east, on the D47 towards La Motte, there's a one-lane bridge high over the Nartuby and a view of an overgrown fish hatchery at the edge of the village [photo-9].
Flood June 2010
History of Trans-en-Provence
Name
First record, First mentioned in 1024 Trancis
Gallo-Roman: The Voie Aurelienne passed here, along the left bank of the Artuby. Important Gallo-Roman remains were discovered nearby, including at the Gabre farm and Notre-Dame de Valaury southeast of the village.
Medieval: Fief of the Abbaye de St-Victor in the 13th century. In 1579 the chateau was beseigeg by the "Razats"; the lord was assinated and the chateau was burned.
Dates
Market day: Sun. Tiny in winter.
Hiking
• GPS: 43.504051, 6.48327
Maps
IGN (1/25,000) #3544 OT "le Muy, Lorgues, Mont Roquebrune, Maures"
Didier Richard (1/50,000) #25 "Maures Haut-Pays Varois"
Dining
Vieux Moulin
Tel: (33) 0494 708 759
Menu: 12 euros (weekdaylunch); 15 to 50 euros (2000).
A really special place. This was an old mill, and the dining room is a grotto that goes 40 m (120 feet) deep, horizontally. The ceiling of the natural grotto is very high so smokers aren't a problem. The owner is the chef and patissier. We're rather partial to the place: we had our wedding reception lunch there in May 2000.
Transportation Trans-en-Provence
Department 83, Var Buses
- See Beyond's Var Department Bus Schedules for downloading the Var bus-lines map [Plan du Reseau] and bus-line schedules [Horaires] (link for PDF files).
- Schedules for the Var bus lines are on the VarLib Horaires-Ligne page (http://www.varlib.fr/horaires_ligne/?rub_code=6") - type the line number in the Numéro ... ligne box to access the bus schedule PDF link. (Type a couple of digits in the box to get a list of route numbers.)