Où sommes nous?

GPS Co-ordinates; N 44°14.942' E 005°50.136'

Nous sommes dans la région Provence/Alpes/Côte d'Azur (PACA), là où les champs de lavande de Provence rencontrent les montagnes des Alpes. Nous sommes à 12 km au nord de la ville de Sisteron, plus connu sous le nom de "la porte de Provence" et à 8 km au sud de Laragne. Le coin conserve son caractère grâce au fait qu'il ne soit pas sur la route des touristes, tout en ayant les avantages climatiques des terrains plus occupés du nouveau Sud. Cependant nous sommes seulement à 10 km de l'Autoroute A51 et 1hr des pistes de ski et 1.5hr de la côte.

Getting Here:

By Car

By Air

By Train

By Bus

Car Hire

Climat

Lorsque nous avons fait le projet de nous installer en France, nous avons pris la décision de choisir une région qui est porteuse d'un climat exceptionnel. Nous sommes sur la côte sud ouest des Alpes, et nous profitons autant du soleil que de celui qui est sur la côte sud est-la Côte d'Azur, même si la température est légèrement plus fraîche. Nous avons la chance d'être dans une région de climat méditéranéen donc un climat tempéré, le climat est parfait. Nous avons généralement des étés chauds et ensoleillés, des automnes et printemps doux et ensoleillés et des hivers froids mais ensoleillés! En juillet nous profitons de plus de 11 heures de soleil par jour et plus de 2700 heures de soleil par an. Ainsi nous ne pouvons vous promettre un temps parfait, nous pouvons seulement vous dire qu'il sera trés probable que le temps sera bon!

Par Voiture

Arriving from the North take after Grenoble follow the N75 (- also the Bison Fute route to the Cote D'Azur) signed to Sisteron over the Col de Croix Haute to Aspres and then Laragne in Laragne follow the signs to Ribiers. We are approximately 1.5 hrs from Grenoble. click here for local map .

From the South follow the A51 autoroute from Aix en Provence 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. click here for local map .

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 this page or click here for map .

Par Avion

The nearest airport is Marseille followed by Nimes, Toulon, Avignon, Grenoble and Nice.

Marseille Provence airport (Marignane or mp2) is approximately one and a quarter hours drive away. Many airlines have cheap daily flights from major and minor European airports. 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 flights and 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 there are often very cheap flights available, flying from many European destinations.

Nice airport is just under three hours drive away. Either by Autoroute or through the mountains, There are flights into Nice from most major European cities. 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.

Other accessible airports include Avignon - 2 hrs 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.

Car Hire is available at all the above airports, see the Par Voiture section above for directions.

par Train

Now the fast (a little over 3 hours) TGV link has been completed between Paris and Marseilles, coming by rail is very easy. There are SNCF train stations at both Sisteron and Laragne, with directtrains to Marseille and links to Gap, Grenoble and Lyon. For details of trains and booking see SNCF Website.

At some times of year there are direct (no changing) services from London to Avignon (Eurostar) and from Paris to Gap (SNCF), 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.

Par Autocar

Buses are available from Geneva, Annecy, 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.

Location de Voiture

Car hire costs vary greatly in France. 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 half 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 on this road 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.