Place simultaneously spiritual and used to nature lovers, the Sainte-Baume mountain massif takes us big surprises in relation to its ecosystem, more than original in Provence. Constituted of Provencal highest mountain backdrops with steep topography of its north face, as well as a huge state forest characterized “ecological reserve” and populated with beeches, linden trees, and other varieties of trees similar those of Ile-de-France region, and the fact that this forest is shaded by the mountain massif. The Sainte-Baume mountain massif it’s also to be discovered thanks to the “cave” (in back-to-back 1h30 of walking from the Hôtellerie), religious site and pilgrimage place of 5th century into the shape of hemicycle, and inhabited by monks of Saint-Cassien. Accessible from a terrace after the ascent of 150 staircases, the cave offers us wonderful viewpoints on the Sainte-Victoire mountain range, the Mont Aurélien, the Hôtellerie, and the village of Plan-d'Aups-Sainte-Baume.
Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume
