Place: Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence)

Participants: Adults

Workcamp description:

Now a fixture in the medieval district of La Gabelle, and on the route of several local hikes, the Fontaine de la Jalinière is the last remaining evidence of the many springs that flowed from the Côte Saint-Marc, and in the 19th century represented one of the three most important fountains in the village of Château-Arnoux. Today, the town council wishes to give this resting place back its historic touch by creating a "calade", a term which in the langue d'Oc designates both a stone-paved roadway and the stone-paving technique which consists of planting stones vertically and very tightly on a bed of sand and lime to create a traditional and ecological pavement. You'll learn the "art de la calade" and discover the many surrounding villages, the green gorges of the Verdon, the tumultuous Durance and all the geological curiosities of the region.

Work programme:

• Layout
• Laying the bed
• Laying 30 m2 of stone calade
• Filling of joints

Building technique: Stone cobble on a dry lime mortar bed

Special bonus : At the foot of the Alps, on the banks of the tumultuous Durance, if you need water and greenery, this is the project for you.

Event during the workcamp: Village fair on July 20 and 21 in Saint-Auban

Accommodation: In shared rooms at the Maison Familiale et Rurale de Saint-Auban, a 15-minute drive from the site.

Workcamp life: You will take care of daily life tasks (preparation of meals, cleaning) in turn.

Building work in the mornings, Mon-Fri. Free time in afternoons and weekends, with a choice of group excursions and activities.

Some ideas for excursions: The world-famous Dalle aux Ammonites, the Romanesque monastery of Ganagobie, the Priory, museum and garden of Salagon, the Citadel of Sisteron, the Penitents of Les Mées, hikes in the lower Alps and the Luberon, swimming in the Verdon Gorge and nearby lakes.

A little bit of history:

Situated on the Durance River, Château-Arnoux was once home to one of Provence's most powerful families, the Glandeves, who built a magnificent Renaissance-style château, now the seat of the town hall.
Then, in the 19th century, the establishment of the railroad and the bridge over the Durance, which replaced the ferry system, brought Château-Arnoux into the industrial era, which continued in 1916 with the establishment of a major chemical plant and its workers' housing estate.
Two populations lived side by side on the same territory. The working-class town of Saint-Auban and the rural village of Château-Arnoux. Two populations with divergent aspirations and traditions were part of an economic and social mix. This symbiosis was formalized by the name change from Château-Arnoux to Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban in the 1980s.

Conditions of participation

Participation fee: €150

Registration fees: see the website www.rempart.com 

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