Photo spot in Valensole e i campi di lavanda
Moustiers-Sainte-Marie and its star
A village wedged into a cleft in the cliffs, with a gilded star hanging on a chain strung between the two rock faces above it.
About Moustiers-Sainte-Marie and its star
Get directionsMoustiers is built into a notch in the limestone where a stream comes down out of the mountain, so the village climbs in terraces on both sides of a ravine, connected by stairs and a small bridge, with the chapel of Notre-Dame de Beauvoir above it and a gilded star suspended on a 200-metre chain strung between the cliffs. The star is the local legend and the thing everyone looks for; the ravine and the tiled roofs are what actually photograph.
The usable frames are the approach road from the west, which puts the whole village against the cliff, and the stepped path up toward the chapel, which gives you rooftops, the ravine and the valley behind in one look. Early morning has the village to itself and even light in the ravine; by eleven in season the lanes and the two squares are full, because Moustiers is on every Verdon itinerary.
The climb to the chapel is 262 steps and genuinely steep, so it is a decision rather than a stroll, and worth it mainly for the view rather than the building. Combine with the plateau: Moustiers is twenty minutes from the lavender fields and ten from the turquoise water at the Pont de Galetas.
Best time to shoot
Early morning, before the Verdon day-trip traffic arrives
Tips
The path to the chapel is 262 steep steps — decide before, not halfway up. Twenty minutes from the lavender plateau, so the two pair naturally in one morning.
Other spots in Valensole e i campi di lavanda
The lavender rows off the D6
Blocks of lavender running to the horizon with a stone hut or a lone almond tree in the middle — the Provence photograph, for about three weeks a year.
Lac de Sainte-Croix and the Pont de Galetas
Turquoise water at the mouth of the Verdon gorge, where the cliffs narrow to a gate and the lake opens out beneath a single bridge.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know Moustiers-Sainte-Marie and its star — free of charge.