Our teaching venue in La Martre

Situated on the outskirts of the village in tranquil surroundings, this modern Provençal style building can accommodate over one hundred people. It is fully equipped for teaching and conference purposes, with a built-in personal address and sound system and a giant screen for showing video, DVD and computer programs.

Please find below some scenes of the village. If you would like to see what the surrounding countryside has to offer, then click here

 

The village of La Martre lies just a few moments walk from the teaching location on the side of a small, south-facing hill at 1000 metres altitude. It was originally built in the 1600's and some of the buildings are still over 200 years old.

The actual village is comprised of just 37 inhabitants although the three surrounding hamlets of Le Coulet, Le Logis du Pin and Le Plan d'Anelle bring this total to a respectable 131.

The village is approximately 90 minutes drive from Nice airport and 45 minutes from the fragrant city of Grasse. The nearby town of Castellane (20 minutes drive) is a popular tourist destination as it is close to the Gorges of Verdon.

The epicerie / bar / restaurant, with its shady terrace overlooking the valley, provides a convenient place to buy snacks and enjoy a refreshing drink. Along with other restaurants in the area, it prepares local cuisine for our students during their lunch breaks.

The mountains surrounding the village are home to Scots pine forests with juniper, box, lavender, helichrysum, savory and various chemotypes of thyme. The valleys are populated by plants such as Juniperus communis, Buxus sempervirens, Lavandula officinalis, Helichrysum stoechas, Daucus carota, Thymus vulgaris, Achillea millefolium, Hypericum perforatum, Pinus sylvestris, Abies alba, Satureja montana, Salvia praetensis...

For study purposes, we often harvest small quantities of wild plants during our botanic hikes for distillation in class.