Feb 032017
 

Setting out for Sisteron, France I wasn’t sure what I would find following the hour and a half drive there. I also wondered what the roads would be like. I was pleasantly surprised as it turns out there is a nicely paved highway running from Aix-en-Provence most of the way to Sisteron. Once we arrived there, it was immediately clear that the drive was worth it. The town is perched on the bend of the River Durance and works it way up the valley walls. At the top is the Sisteron Citadel, which has significantly hindered the efforts of armies trying to enter Provence from Roman times through to the second world war.

What you see here is the Devil’s Sentry, posted high above the valley on an outcrop of rock.  It’s not difficult to understand why it earned this name, especially when you imagine winter winds whipping through the valley and directly into the sentry box.

view of the sisteron devil's sentry with the river mountain and village in the background

  4 Responses to “The Devil’s Sentry in Sisteron, France”

  1. I think the short corporal passed through there on his way from Elba. Isn’t it strange – I’d be thinking, lovely riverside vistas, idle by the water but you climb a mountain.

    • He did, and there was some political rangling that resulted in him being provided a free pass. Oddly, last week I stood in a bedroom that he slept in while passing through Berlin.

  2. That is an incredible photo of Devil’s Sentry ! How far away were you ?

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