Taxi Marseille → Forcalquier

Forcalquier, sub-prefecture of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, is a hilltop town of character overlooking the Durance valley and the Valensole plateau. Former capital of the County of Forcalquier in the Middle Ages, the city preserves a remarkable historical heritage: the Notre-Dame-du-Bourguet cathedral, the Cordeliers convent with its Gothic cloister, and the citadel crowned by the Notre-Dame-de-Provence chapel offering a 360° panorama over the Luberon, Lure mountain and the Digne Pre-Alps. Forcalquier is world-renowned for its Monday market, one of the finest markets in Provence attracting thousands of visitors each week with stalls of goat cheese (Banon AOP), lavender honey, olive oil and artisan products. The town is also the birthplace of L'Occitane en Provence, the famous cosmetics brand founded here in 1976 by Olivier Baussan. The lavender fields of the Valensole plateau, 30 km east, offer an unforgettable spectacle in June-July of endless purple rows stretching to the horizon. The Haute-Provence Observatory (OHP), located at Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire 12 km away, is where the first exoplanet was discovered in 1995 by Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz. Forcalquier is an ideal base camp for exploring eastern Luberon, the Verdon Gorges (50 km) and Lure mountain (1,826 m).