Day 3: Around Allos

A border town between the Duchy of Savoy and the Kingdom of France and a prosperous city until the 14th century, Colmars erected its first ramparts under the threat of invasions from the north in 1391.

https://www.haut-verdon-maison-musee.com/

The ramparts were reinforced in 1527. At the end of the 17th century, the fortifications inherited from the Middle Ages were redesigned by Louis XIV's engineers, including Vauban: certain square towers were modified into pentagonal towers, reductions were built in front of the gates of France and Savoy and forts are built on both sides of the village.

Sheltered by the ramparts, the rampart walk gives access to the various medieval towers and overlooks the larch roofs. You can access the ramparts through the Maison Musée.

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Larch shingle
The roofs of Haut-Verdon were built of larch wood, a species particularly resistant to temperature variations.

To make shingles, small wooden slabs which, like tiles, are used to build a roof, pit sawyers worked to shape, board after board, each element of the roof. After that the shingles could be put dry for sometimes 10 years, before being used!

The wood being quite light, the frames of Haut-Verdon could have a rather steep slope, which prevented the snow from accumulating and allowed the rainwater to evacuate quickly. Thanks to the steep slope it was possible to store as much hay as possible in the barn.