We plan to drive Rome-Paris, and I had included the Gorges du Verdon in my itinerary - or so I thought. But a helpful posting by abbydog put me in touch with a TimesOnLine article comparing Provence v. Tuscany, in which it was said that the Gorges du Verdon's 800m straight-down views gave Provence the edge (in the "landscape" category).
This sent me checking my map, and to my dismay I found that the region I've included in my itinerary is the "Grand Canyon du Verdon", flanked on its southern side by the Cornische Sublime, and on its northern side by the D23, a one-way ring road coming off of the main Castellane to Moustiers-Ste-Marie road.
The "Gorges du Verdon" I have now located as being SW of Moustiers-Ste-Marie, beyond the lower end of Lac de Ste Croix. This was not on my itinerary.
My questions are -
1. Which would the TimesOnLine article be referring to with its description of 800m straight-down views? The Gorges du Verdon or the Grand Canyon du Verdon?
2. Which would fodorites recommend, bearing in mind one was on my route and one would require a side-trip off it?
3. If doing the Grand Canyon du Verdon, which road offers the best vantage points for appreciating them? The Cornische Sublime or the D23 ring road?

Grateful for any help. Thanks

They are one and the same. The Gorge du Verdon is called the Grand Canyon of France.A spectacular drive!!

twoflower, it's the deepest canyon in Europe. This should help you:

http://www.frommers.com/destinations...691010001.html

Thanks cigalechanta. I suspected as much - i.e. that the one everybody raves about is known by either name. But my Michelin map clearly shows the "Grand Canyon" in one location and the "Gorges" in another, as per my posting. So which one of these IS the one that everybody raves about?

I suspected the one the tour guides rave about

twoflower-
I don't know the answer-sorry-
but i am interested in that article comparing Tuscany and Provence. (We're driving from Paris to Rome!) I tried googling it, but had no luck.
Let me know if you can.

thanks!

I think most would agree that there is better scenery along the northern route. Certainly it is the more popular of the two.

twoflower, look at this map and you can se where it extends:


http://www.frommers.com/images/desti...ondeverdun.jpg

This is a better one and showing you a photo.

http://www.beyond.fr/sites/verdon.html

dina4

the article I spoke about can be found at

http://www.travel.timesonline.co.uk/...055573,00.html

Thanks, cigelachanta, for the website references. From the map it looks like I had focussed on the right one - just below the D952 from Castellane to Moustiers-Ste-Marie. Glad about that.

My pleasure, I love that drive.

We took the drive in May after spending the night in Moustiers Ste Marie. It was a beautiful drive, although the French aren't into our style of guardrails. My husband complained that lots of cars came down the road straight at us. However, traffic in general was light and I saw lots of bicycles.

Thanks for the website, twoflower.
I printed it out and can't wait to read it later!

Dina