Project: Come and discover one of the small perched towns in the South of France, Serres in the Alpes, which offers a magnificent panorama of the medium mountain range of the Baronnies Provençales! The town, leaning against the Pignolette rock, is made up of small shady mediaeval streets and covered and sloping passages in which it is good to stroll. At the top of this village and at the bend in the monks’ path, is the chapel of Notre Dame de Bon Secours, which overlooks the Buëch valley. This building was erected in 1730 and blessed in 1732. Partly dug into the rock, it marries the hillside, on the presumed site of the former chapel of the castle of Serres. The Baronnies Provençales Regional Nature Park, in partnership with the association Les Villages des Jeunes and a hiking organisation, launched an operation to raise awareness and promote the drystone building technique in 2018. Elected officials and inhabitants will be mobilised for this operation through restoration actions and disco-veries of the dry-stone built heritage (conference, visit).
Work: The «sentier des Moines» (monks’ path) winds along the hillside below the chapel and is supported by dry stone re-taining walls and has a stone covered path, called a «calade» in southeast France. This year, you will rehabilitate a portion of a path in dry stone in order to give again its initial aspect in a preoccupation with the valorization of the heritage of Serres. The following work will be undertaken: fishing and sorting of stones, earthwork and construction of the calade according to the very precise technique of dry stone construction (theoretical and practical contribution). The workcamp will be supervised by a professional in dry stone construction techniques. A daily work of 6 hours is planned. The pedagogical objective is to discover a traditional construction technique which does not require any material, except stones from the stoning of fields intended for agriculture or recovered from old buildings. Theoretical, historical and practical contributions will be disseminated. It should be noted that this workcamp is part of a more global action to enhance the site of the chapel. The population of the village is invited to take part in the work of clearing the brush and creating a calade on the
chapel square.
Accommodation and food: You will be accommodated in individual tents next to the municipal gymnasium of the small town (1km walking distance from the workcamp site). A team of campleaders will be present to accompany you in the organisation of the collective life: planning of the household tasks, elaboration of the menus and preparation of the meals in turn (vegetarian, vegan and other specific diets are possible), organisation of the leisure activities and the outings. The purchase of local products is widely favoured. Bring a mattress, a good sleeping bag (the nights can be cold) and a pillow (to be adapted according to your needs).
Location: Serres is a small town in the South of France, nestled between the Alps and Haute Provence (30 km North of Sisteron, 140 km South of Grenoble). It has several services: train station, shops, Provencal market...
Leisure activities: Land of light, scents and flavours, the Baronnies Provençal is a land where the sweetness of life is combined with the practice of outdoor sports like idleness! Rich in natural and agricultural heritages adapted to the Mediterranean climate under alpine influence, the Provencal Baronnies are marked by fragrant, aromatic and medicinal plants: wild thyme, rosemary, lavender. Near Serres, you can discover many major sites in the south of the Hautes-Alpes: Aujour mountain and Clausonne abbey, Saint-Genis mountain, the Méouge gorges, Orpierre site, the Riou lake where you can practice many sports activities (climbing, mountain biking, hiking, swimming in lakes and rivers).
Time and directions to the meeting point: Serres train station at 3:30 or 7:30 pm. The campleaders will drive you to the
place of accommodation.