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We approached Bargème from the south, via the D25 road that cuts through
the Camp Militaire de Canjuers, the largest military training camp in
Western Europe (35,000 hectares or 1,351 square miles). The camp is used
for training in artillery, armored tanks, and infantry. Sonic booms and
artillery fire reverberate throughout the entire region, often for days
on end. From the road, we see the ghost town of Brovès, empty since
1970 when the camp was built and its inhabitants uprooted. The deserted
and decaying town is sometimes used today for urban warfare training.
Bargème lies ten km. north of Brovès, on a steep, rocky hillside, the
highest town in the Var. On arrival, it seems deserted. There are fresh
footprints and tire tracks in the midday snow but no sign of life. On
this raw, windswept but sunny March day, every building was tightly
shuttered.
Since the creation of the military camp, the town's population has
steadily decreased to about 85 residents and many of the homes are
secondary residences. But, once the tourists and summer residents arrive,
Bargème perks up with a lively restaurant, salon du thé, café and bakery.
Every July the town even hosts a Baroque music festival.
Major attractions in Bargème are the 11th century stone Église Saint
Nicolas, and the crumbling Château Sabran de Pontevès , which dates to
the 12th century. On the edge of town is the Chapelle
Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs (Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows), a small
chapel built following the murder of the town's tyrannical feudal lord
in 1595.
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