Eglon: a Provençal village by the Végay waterfall

In the Estéron valley, in the foothills of the Maritime Alps, stands the tiny village of Eglon — far from the tourist trails of the Côte d’Azur, with the 140-metre Végay waterfall, a history on the border between France and Savoy and a few names that made it famous across the country.

The Estéron valley: silence a stone’s throw from the coast

Eglon is located in the Estéron river valley, in the upper Grasse region, roughly 20 km north of Grasse and 11 km south of Puget-Théniers — only a few dozen kilometres from the bustling resorts of the Côte d’Azur, but in a completely different world: quiet, green and almost untouched by tourism. One of the commune’s main sights is a 14th-century fortress carved into the rock, the largest troglodyte fortress in Provence: the lands of Ma and Eglon were granted by Queen Jeanne Isnard du Bar of the house of Grasse on 7 July 1348, and the following year Eglon was passed to her cousin Pons de Ferru.

From Savoy to France: the frontier of 1760

From 1388, Eglon, like the whole region, came under the protection of Savoy — this followed the “transfer of Nice to Savoy”, after which the lands became part of the so-called New Lands of Provence, and from 1526 — of the County of Nice. Eglon returned to France thanks to the Treaty of Turin, signed on 24 March 1760 between the Kingdom of Sardinia and France and ratified at Versailles in July of the same year: at that time Gattier, Dofrer, Buayon, Le-Ferr, Consegud and Eglon itself became French, while Guillaume, Daluie, Ovar and a number of other territories went to Sardinia — almost a century before Nice was annexed to France in 1860. After the treaty the seigneury returned to the crown, and the commune entered the viguerie of Grasse.

Végay — the highest waterfall in the department

The main natural attraction of Eglon is the 140-metre Végay waterfall, made up of three cascades: it is the largest recorded natural waterfall in the Maritime Alps, protected as a natural monument since 6 November 1933. Above the waterfall, at almost 900 metres, stands the hamlet of Végay — the GR4 route passes through it, and nearby is one of the department’s main water intakes.

An actress, an actor and a poet-songwriter from here

Eglon’s fate is closely linked with several prominent names. The actress Fanny Robiane (real name — Fanny Roben) was born in Nice in 1899 to Joseph Roben, who at the beginning of the 20th century was the mayor of Eglon. A tragic actress from the Gémier school, she performed at the Orange theatre, on the Capitoline Hill in Rome and in the arenas of Béziers, and from the late 1920s until the 1970s was one of the leading actresses at the Parisian Théâtre de l’Odéon — and she retired in Eglon, leaving a rich archive here: books with autographs, programmes, press clippings. In her honour the village hosts the annual festival “Rencontres Fanny Robiane”, dedicated to theatre, poetry and music.

The actor Roland Forten, who appeared in the comedy Les Frères Pétard (1986), also lived in Eglon, and in the local cemetery is buried the poet-songwriter Edmond Jullo (1896–1956), who wrote under the pseudonym Max Pila and left, among other works, the play L’Expérience du Major Dick (1934).

Auberge de Calendal: an inn in the heart of the village

Next to the town hall, at about 600 metres above the Estéron valley, stands the family-run inn-restaurant Auberge de Calendal — it welcomes regulars, climbers, canyoning enthusiasts and tourists, and since August 2022 has been operating under new management after renovations. The establishment’s cuisine is based on seasonal Provençal local produce.

Eglon is one of the villages and valleys of the Côte d’Azur worth discovering for those tired of resort bustle: there are no souvenir shops or Michelin-starred restaurants here, but there is real history and one of the highest waterfalls in Provence.

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Photo: Anne-sophie Parent / Pexels