Fountains and drinking troughs
Fountains and laundries were the first step in the quest for water. Gone was the drudgery of fetching water from the river. It arrived in the heart of the village. Gone, too, was the practice of washing clothes on one's knees by the stream. Instead, washerwomen stood around the washtub, a more comfortable position. There were also wells. A hand-cranked winch had to be operated to draw water from them. Testimonies to a bygone era, fountains and wash-houses have become photogenic backdrops in villages. There are numerous examples dotted around the communes. Here are just a few:
In Bar-sur-Loup, a fountain can be admired in the Square Seytre. The basin is fed by two ornamented wrought-iron tubes. The ashlar basin is molded at the top and bottom. On the Place de la Fontaine, you can see a washhouse topped along its entire length by a wooden bar used to drain the linen. Next to it are a fountain and a drinking trough in cut stone.
In Bézaudun-les-Alpes, you'll be greeted by the murmur of a covered fountain in the Place des Tilleuls.
In Bouyon, a pretty four-sided fountain refreshes the inhabitants in the heart of the village.
In the highly pastoral area of Caussols, there are numerous fountains and drinking troughs. A drinking trough dating from 1933 can be admired at Les Gleirettes, near the RD112. A sign indicates that it was built by the Génie Rural. An old, long sheep trough can also be seen at l'Embut de Caussols. In the Claps area, old cisterns designed to retain rainwater can be seen. This system of cisterns was the only way to conserve water in this isolated area.
In Châteauneuf-Grasse, on the Chemin de la Grande Fontaine, you'll find a triple complex of fountain-washing trough and drinking trough, fed by a spring from the Brague river. Until the end of the 19th century, the fountain was the only source of water in the village.
In Cipières, an attractive 1893 fountain adorns the village square. There's also a 17th-century wash-house.
In Conségudes, a pretty octagonal fountain welcomes visitors to the town hall square. Water flows from the mouths of lion heads.
In Courmes, below the village, you'll find a washhouse covered with a wooden frame and tiled roof, coupled with a cut-stone fountain that supplies it with water.
In Coursegoules, you can still admire the lavoir and the adjacent fountain, both covered. The municipality has put together a display of highly instructive period photos.
In Les Ferres, an 1893 fountain with two metal spouts stands in the square in front of the Saint-Jacques church.
In Gourdon, the beautiful classical four-sided fountain, dating from 1852, features a wide basin forming four semicircles. Water flows from the mouths of human heads. Next door is the 1870 washhouse, set inside a building. A long metal bar can still be seen, which must have been used to drain the laundry.
In Gréolières, a large washhouse and fountain stand at the entrance to the village.
In La Roque-en-Provence, a pretty covered washhouse stands at the bottom of the village, just before the Pont de France bridge.
In Opio, a small, simple fountain dating from 1894, near the town hall. Composed of a conical basin, it backs onto a vertical stone. In the San Peyre district, there's a lovely renovated fountain-washhouse that was used by local residents until the end of the 19th century.
In Roquefort-les-Pins, a late19th-century fountain with a vast stone basin is integrated into the modern urban space of the Plans district, opposite the town hall.
In Le Rouret, the Troussane fountain-washhouse is located in an outlying district. Dating from the 18th century, it was one of the few communal watering places accessible to the public. It was converted into a fountain in 1959. In the center of the village, the Saint-Pons fountain-washhouse, sheltered by a wooden frame and tiled roof.
In Tourrettes-sur-Loup, the Place de la Libération features a fountain and a drinking trough. Next door, a larger fountain is dug into the rock. A little further on, about 1 km from the village, you'll find the Font Luègne washhouse (the distant fountain), sheltered by a wooden frame and tiled roof. Its shallow depth suggests that the washerwomen worked on their knees.
In Valbonne, a fountain dating from 1835 can still be admired in front of the former town hall in the heart of the old village. Further along, on the edge of the village, is the Fontaine Vieille. It was the only fountain outside the village to supply water until the early 19th century. Now that the road has been raised, it appears to be embedded in the sidewalk. In those days, the Brague served as a drinking trough, a wash-house and a sewer. Parts of the Roman aqueduct of La Bouillide, which served Antipolis, can still be seen in the Valmasque park.
The Foulon canal
The history of the Canal du Foulon is linked to population growth and the development of Grasse's perfume industry. By the end of the 18th century, the water supply from the Foux spring was no longer sufficient to meet the town's needs. A solution had to be found, but the idea of tapping the Siagne and Loup rivers created tensions with Cannes. It was a roadmender from Gourdon who introduced the Foulon spring to the municipality of Grasse. 280 to 300 liters of water per second flow from Gréolières, on a general gradient of 1.5 meters per kilometer to the perfume capital. The commune bought the land in 1874, and the project to create the Canal du Foulon was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1887. Work began immediately, day and night. A tax on wines, spirits and fats was introduced to help finance the project, estimated to cost over 2 million francs.
The canal was built in brick, covered with cement plaster and protected by stone slabs. The 22 tunnels measure a total of 2,603 meters, and ravines are crossed by means of siphons or aqueduct bridges. The inauguration took place in July 1889. A big party was organized to celebrate the new arrival of drinking water in Grasse. The project's designer, Mr. Pellegrin, was even awarded the Order of Agricultural Merit.
However, as soon as it became operational, the masonry canal showed signs of weakness. Its fragility stemmed not only from its poor design, but also from the route it took: 26 kilometers, often on mountainsides. Landslides are frequent. Reinforcement work had to be undertaken. On numerous occasions, the inhabitants of the Grasse region turned to another spring, which emerged just a few hundred meters from the canal, on communal land belonging to the town of Cipières. With a flow of 30 to 50 liters of water per second, it compensates for the Foulon's shortcomings.
In 50 years of service, repairs to the canal cost 20 times the initial outlay. At the end of the war, a decree declared the work to be in the public interest. They lasted until 1957. The canal was rebuilt using steel pipes laid on some 10,000 concrete supports.
However, the pipes used in the 50s were of poor quality and oxidized rapidly. They require constant maintenance. The Gourdon pipe, for example, is badly damaged. by 1980, 8,510 tons of paint had been applied. Major work is planned, but nothing is done... until 2019. The rehabilitation of the Foulon canal is just beginning in the commune of Gourdon.
The aim of renewing obsolete pipes is both economic and ecological. 1.4 million cubic meters of water are lost every year through leakage. That's 10% of production. More than 100 perforations have been recorded. The new pipes are protected from corrosion by resins, applied inside and out. The objective of the Syndicat Intercommunal des Eaux du Foulon (SIEF) is to renovate 1 kilometer of pipe every year. This will enable us to continue supplying water to 90,000 residents of the Côte d'Azur, while protecting one of our most precious resources.
What a ride!?
A number of websites offer hiking itineraries along the Foulon viaduct. And yet, access is now forbidden! This route is reserved exclusively for canal maintenance personnel and may not be used by hikers.
The Canal du Loup
Now you know the story of the Canal du Foulon... Here's that of the Canal du Loup. This was inaugurated in 1911, to bring the springs of Gréolières and Bramafan to Cannes, via Cipières, Courmes, Le Bar-sur-Loup and Châteauneuf-Grasse. Today, it stops at Mougins and is 39 kilometers long. Its average flow is 40,000 cubic meters of water per day.
