It was the "Journée de la Patrimoine" - French National Heritage Day - a fact that I only became aware of listening to Trafic FM as I drove along the A50 from Marseille to Toulon. It raised my hopes though, because I was heading for le Revest, a small village to the north-west of Toulon which, according to the map, sported a medieval tower and a museum, the sort of places that just might have free entry for the day. After boosting the local economy by buying the now customary pain aux raisins at a bakery on the road to le Revest, I parked the car at Dardennes, the starting point of the GR 99. From there it was a half-hour's walk along quiet roads and pathways to le Revest which I reached at about 10 in the morning. It is indeed a quaint medieval "village perchée" which obviously owes its existence to the "Haute Tour Sarrasine" on the top of the hill on which the village is perched. This is a very plain square defensive tower, in remarkably good condition considering it dates to the 13th century. Apparently there are references to a Castrum de Revesto here as early as the 6th century. Sarrasine refers not to the original builders ("Saracens? Here?" I wondered) but to the type of metal portcullis which originally barred the door. Local people would have been able to take refuge in the tower whenever enemies threatened. Today to my disappointment there was a more modern gate barring the entrance, and even the nearby Coptic Museum ("Copts? Here?" I thought) was closed.

The Haute Tour Sarrasine, le Revest