Documentaires. Les Maures et l'Esterel

Title: Documentaires. Les Maures et l'Esterel
Translated Title: 
Documentaries. The Moors and the Esterel.
Duration: 
05:37
Abstract: 
Pathe Baby Educational: The Moors and the Esterel. The Mountains of the Moors and of the Esterel are one ancient massif separated by a simple furrow where the Argens flows; with Corsica they are the only pillars left of a vast collapsed continent. Formed by the most ancient and strogest rocks (gneiss granite) the Moors had been eroding for a long time, to which they owe their stocky and compact appearance, and they only reach 779 meters of altitude and stretch from the Peninsula of Giens to the Gulf of Fejou. The Mountains of the Moors give the coast of Provence a very particular appearance; the softest rock has been cut off into little pieces of which one is connected back to the mainland by a double peduncle: Peninsula of Giens. Hyere, the most ancient place to winter on the Cote d'Azur, is pressed onto the Maurettes (the slate buttress of the Moors) which protects it from the mistral. Cavalaire, (a place to winter, and of baths) situated on the cove of the same name, a beach of sand between two rocky points. The strong rocks, very hard (gneiss) are surrounded by circles like the Gulf of St. Tropez behind which lies the plain of Grimaud; groups of Umbrella Pines spread their thick canopies over the plain. View from the plain of Grimaud towards the Moors (round and wooded forms). The houses of the village of Grimaud are huddled at the foot and on the slopes of an outcrop sheltered from the mistral; in the valley, viticulture. La Garde-Freinet, also sheltered by height, provides us with typical Provencal housing, low houses, white walls, red roofs of semi-cylindrical tiles. The Moors are densely wooded; the trees cover the heights with a dark green coat, which contrasts with the intense pure blue of the sky. The Maritime Pine occupies the first place; pine forest at La Garde-Freinet. The Cork-Oak is associated with the Maritime Pine; bushes make for thickets of impenetrable undergrowth (at first sight, clumps of Cistus flowers). Last, the Chestnut, absent from the chalky and too dry ground of Provence, finds here favorable conditions and reaches exceptional dimensions. This last view shows together all the relief forms (mountains, plains, and coasts) and all the associated flora of the Moors, of which together make a forest. The Esterel is a massif of volcanic rock; its forms are more abrupt than those of the Moors, its red porphyry is cut in prisms; it is no taller than 616 meters; it extends from the Gulf of Frejus to the edges of Cannes. The rocks of the Pigeonhole are large red blocks with angular ridges, piled one on the other; one of them is similar to the shaft of a ruined column. The porphyry of the Esterel resist erosion strongly; they appear in torn up shapes, such as we see here, in Perthus. Rivers flow in the depths of savage ravines along sharp rocks; lacking in water almost the entire year, they swell suddenly after the great downpours of the autumn. The Ravine of Mal Infernet (three views). Beneath the Ravine of the same name, slopes sparesly covered with bushes, stands the red rock of St. Bartholomew. The Esterel projects into the sea, as here near Trayas, with its torn prophyry and its mountains in jagged profile. Its abrupt escarpments, which end in sharp points, hide small beaches. The coast is a succession of hollows and and projections. Promotories taper off, small narrow and rocky coves (creeks) contrast the intense blues of the sea and of the sky, the flaming red of the rocks, the dark green of the pines, such is the coast of the Esterel. End.
Series Title: 
Documentaires
Translated Series Title: 
Documentaries
Series Subtitle: 
Documentaries