On these tours, Jean-Michel Moutard invites you to discover Seillans through its history, heritage, and built landscape. Each route is based on photographs, postcards, and period documents, shedding light on the village of yesterday and enriching the way its places are seen today.
Activity 1 - Two hours - The perfumery of Seillans and the story of Jeanne Villers de La Faye
- This tour takes you into a singular chapter of Seillans’ history, through the adventure of perfumery and the fate of Jeanne Villers de La Faye. A leading figure in local life, this remarkable woman maintained a deep bond with the village and helped transform its appearance in lasting ways.
- Along the route, Jean-Michel Moutard retraces the story of this family, the rise of perfumery, and the major changes Seillans experienced between the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The arrival of the telephone and electricity, local agricultural dynamics, and the role played by this extraordinary personality combine to create a lively, well-documented, and engaging tour.
Activity 2 - Two hours - Seillans, from the Middle Ages to the present day
- This tour offers a sensitive exploration of Seillans heritage, from its medieval origins to more recent transformations. As you wander through the village lanes, Jean-Michel Moutard brings to life the major stages of its history through its stones, doors, buildings, and traces of everyday life.
- The route notably includes the Sarrasine Gate, Saint-Léger Church, the village’s old streets, fountains, washhouses, and the bread oven, all elements that tell the story of Seillans over the centuries. The tour also touches on some of the more unusual episodes in its development, showing how heritage, local life, and individual initiatives have intertwined over time.
Activity 3 - Two hours - The dry-stone hut circuit
- With this tour, Jean-Michel Moutard takes you to discover the bories of Seillans, these dry-stone shelters that bear witness to an ancient rural world and remarkable vernacular know-how. The village is said to have more than eighty of them, scattered throughout its surrounding countryside.
- The route helps you better understand the purpose of these structures: shelters for workers, storage spaces for tools, and places linked to the rhythm of agricultural work and the practical organization of rural life. Through their history, architecture, and construction context, an entire part of the Seillans area comes back into view.
Jean Michel, +10 years of experience
Storyteller
Curious and deeply attached to the heritage of Seillans, Jean-Michel Moutard has devoted many years to extensive research into the history of Seillans and its leading figures.
Through old documents, archives, photographs, and local stories, he is committed to bringing the village’s memory back to life with precision and passion. A keen hiker and lover of nature, he brings to Seillans a perspective that is historical, sensitive, and deeply rooted in the local area.
Seillans is a perched medieval village in the Pays de Fayence, renowned for the richness of its historical, cultural, and architectural heritage. Its cobbled lanes, Sarrasine Gate, feudal castle, 12th-century church, fountains, and shaded little squares tell an ancient story, shaped over the centuries around a fortified core established on the slopes of Mont Auzière.
Listed among The Most Beautiful Villages of France since 1991, Seillans charms visitors as much through the beauty of its stonework as through the rare harmony between the village and the surrounding landscape.
Seillans guide
Galleries, ateliers, art gardens and medieval lanes: find Valentia experiences gathered around Seillans and prepare your next discovery in the Pays de Fayence.
Requirements:
Comfortable shoes
Cancellation policy:
Free cancellation if more than 48 hours before the experience starts. Between 48 and 24 hours before, 50% of the amount is due. Less than 24 hours before, cancellation is non-refundable.