Praloupe’s know-how

At the bottom of the Bayasse valley, a stone’s throw from the wide open spaces of the Mercantour National Park, nestles an extraordinary workshop: that of Béatrice Bellon, jam maker and craftsman of taste. At an altitude of 1,800 metres, she makes exceptional jams, internationally award-winning, in a small hilltop hamlet where the air is pure and time seems to stand still.

Since 2014, Béatrice has been cooking by hand, in a copper cauldron, original recipes that sublimate the fruits of the territory. Its credo: respect for the seasons, varieties and raw taste, without added flavours or compromises. Strawberry-mint, peach with Sichuan pepper, raspberry-dark chocolate or larch bud jelly… Each jar is a signature, a canned mountain souvenir.

More than a jam, it’s a philosophy. On the farm, it also offers a jam bar, where you can enjoy generous toast, homemade syrups and hot fruit mousse while contemplating the peaks. An experience in its own right.

Les Gaillardises de l’Ubaye embodies a local, creative and respectful know-how, to be discovered absolutely during a visit to Bayasse or the Barcelonnette market.

At the bottom of the Bayasse valley, a stone’s throw from the wide open spaces of the Mercantour National Park, nestles an extraordinary workshop: that of Béatrice Bellon, jam maker and craftsman of taste. At an altitude of 1,800 metres, she makes exceptional jams, internationally award-winning, in a small hilltop hamlet where the air is pure and time seems to stand still.

Since 2014, Béatrice has been cooking by hand, in a copper cauldron, original recipes that sublimate the fruits of the territory. Its credo: respect for the seasons, varieties and raw taste, without added flavours or compromises. Strawberry-mint, peach with Sichuan pepper, raspberry-dark chocolate or larch bud jelly… Each jar is a signature, a canned mountain souvenir.

More than a jam, it’s a philosophy. On the farm, it also offers a jam bar, where you can enjoy generous toast, homemade syrups and hot fruit mousse while contemplating the peaks. An experience in its own right.

Les Gaillardises de l’Ubaye embodies a local, creative and respectful know-how, to be discovered absolutely during a visit to Bayasse or the Barcelonnette market.

Born in 1994 from Fabrice Gendron’s passion for Bayasse and its landscapes, the Pain de Bayasse is above all a human adventure. Trained in Savoie, he transformed the family home into a bakery and made this high-altitude place a space where bread became tradition and art of living. In 1996, Cédric Monasse joined the adventure after a baccalaureate in electronics. Alongside Fabrice, he learned the gestures and secrets of making a bread that is now emblematic of the valley.

In 2010, when the bakery and the seventeenth-century farm were put up for sale, Cédric and his partner Stéphanie took up the torch. After a professional interlude in the construction industry, Cédric returned to his first vocation. Together, they trained for the CAP bakery and brought this place steeped in history back to life, faithful to the teaching passed on on site.

Pain de Bayasse is based on a simple recipe — flour, water, natural sourdough and salt — but requires patience and precision. The sourdough, prepared weekly from a piece of dough preserved in the rye, is fed for a long time before baking. The organic flour, from the Pichard mill in Malijai, combines rye, wheat and spelt. Cooking over a wood fire, directly in contact with the flame, gives the bread its unique taste and characteristic crust.

In Bayasse, the rhythm depends on the seasons and the weather. It can take several hours to heat the oven and prepare the batches, up to five a day in summer. Between snow-covered roads, changing climatic conditions and respect for natural cycles, each batch is an adaptation to the mountains.

Thanks to its dense crumb, Pain de Bayasse can be kept for about a week or even a month in good conditions — a valuable asset for hikers and lovers of local products.

For more than 16 years, Cédric and Stéphanie have been welcoming visitors and regulars to their bakery and bed and breakfast, offering a gourmet stop on the road to the Col de la Cayolle. A variety of breads, local products (pâtés, cheeses, honey) and even craft beer made from unsold food testify to an authentic and anti-waste commitment.

Present every Saturday at the Barcelonnette market and on Wednesdays during the Marseille holidays, they cultivate a loyal relationship with their customers. In all weathers, the Pain de Bayasse remains a symbol of perseverance, know-how and attachment to the Ubayan mountains.

Located on the edge of the blue Peguieou slope, discover the address where the fries are truly local: at Omanu, the potatoes come from the owner’s garden, in the valley. About 300 kg of seeds are planted on 2,800 m², for a harvest of about 3 tons. And before arriving on your plate, everything is prepared on site, at altitude: sorting, cutting, cooking… Zero detours.