France has been occupied for a long time, and megalithic structures and monuments were built by those occupants starting back in the Neolithic (late Stone Age) and Chalcolithic (or Copper Age), over the period 4800-1200 BC.
Megalithic structures take a variety of forms. The dolmen is a common one — a large flat capstone forming a roof over an enclosed space. The capstone may be supported by large upright stone pillars or panels.
Map of the development of megalithic architecture in Stone Age Europe, details at Wikipedia.
In the area around the lower Rhone River, part of today's Provence area, the megalithic builders were active early. Megaliths in this area date back to 4800-3000 BC.
The Dolmen de la Pitchoune is near the Provençal village of Ménerbes, north of Marseille.
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Peter Mayle made the village of Ménerbes famous in his books, starting with A Year in Provence.
Ménerbes is in the southern départment of Vaucluse, east of Avignon and north of Marseille.
Above are views of central Ménerbes, and at left is the Provençal countryside as seen from the edge of the village.
The Dolmen de la Pitchoune is just a few kilometers from the village, off to the right of this view.
There are so many monuments mégalithiques in France that Michelin has a symbol for them on their excellent maps.
You exit the village of Ménerbes down a steep hill to the east. See the V-shaped symbol for a steep uphill grade on the map at left. At the road intersection at the bottom of the hill, marked by the red stick and ball mileage endpoint symbol, take the smaller D 103 to the southeast for just about a kilometer, toward Les Moutins.
The dolmen is right along the D 103 road on its left-hand side.
There is a sign along the road at the Dolmen de la Pitchoune.
That's me standing on the dolmen's capstone — I told you that it was close to the road!
The dolmen is nearly covered by the road and its embankment. Driving down the road you appear to cross a short bridge. It's really a retaining wall used to keep the road off the dolmen.
Looking down from the edge of the road, you see the capstone and the supporting walls, and the entryway almost against the road's retaining wall.
Here's a better view down into the interior from the road.
Unlike many dolmens with megalithic support walls, the Dolmen de la Pitchoune has side walls of stacked drystone construction.
In the interior you see the stacked drystone side walls and the megalithic rear wall.
I'm down in the dolmen investigating the interior.
The capstone is a large single stone.
The capstone and entryway.
The view from the dolmen's entrance once looked across the valley to the row of hills to the south.
Now you have to be up on the capstone roof to see over the D 103 road.
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