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Provence and Côte d'Azur

Provence & Côte d'Azur

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If J.R. Tolkien had come to Provence, he might never have invented Middle Earth. For all the ingredients of his magic lands are here in abundance: chasms and cascades, sorcerers and saints, legends, monsters, Lords of the sinister Ruins of Les Baux if not of the Rings, deep subterranean caves and beyond the spectacular scenery of dark valleys, a playground of the rich and famous, where the sun’s fierce rays catch the shimmering sea.

Provence, if not quite Middle Earth, became a series of middle kingdoms, buffer states coveted by the big powers. For a while Avignon displaced Rome as the residence of the Pope and the cardinals built summer houses across the once-complete Pont Saint-Bénézet in Villeneuve-les-Avignon, whose St André’s Fort offers wonderful views across the Rhône. Provence remained proudly independent, run by good King René from the sophisticated town of Aix. With wretched roads before the motorways drove a route between its peaks, Provence was left alone. Few managed even to cross its northern barrier, the Ardèche, a place of savage beauty with fiercely flowing rivers and impenetrable forests.

The scenery has inspired world renowned artists, such as Renoir and Cézanne, Picasso and Matisse, to live and work in Provence and the neighbouring Côte-d’Azur, which offers some of the finest art galleries in France. The fabled coastline has always been the home of characters rather larger than life, such as The Man in the Iron Mask, imprisoned on an island just off Cannes, and The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte-Carlo. The Côte-d’Azur, so called after the delicate blue shade of the Mediterranean that gently laps its shores, and noted for its crisp air and balmy temperatures, began as a winter haven for upper class British invalids escaping the London smog. It took the innovative drive of brash Americans, who introduced refrigeration and air conditioning between the world wars, to make the Riviera a summer paradise.

Only in southeast France can visitors gaze in awe at Roman ruins, be swallowed up by the time warp of the Provence countryside, and engage in the vibrant pleasures of the Riviera, all in a single visit. Such contrasts are its ceaseless and captivating charm.

Ardèche

At the edge of the Massif Central, the craggy and savagely beautiful region of the Ardèche, with its fast-flowing twisting river, is laden with chestnut forests that produce the delicious "marrons glacés". Although travelling is difficult in the Ardèche, the Vallon-Pont-d'Arc is a good centre for a variety of excursions, notably the famous subterranean caves of Aven d'Orgnac.

Drôme

The département of the Drôme is bordered on one side by the valley of the Rhône and on the other by the French Alps, offering landscape rich in orchards, vineyards and dramatic mountain vistas. The modern town of Montélimar produces nougat, its speciality.

Gard

After the Romans abandoned their favourite provincia, they left great monuments to their power and presence. Most lie in the Gard, a département that belongs to Provence in everything but name. Uzès, a medieval duchy, has narrow arcaded streets and Italianate towers. Villeneuve-les-Avignon, whose monastery affords superb views over the Rhône to Avignon itself, was where the cardinals put up their palatial houses before half the Pont-d’Avignon was swept away in a winter storm.

To the west of the Rhône stands the Pont-du-Gard, a prodigious Roman aqueduct, and the beautiful temple and huge amphitheatre of Nîmes, the best-preserved Roman ruins anywhere in Europe.

Vaucluse

To the east lies Peter Mayle’s Provence, at its most languid and charming in the Luberon hills of the southern Vaucluse. Its houses are a patchwork quilt of renovation and repair, of rugged stones that span the centuries, with row upon row of faded red tiles, held together by dried mud, a wing and a prayer.

Vaison-la-Romaine, the northern part of the Vaucluse, was once a summer resort for the richest Romans, who appreciated its fine wines and delightful countryside. Most francophiles are now familiar with the southern Vaucluse, the Luberon (Gordes, Bonnieux, Roussillon), just east of Avignon, made famous by books on the area but not appreciably busier for it.

And the wonderful town of Avignon is of course its capital.

Bouches-du-Rhône

The Bouches-du-Rhône spreads across the Mediterranean from the natural park of the Camargue to the fishing port of La Ciotat, and further north around the beautiful towns of Arles and Aix-en-Provence. The Roman ruins at Arles are quite spectacular. The Camargue is an enduring marsh of flying flamingos and petulant white horses.

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

Here, and high in the nearby Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, perched villages abound where the faint gurgle of a fountain and the flagging calls of the cicadas are the only signs of life during the afternoon siesta. When the shadows lengthen their medieval alleys come alive, shutters are thrown open, cafes serve pastis, and men bring out the heavy metal boules to play one of France’s most ancient games. And in the open air, rustic restaurants produce wonderful food out of little corner kitchens, served by eccentric waiters who never want to bring a bill.

The locals sometimes look askance at the energetic tourist. Not for them the hiker’s boots or the endless gear of enthusiasts for water sports, for whom Provence, however, is a delight: a haven for the restless, always one more easy peak to climb, or one more inland lake – such as Saint-Cassien or Sainte-Croix - to sail or ski or swim.

Var

The département of the Var takes you up into the mountains as far north as Digne and Sisteron, as well as along the coast, between Marseille and Cannes. Sea swimming varies widely from exclusive private sandy beaches to busy public ones with good facilities for children, and from secluded idyllic alcoves to wide pebbly beaches.

Alpes-Maritimes

Cannes, Nice, Monaco and Saint-Tropez each have a magnetic atmosphere of their own, a frenetic glamour and a parade of beautiful people partying until dawn. Of course, the exultation of hobnobbing with the wealthy on immaculate private hotel beaches, backed by classy cafes under canvas, may be tempered by the subsequent arrival of an account that looks as if it has at least two noughts too many. The Riviera in fact has plenty of public beaches which are just as, if not more, suitable for families, while a street or two behind the film set façade it is easy to find restaurants that are better value than almost anything back home. On any excursion to the coast by car however, arrive and depart early, to avoid the traffic jams that sometimes build up in high season later in the day.

Behind this exotic shop window lies the ‘arrière pays’, or back-country, within easy reach of the Côte-d’Azur but far less frenetic. Some of the most popular places – Eze, Grasse, Mougins and St Paul-de-Vence – attract large numbers of summer visitors; but only a kilometre or two away are other equally delightful towns and villages, untouched by the mass tourist market. Their ancient streets have breathtaking, distant views of the sea, from houses hugging deep gorges or sheltered by rugged mountain outcrops. Provençal life continues here undisturbed and unthreatened, at its own singular pace.

Tourist offices and related websites

www.varvillagevoice.com www.provenceguide.com

www.visitprovence.com www.provencebeyond.com

www.avignon-et-provence.com www.dracenie.com

www.guideriviera.com www.riviera-reporter.com