Provence from Fayence: Provence Guide

Truffle detective

Truffles are soooo expensive that the industry has spawned detectives whose job is to filter out wicked truffle growers who mix their produce with cheap Chinese goods.

What's the difference between a $1,200-a-pound French black truffle and a $100-a-pound Chinese variant?

"The smell -- the perfume is stronger, more alive than the Chinese truffle," said Claudine Muckensturm, the Paris-based national director of the finance ministry's fraud prevention unit. "The taste -- how can I explain? The Chinese truffle is less refined, it has a less pronounced taste."

Kingfisher Calendar 2007

Provence and the French Riviera is the destination of choice for the all new, colourful, action-packed 2007 Kingfisher Calendar. It's very exciting, really. Last year it was Pirelli, and now, the renowned Indian beer brand.

I am struggling to find the link between Provence and this beer: curry is not a popular on the Cote d'Azur. I am also struggling to spot the relevance of the subject matter to Kingfisher's product. Beer is more of a bloke's drink, really. Association with football works with in England.

Personally, I'm a Cobra man, but after this calendar, I am inclined to switch. The views of Antibes and Cannes are quite fetching.

Provence online travel

Online travel is booming we all know. But France is in the dark ages, it appears. I have been invited to a conference about how it will all evolve. The big question for me is "will Air France have cheap travel?"

Anyway, it sounds very exciting. Here's an excerpt from one of the speakers:

"Fundamental changes have taken place in the travel supply chain throughout Europe & the US, France's lucrative but challenging market has so far resisted substantial change. With the growth of new travel distribution channels contributing to an increasingly complex distribution web, a conference dedicated to how travel distribution is evolving in the French market will be the perfect place for web savvy travel suppliers and intermediaries to meet and make the deals that will enable them to maximize profits in France."

If it helps my renrtal property get booked, then I guess I'm OK with it.

Monogrammed Linen poses problems

When I saw what's possible with monogrammed linen, I am contemplating organising personalised bath linen for our house in Provence. Problem is, what to put on it? Chez nous, perhaps.

Our house is equipped with the bizarre postal name of "Premiere Maison a gauche": our commune Mons does not do streets let alone street numbers.

Herbes de provence growing kit

Herbes de Provence in a growing kit. I'm so jealous I never thought of this. Here's the product description:

A trip to the South of France via their kitchen windowsill. This savory combination of herbs originated in the Provence region of France and is recognized as a classic ingredient in traditional French cooking.

• includes soil and seeds for each herb (lavender, marjoram, fennel and sage)
• also includes tray, four labeled stakes, four white ceramic pots and a ceramic watering pot
• acrylic greenhouse helps promote quick growth

I'm excited by the copy too: Provence via my windowsill. Soil? From Ohio or Fayence? When you order, please quote Go Provence.

French Riviera conversations

When we venture down from the hills near Fayence to Theoule each summer for some crowded beach fun, we always end up having conversations like those reported by the New York Times.

I am saddened to find that our own Riviera-style family conversation has become an NYC cliche. And I quote:

"Definitely fake,” proclaimed my 14-year-old daughter, carefully adjusting her bikini top. “How can you tell?” asked her 10-year old sister, who as yet has no trace of the objects in question. “I bet those ones are real,” my 9-year-old son muttered, motioning his head to the left. I looked around and realized we were surrounded by topless women of all ages, many with glasses of Champagne near their discarded swimsuits. As I watched a man in his 50s slather suntan oil on his half-nude, half-his-age girlfriend, I wondered if I had made a grave mistake bringing our family to the Côte d’Azur."

Truffles are nigh!

I have just come across a marvellous personal insight into truffles, by Maki. "The buying and selling of truffles appeals strongly to the French character - it's expensive, rare, something delicious to eat, and not quite legal since much of it is cash-only, under the table...I am sure that the intrigue and secrecy simply adds to the appeal of the truffle."

Maki has supplied some great insights & some fantastic truffle shots (& recipes). She makes a purchase of the $500 items and cooks them at her appartment, engulfed in their aromas.

It is of course the middle of the truffle season and I am minded to compile some of the previous posts about truffles - one of the great enigmas on this planet. Smelly, ugly, rare - yet incredibly prized.

• Truffle hunting in provence
• Provence omelettes (with truffles)
• Black truffles
• Truffle and baguettes

BMIbaby to Marseille

Travellers will be pleased to see that bmibaby will be opening a route to Marseille. OK, that's a good fit if you want to start in the midlands.

It's one and half to two hours to Fayence: I know, I missed the train at Saint-Raphael and had to drive to Marseille's St. Charles railway station, never having been there before.

Provence organic wine

Having sat through Mondovino, which rants against Robert Parker's undue influence over world wine rankings, I was interested to see Mr. Parker speak up for Provence's organic wine output in Business Week.

Personally, I am not certain I could tell the difference.

I do however recommend Mondovino as a fine expose of the commercial undergrowth in the wine trade.