Provence from Fayence: Provence Guide

Sentier Martel: Gorges du Verdon

The Sentier Martel that schleps along the bottom of the Gorges du Verdon is one of the supreme hikes in Europe, by a country mile. It takes about 6 hours and boasts everything: ascent/descent, mountain streams, vertical ladders and pitch-black tunnels. We saw eagles too.

Here's a map. A man called Rikly has taken photos of the Sentier Martel at every step of the way.

My top tip: park at Point Sublime, call a taxi from La Palud and get dropped off at the easterly start (Châlet de la Maline). Hike back. Enjoy a well-deserved beer at the bar. Drive home knackered, but enriched.

Planning your Fayence holiday

I finally cracked and wrote a summary of our "what to do in Provence" recommendations for visitors to our house near Fayence.

Provence or Tuscany?

Simplistic comparison from the Sunday Times, and guess what? It's a draw. Readers will assume both are fabuluous and be none the wiser.

Here's the answer: I honeymooned in Tuscany and have a house in Provence. Draw your own conclusions.

Enjoy this excerpt: "Granted, Provence lacks Tuscany’s “painted into place” perfection. Its beauty is otherwise — of sensual light softly colouring a life lived hard for centuries. This is a land of lavender, prettily perched villages and old blokes bringing ancestral wisdom to the game of pétanque.

But such postcard slivers of reality disguise a hectic history and geography that render the region rough-edged and turbulent. The villages were, after all, perched for protection. Prettiness is a by-product.

The postcards tell little, either, about a life still dominated by farming, family ties and folk who alternate between public celebrations and bitter disputes. They also ignore pieds et paquets, the tripe-and-trotters dish with which locals stun feeble foreign digestive systems.

Provence is, in short, a proper, rooted place, not an arty summer camp for the chattering classes. Bèn-vengu. (That’s “welcome”, Provençal-wise.)"

Route Napoleon died

I'll confess: Napoleon and the Napoleonic era fascinates me. My family buys me birthday presents allegedly from Napoleon. My book case is crowded with Napoleonic books: from War and Peace to campaign maps. Sad, but true.  The fact that Provence is home of the Route Napoleon (the start of his short-lived 1815 comeback) is thrilling, too,

Sooo, imagine my interest at the news story that mystery behind Napoleon's death (again): cancer. There have been all sorts of theories over the years, including poisoning by the British (who, us?). What's interesting is the range of headlines, depending on where you come from:

• Terrible food killed Napoleon
• Napoleon death mystery solved
• Mighty emperor felled by stomach cancer
• Cancer was emperor's Waterloo

I love the last one for creativity! The terrible food story (from Australia) piques my interest: obviously sparked by a crise de foie.

The Route Napoleon goes from Golfe Juan to Grenoble.

A Good Year ripped by the French

Ridley Scott's adaptation of Peter Mayle's "A Good Year" - dubbed "Une Grande Annee" in French - has picked up quite a few ropey reviews by the French cinematic intelligentsia, according to Reuters.

Unfazed by the translations, I tracked 'em down in the original and found load of Grande Annee reviews:

Paris Match: "Prévisible de bout en bout, l'histoire lourdingue accumule les clichés sur fond de carte postale pour touristes gastronomes."

Tele 7 Jours: "Dénué de caractère et de corps, ce millésime anodin n'a rien du grand cru attendu... "

Le Monde: "Sans lésiner sur les clichés, Ridley Scott adapte ici sans y croire un roman de Peter Mayle, qui défend la noblesse de l'argent du terroir contre la vulgarité de celui des marchés financiers."

I have yet to see it, but I shall going to see Perfume first.