Provence from Fayence: Provence Guide

Cannes of Bean

Here's what the Scotsman thinks of Mr. Bean and his holiday in Provence. Mind you, the Scots can get there in droves now.

"The film works on a predictable and puerile level that is unlikely to endear it to most critics, but there are moments when the silliness almost becomes sublime.

Atkinson's comedy skills are well deployed in a scene where a busking Bean improvises and mimes to a recording of 'Il Mio Bambino Caro', and one in which he takes desperate measures to remain awake while drifting towards sleep at the wheel of a car.

The best moments are saved for the end as Bean becomes the sensation of the Cannes Film Festival (all too easy to accept for anyone who has experienced that event). He finally heads to the sandy beach and piercing blue seas as the entire cast join him in an all-singing, all-dancing finale played to the sound of Charles Trenet's rousing rendition of 'La Mer'.

It may be easy to dismiss as simple-minded fun, but there is something about this latest Bean escapade that makes it sweetly endearing."

Pig in Provence

Family packs its bags and heads off to Provence. Sounds familiar? This one is written by Gorgeanne Brennan who did it and runs a Provencal cooking course (just like Patricia Wells). Or was it Carol Drinkwater? No, that was an olive farm.

Saw "A Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France" on Amazon.com - no reviews yet. Anyone care to volunteer?

Bondi to ape French Riviera

Top 10 beaches in the world? Surely Bondi has enough instant name recognition to make it on the list? And yet, it's a haven for back-packers. The solution: re-model it on the French Riviera - or St. Tropez to be more precise.

"I think it can have an international flavour, something like St Tropez. It doesn't have to cater to backpackers exclusively. We don't have to push them out, but we can have a bit more sophistication." The plans have been shunned by local councillors: "I think what we need to do is make it clear what we are talking about when we say the French Riviera."

Absolutely. What are we talking about? Judging by the photo...it looks...identical to a typical St. Tropez beach.

Mr. Bean's Holiday in Provence

Mr. Bean (aka Rowan Atkinson) is back and he's comimg to Provence. Here's the synopsis: "Mr Bean is heading to the South of France for a simple holiday in the sun. His voyage from London to the Riviera soon transcends into one of mischief and mayhem as he inadvertently creates havoc wherever he goes culminating in an unscheduled and riotous screening of his own video diary at the Cannes Film Festival."

I'm sure it'll be innocent, amusing fare & look forward to the liberties Mr. Bean will take with the French, Cannes and Provence in general.

Here's more blurb.

Liverpool off to Cannes

You have to just love it. All those Liverpool city councillors and 5 other public sector supporters all off to pitch Liverpool at a big property bash in Cannes. "The big guns of Merseyside's private and public sectors head to the French Riviera this week in a drive to generate millions of extra inward investment," reports Cheshire Online. (For overseas readers, Cheshire is where many of Liverpool's rich live). I'm sure they'll do very well in old Provence.

What's stranger is this: "Liverpool's award-winning brewery, Cains, will also have its famous lager on draught in the south of France for the first time. The company's Finest Lager will be on tap to quench the thirst of chief executives and property magnates from all across the world... The beer and lager can be sampled at the Liverpool stand in the Riviera Hall Palais des Festivals along with champagne and continental breakfasts every morning."  You choose: Cotes de Provence, Burgundy or Cains or (as the article suggests) Champagne? 

Call me a snob but only city councillors from England's north west would drink beer for breakfast along with a continental breakfast: j'aimerais un pain chocolat et une pression Cains.

Cycling in Provence

"The warm embrace of the sun and the soft kiss of the wind, the tastes of freshly picked cherries and wines from a dozen rare appellations are part of Provence I will always remember. Not to mention the warmth of the friendly welcomes wherever we went, the savory fragrance wafting from a field of fully blooming lavender, and the song of the cicadas - these are my memories from a week of touring the Vaucluse region of Provence, France, by bike."

And thus commences a readable arcticle about some folk from Bend Oregon who cycled in Provence. Makes you want to go, hey?