Provence from Fayence outwards

Petanque

Petanque is the native provencal ball game - it a bit like football in the UK.  I read in the Times that the name pétanque comes from the Provençal words ped tanco, or pieds tanqués in French, meaning having your feet stuck to the ground. Because there is no run-up, the pitch is shorter than in other boules games. These days pétanque is played by about 17 million people in France and in more than 50 other countries.

I sound better than the author of the piece, but then I played squash as a teenager and developed the flexibility of wrist much cherished by boulistes.

The article has a brief summary of the rules. First to thirteen, not the fifteen I've been playing.

Canadairs over Lac St. Cassien

Canadairs flying low over Provence in groups of three and four is a regular sight in the summer. Unfortunate as well, as its a sure sign of forest fire. See smoke and the Canadairs will follow - and vice versa.
In the Fayence/Montauroux region, its the Lac St. Cassien that feeds the airplanes: they dive in low over the bridge and scoop up water.

Les tablettes de chocolat

I am grateful to "Why travel to France" for the amusing linguistic revelation that the French for "six pack" (a.k.a ripped abdominal muscles) is "tablettes de chocolat".  My chocolate bars have more ripples than a six pack, which says a lot (or not) about the Australians who invented the beer-can analogy.

For the record, you can see quite a few on the beaches of the French Riviera (if you're challenging the link with 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."

Peter Mayle's Good Year

Amusing article in the Times with Peter Mayle, discussing life in Provence and generally promoting A Good Year (the one directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe). Here's some nuggets:

* “Russell Crowe seemed an odd choice,” (Mayle) admits. “I thought more Hugh Grant. Russell normally has very macho parts slicing people’s heads off ’s Gladiator. But in this film there is no rape or disembowelment; the most violent movement is pulling a cork from a bottle.”

* "The countryside (in Provence) is so ravishing it was just a point and squirt job"

"“London is now very edgy, but who wants that? Whenever I come back I find it noisier, dirtier and more ethnically mixed.”  (We can all relate to this.)

* Other than writing, drinking and observing, his days are spent tending to his 200 olive trees: “We farm them at an exorbitant cost. It would be cheaper to fly the olives over from Fortnum’s.”  (Having 300 myself, I empathise fully).

Mons farmhouse

I am so chuffed by this painting. It has a remarkable history.

It is painted by a member of the Pelassy family - Mons' ruling dynasty (Mons is in the canton of Fayence, Provence) - M. Pelassy is the mayor. The Pelassy family own the neighbouring property and we share some olive terraces. I have a lawn mowe admittedly a big yellow one - they have a tractor: it's called keeping up with the Pelassy's. One day, my children will be mayors too. Noel Pelassy painted the picture.

The painting is the side view of our house in Mons (which is, as it happens, for rent) from the olive terraces. The lady in the picture is called Nicole. Nicole was massively popular in the area - everyone seems to know her. We wish we had the chance to know her: she was well loved and everyone speaks well of her. She lived off the land, tended chickens and harvested the olives.

Sadly, she passed away and her estate was sold (she left no heirs) to a lawyer. We bought the house from the lawyer when he moved to the USA in 2000. We first saw the picture hanging on Noel Pelassy's wall when we went to introduce ourselves.  Noel was warm. friendly and a WW2 veteran - we quaffed a Pastis with him and left a peace offering of a bottle of wine. Sadly, he passed away our first winter. We never really knew him. The house was left to the Pelassy nieces.

The painting stayed put in Pelassy land until one day, at lunch with some friends who live in the hamlet, we see the painting on their wall. Roger Pelassy (the brother) presented it ceremonially to our neighbours (and dear friends), knowing how fond they were of Nicole. In 2006, sadly, Roger Pelassy died as well and we all remain shocked at this tragic news.

I blag a photograph. It is our house after all. We are fascinated by its history (over 200 years) and the story of its dwellers, like Nicole, who have inspired such affection.

Cote d'Azur left to nouveau riche

I am appalled by the absurd snobbery associated with French regions, including Provence - anything is better than the UK! Here's a few, reported in Australia:

• Provence is much more popular with left-wing voters, according to L'Express.
• Provence and Vaucluse was home to the gauche-caviar set, the left-leaning politicians and writers who flocked there during the Francois Mitterrand presidency of the 1980s.
• Le nouvel Observateur. the favourite news weekly of the Left Bank dismissed St Tropez as "the capital of dosh and show-offs".
• Old money and the conservative upper orders have long favoured the more bracing climate and sporty ambiance of the Atlantic coast and Brittany to the Mediterranean with its suntan oil and pizza.

You are where you holiday.

New Provence?

Thought-proving article about the invasion of foringers in the Luberon, the clash of interests between locals, new money, movies and tourism.

I love the range of names: les nouveaux, les éstrangers, new co-citizens. One local complains: "When I arrived, Bonnieux was the end of the earth. People spoke Provençal. Today, the language is neo-Provençal-French and English."

He adds: "This is the new Provence." 

Lavender en saison

Engaging article in NY Times about lavender producing communes in Provence and the degree of salesmanship exhibited by villages to attract business around lavender.

Search Provence

You'll all find the new gizmo I've added to the right column (yes, just a few inches to your right) incredibly useful - we've dubbed it Search Provence. Its called a "Buzzcloud" and it sort of tracks what people search for in it (on the Internet) & represents that graphically. We get to OK whether or not the search terms are included in the cloud. They say it's better than Google. Early days yet, then.

I notice that some people (probably Australian) have typed in their own names. I could expose them.