Art & Culture French Life French Provinces: Art & Culture French Life French Provinces
by maribeth
Comments Off on Pondering Provence
Pondering Provence
A Quintessential Provençal Scene
Ahhhh, mid August. Here in the mountains I’m already chagrined by a certain crispness in the air. Fall and the first snows won’t be far off. The weather has been glorious lately but I’m still longing for a blast of furnace-like heat, sweltering days that force me to retreat beneath a shade tree until the delightful oppressiveness of the day subsides and I can emerge to take in perhaps a cultural site or just sip a perfectly chilled glass of rosé on a terrace. The desert isn’t far from where I live now and certainly it provides plenty of warmth. But I am thinking of Provence. Sun-drenched days, shady plane trees, a plethora of cultural offerings, delicious wines and so much more.
We are approaching le quinze août after all, the holiday of all holidays for Europeans. Many people don’t even know that August fifteenth marks Assumption, a Catholic holiday that is hardly celebrated in Europe except for the fact that most everyone has the day off. People typically take a whole week off around August fifteenth (if they can’t manage the entire month!). So you can imagine it is the big vacation week of the summer, the biggest of the year in fact.
I have been in Provence during this period many times, battling crowds at the renowned markets of Saint-Tropez and Ilse-sur-la-Sorgue (you have to arrive early at these and most others). Yet somehow I always managed and it was always worth it.
But traveling to Provence in the fall offers a whole other experience. Yes, you might still have difficulty reserving a table on the patio at the famed Oustau de Baumanière, but you won’t encounter the throngs of tourists that invade this most delightful region of France in July and August. You’ll still find the weather to be glorious and the cultural offerings just as exciting.
Bea (on the rt.) with Le Mont Sainte-Victoire, Cézanne's Mountain, in the Distance
So why not consider a small, escorted tour composed of fellow travelers of discriminating taste? I recently became in touch with Beatriz Ball, founder of Golden Bee Tours, a Brazilian-born woman that boasts a huge passion for France, especially Provence.
The Golden Vineyards of Provence in Autumn
Since Bea’s Provence Arts and Scents Tour for the third week of September has sold out, she has decided to offer it the last week in September as well. The highlight of this tour is certainly a guided visit to “Picasso-Cézanne,” a much-talked-about exhibition at the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence that explores Cézanne’s influence on Picasso. Being ferried about a beautiful place with a delightful lady in the know—now that’s what I call a real vacation.
Bea, a recent guest on Travel Fun, chatted with me mostly during our interview about why so many artists have been lured to Provence over more than a century. “I remember being so impressed with the quality of light the first time I traveled to Provence many years ago,” Bea said. Indeed the skies are so clear and vivid that they offer up a kaleidoscope of colors that changes throughout the day. Certainly this is largely why Picasso, Cézanne and countless other artists sought to capture this region of France on canvas. “The region celebrates your senses,” Bea added and I concurred. It didn’t take much for my thoughts to drift off to the ever present crick-crick-crick of the cicadas, the wafting smells of rosemary and thyme, the taste of a rich tapenade spread over crusty bread, the feel of rubbing a sprig of lavender between my palms, the vision of Abbaye de Sénanque in all its Romanesque splendor on a late summer’s afternoon.
Ah—haaaa. Mid August. I should either book a flight to France or go buy myself a nice bottle of Bandol and a few olives. No wonder it has captivated so many people for so many years.
Thank you to Bea and LCI/CDT VAR for the use of the above images.
Talking the Tour with Graham Watson
The Old Always Contrasts the New at the Tour de France
By now you must have figured out that I have a thing for France. But it has come as a surprise to many (mostly my French friends!) that I’m crazy about the Tour de France. How can I not be? What a wonderful display of French countryside and good looking men! Of course I also like the international flair of this epic bike race and cycling itself. (Once I figured out that it’s both a team and an individual sport, I became fascinated with how well the cyclists work together. Or not.)
Graham and His Basque Driver of Twenty Years
So you can imagine when I was pitched the idea of interviewing Tour veteran Graham Watson on Travel Fun, I jumped at the chance. Graham, a renowned cycling photographer, has followed the Tour for about three decades. He’s one of those dudes perched on the back of un moto that careens in and out of the peloton. He’s one of sixteen Tour photographers that has that privilege. (There are 150 official Tour photographers in all.) “Being a photographer on a motorbike at the Tour de France is the best job there is,” Graham admits without a grain of conceit in his ever-so charming British accent.
I was thrilled to be able to chat with him on the phone from London, fresh off the Tour (that ended this past Sunday). With the exception of any mention of good looking guys, I learned Graham was attracted to the Tour for much the same reasons as those that have made me such a devotee. “It was the color, excitement, drama and the possibility of discovering France that drew me to the Tour,” Graham admitted. In 1977, during his first trip to the Gallic land and his first Tour de France, he realized “France wasn’t so bad.” Indeed the Tour has been a wonderful means for experiencing France for Graham and today he readily acknowledges that he’s a Francophile. (So much for the Franco-British and British-Franco rivalry!)
A section of La Corniche, between the Col d'Aubisque and the Col du Soulor, in the 1995 Tour de France
Graham shares his passion for France and the Tour de France not only through his photography but also through a newly-released book, “Graham Watson’s Tour de France Travel Guide,” a must-have for Tour enthusiasts whether you’re planning a trip to France or not. It’s an insider’s guide to the Tour, beautifully presented with lots of How to information, four-color maps, photos by Graham and others, history and anecdotes and more.
This book provides you with all that you need to happily navigate this exciting sporting event. It even tells you how to meet the pros, something that I was fortunate enough to do—totally by accident—a number of years ago. I ended up staying in the same hotel as the U.S. Postal Team one night and actually met Lance on the eve of his legendary Alpe d’Huez win in 2001. That’s the kind of amazing encounter you can have at the Tour. “Cycling is a very modest sport,” Graham says. “The riders do meet and greet the public. They’re not super stars that hide beyond a stadium.”
Graham has seen the Tour de France evolve from a parochial French event in the late seventies to the big international event that it is today. His career got off the ground along with the success of cycling greats Greg Lemond, Sean Kelly and Phil Anderson. Lance Armstrong has certainly given us all the ride of our lives at the Tour. Isn’t it wonderful though to be debriefed by someone that his been so entrenched in the peloton for so many years? Thanks Graham for marrying your two passions: cycling and photography. And I might add, for choosing to do it in France.
Always an Exciting Finish on the Champs-Elysées
Tips for Attending the Tour de France from Graham Watson
-Target three to four consecutive days (stages) in the Alps or the Pyrenees and then spend about the same amount of time discovering some place else in France.
-Begin planning your trip once the Tour route has been announced mid-October. Graham feels that the Internet is a great resource for booking hotels. Know that many rooms are taken first by the Tour, so you have to get on it fast.
-Your best chance for meeting a cyclist is after the finish line when they often have to pedal out of the secured area.
Consult “Graham Watson’s Tour de France Travel Guide” for many more!
For up-to-the-minute news about competitive cycling, check out VeloNews.
More Graham Glory
Thank you to Graham Watson and VeloPress for the use of the above images.
