Provence Blog by ProvenceBeyond

Special Sundial in the Drôme

We made a weekend visit to the Drôme department this weekend, suffering a biting cold winter wind to visit the villages of St-Paul-Trois-Chateaux, Clansayes, Chamaret, Grignan, Grillon, Valréas and Taulignan (see the area map). In the tiny village of Chamaret we found this lovely sundial, quite unusual in that it's made from ceramic rather than the usual carved stone or 19th-century paint.

Bright colors and a village scene, with details such as a cyclist, picnickers and petanque players.

We overnighted in Valréas, where we've visited on previous occasions. We managed to visit quite a few villages in one short weekend - the temperature was around zero degrees (C) and the stiff wind made village wandering more like village scurrying, with frequent café stops for re-heating.

 

 

Le Stuff catches a thief on the French Riviera

We've just learned about a very interesting blog called Le Stuff. Currently and mainly about the Alfred Hitchcock film To Catch a Thief, and tracking down the exact spots where scenes of the film were shot. 

Le Stuff's blogger is sharing his love of travel, food and the experience of the South of France, and he loves the driving scenes on the twisty mountain roads in To Catch a Thief.

 

Montgenèvre November Snow

The ski station at Montgenèvre, near Briançon and on the Italian border, had some really good snowfall during the last half of November, making it one of the first French ski stations to open. 

Other November snowfall in the South and other parts of France is said to be about a month early this year, indicating (possibly) a longer-than-normal ski season. It did snow chez nous in Grasse this week, but the snow didn't stick, or stick around.

 

Autumn Colors at Entrevaux, Alpes-Maritimes

Bright orange, yellow and red leaves on the mountain roads approaching the Medieval town of Entrevaux, on the Var river in the Alpes-Maritimes. We drove up through the little villages of Caille and Andon, through the narrow Clue de Saint-Auban, a café stop and Briançonette, then north over the mountains to Entrevaux.

The first photo is on the twisty D911 road approaching Entrevaux. The second photo is at the edge of Entrevaux village, where a small stream comes down from the hills to join the Var river.

We had a great lunch in Entrevaux old-town (in across the draw bridge), at L'Ambassade. Local Autumn fare, finishing with truly wonderful tarte de chataigne (chestnut pie).

 

Saint Maurice-Navacelles village, Hérault

We've added the Hérault village of St-Maurice-Navacelles to Beyond. Located on the Larzac Plateau in the upper Languedoc-Roussillon region, this small village is very close to the Navacelles Cirque and numerous dolmens and menhirs.

Neolithic Menhirs of Le Coulet, Larzac Plateau

We've added a page for the group of 4 Neolithic Le Coulet Menhirs, just a few km south of the Cirque de Navacelles, and close to the Ferrussac Dolmens.

 

Cirque de Navacelles in the Gorges de la Vis

We've added a page for the beautiful Navacelles Cirque, a deep circular basin at the bottom of the rugged Vis river canyon. It's located at the edge of the Larzac Plateau, at the southern edge of the Massif Central.

 

Prunarede Dolmen

We've added the Prunarede Dolmen to Beyond. These are actually two Neolithic burial dolmens, on the limstone Plateau of Larzac, in the Hérault department.

 

Botero in Saint-Tropez

 During our recent weekend visit to Saint Tropez, during France's Heritage Days (Journées de Patrimoines), we wandered around the town admiring several statues by Fernando Botero. Here are photos of four of the statues.

We didn't search out all of the Botero statues in the town that day; there were too many other things to see and do (such as sitting at a café terrace beside the port and watching the St-Tropez-style world going by.

     
 
 
 

Villa Noailles in Hyères on France's Heritage Weekend

 Saturday-Sunday (18-19 Sept) was Heritage Weekend (Journées Patrimoines) in France, when  museums, olive oil mills, places of interest in towns and villages all over France are either open for visits (if they aren't normally open to the public) or free (if they're normally open but charge). We spent the morning in Hyères, near Toulon, visiting several sites, including the Villa Noailles.

 Viscount Charles de Noailles and his wife Marie-Laure, patrons of modern art, had their Summer villa designed by architect Robert Mallet-Stevens in 1923. The villa is located on the hill above the center of Hyères just below the Chateau ruins where the original fortified town once stood.

The Noailles were important patrons of modern art through the 1920s and 1930s, particularly surrealism; they supported film projects by Man Ray Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel; and commissioned paintings, photographs and sculptures by Balthus, Giacometti, Constantin Brâncuşi, Miró, and Dora Maar. Following the war years, from 1947 until 1970, the villa was the summer residence of Marie-Laure,who died in 1970, and the house was purchased by the city of Hyères in 1973. [Thank you Wikipedia.]

An experienced botanist, Charles de Noailles created a large Mediterranean park beside the Hyéres villa. The terraced gardens have a great collection of Mediterranean plants, and a wonderful view of the town and the seaside.

Charles de Noailles, who died in 1981, had another villa with extensive gardens built in a shady valley at the edge Grasse.