Provence Blog by ProvenceBeyond

France Ski-Station Openings 2010-2011

We have the latest news of the France ski-station opening dates for the 2010-2011 season; all will be open by the end of December. 

The earliest, already opened towards the end of November, include Auron,  Isola 2000, Montgenèvre and the less-local Les Deux-Alpes.

With an early winter having arrived in France, our local (Alpes-Maritimes) ski stations of Gréolières and Valberg are opening this Saturday, 4 December.

 

Caille Meteorite landing in Nice

The Caille Meteorite, the largest meteorite ever discovered in France, landed on a mountain beside the village of Caille sometime before 1630. Dragged to the village by four oxen, the iron-stone hung around the village for a century and a half, until it was identified as a meteorite and traded to Paris' National Museum of Natural History for a village clock.

On 20-21 November, the Caille Meteorite will leave the Paris museum for the first time since 1828 to be displayed at the Parc Phoenix in Nice. The occasion of the Parc Phoenix  display is a mineral show.

October Chestnut Festivals

The annual chestnut festivals in Collobrières are taking place on the three Sundays of the 14th, 21st and 28th of October. Collobrières is deep in the forested hills of the Maures, west of Saint Tropez and northeast of Toulon and Hyères. This is excellent country for hiking, and a visit to the Carthusian monastery "Chartreuse de la Verne".

Also in the Maures is La Garde-Freinet, northwest of Saint Tropez. La Garde-Freinet is having their chestnut festivals on the 21st and the 28th of October.

Also on Sunday the 21st are chestnut festivals in Camps-la-Source (3 km southeast of Brignoles), Gonfaron (with the famous "Flying Donkey"), Les Meyons (10 km south of Le Luc), Tanneron (in the hills west of Cannes), and Valdeblore La Bolline (in the mountains of the Alpes Maritimes, between St Martin-Vésubie and St Sauveur-sur-Tinée).

On other chestnut festival on Sunday the 28th will be held in Pignans, just down the road southwest of Gonfaron and the Turtle Village.

There are, of course, other October chestnut festivals in other parts of France.

August Festivals in Provence

Provence lavender festivals for August are being held at
Digne-les-Bains (3-7 Aug),
Valréas (4-6 Aug), and
Sault (15 Aug).
Digne-les-Bains is also having its annual lavender fair on 23-27 August.

In addition to the lavender, Grasse's annual Jasmin Festival begins today, for 3-5 August.

Another very interesting festival is the Mexican-themed festival in Barcelonnette, harking back to the town's strong links with its Mexican heritage.

The very well-known International Festival of Photography is running in Arles for all of August, ending on 16 Sept.

Fete de la Musique

The Fete de la Musique on the 21st of June is  one of the most popular street festivals in France. Events and festivities take place all over France, from the small villages to the largest towns. Day-time musical events and fêtes are popular everywhere, and towns from Paris on down have all-night doings.

Orange Tree Festival

[10 April] We went to the fête of Le Bar-sur-Loup and had a wonderful time. We spent only the morning there, so didn't see all the events. Especially, we didn't see the potter-iron sculpture complete his amphora in the afternoon.

[04 April] This coming Easter-Monday (9 April), the village of Bar-sur-Loup is having their annual Orange Tree Festival. We hope to be attending the event ourselves.

Printemps du Cinéma

Sunday 18 March to Tuesday 2 March 2007 is the Printemps du Cinéma (Springtime of the Movie). There is a low fixed entry price of 3.50 euros to see any film in most movie theatres in France. "Most", because it is for participating cinemas, but that's all of the big chains and many of the smaller ones as well.

Santons of Provence

December is "Santons" time in Provence. We have a few pages about santons, including santon museums in different villages. On our main Santons page, we've added a section about where annual creches and santons events are held. The photo (left) of the horses is one of many non-"creche" themes of the "santonniers" skills, photographed at the santons display in Arles.

Roubion Transhumance

This coming Sunday, 24 Sept 2006, the village of Roubion will be holding its 4th annual fête de la transhumance. Celebrations begin in the morning, around 10h, with "dressage" of cattle, sheep and horses in the village.
No, our photo (left) wasn't taken at Roubion, a medieval perched village in the mountains, where the land tends to be more vertical than horizontal.

Santons in Orgon

About a month from now, 14-15 October, there will be a Santons Fair (10th Foire aux Santons) at Orgon, a medieval village just south of Cavaillon (map, NW). We don't have Orgon online in Beyond (yet), but we have visited there and like the place.