Why Provence? Reasons to fall in love with one of the most beautiful regions of France

I am probably the only author who has written seven books about France and its regions, of which two are completely different books about Provence. One was published in 2000 and the other in late 2017. And now the electronic version of the printed book is being published on the Mendeley Mocher Sfarim website , after an update and two more full proofs.

The e-book is intended for those who, like me, prefer to read a book on a tablet, and enjoy traveling equipped with an electronic guide. It is convenient to use: it does not wear out. There is no need to spread out large paper maps, which wear out and tear at the folds, because various apps allow you to browse digital maps at any time, plot travel routes, check offers and options that are not in the book, book a hotel from the car, and so on. In addition, it is relatively easy to update it.

And another advantage: the book is offered at a third of the price of the printed book, because the costs of "producing" it are very low.

So why Provence ? What makes the region so attractive, and not just to me?

Marseille or how I began to love Provence

My acquaintance with France began in Provence. More precisely, in Marseille. I lived there from 1957 to 59. There I learned French . It is no wonder that my first accent in the language of Molière was a melodious pronunciation in the style of Marcel Panuol. For the next two years, I lived in Algiers, and there, of course, the local accent stuck with me. And when I arrived in Paris in 1961, and lived there until 1970, I did not acquire the accent typical of the French capital: despite my complete command of the language, due to the mixture, in Paris I spoke French with an unclear accent, probably Belgian… which did not improve over time. To speak with a Parisian accent, I have to make an effort. Be aware of every intonation. Be in Paris.

But in the background, the touch of Marseille remained, which is like a song. A song sung in childhood. And the flavors and aromas and sounds and sights remained. I return again and again to the landscape of my youth, to the fishing village and the oak des Ouffs that is located next to the house where we lived in Marseille, on the long promenade by the sea. This simple, charming place is so dear to me that I chose it to adorn the cover of my first book, The Delights of Provence. In Vallon des Ouffs, I began the first research journey for my new book, The 50 Delights of Provence. We rented a room, one of two that currently exist, next to the famous Boisbas restaurant Pompon in Vallon, with the view of the boats before our eyes and the lapping of the water. We dined at the restaurant l'Epuisette next to it, to close the circle. L'Epoise, now a Michelin-starred restaurant, is the eatery near my home where I first ate sea fish. Because of childhood jaundice, fish made me sick. The piece of sea bass, served as a thick fillet, was presented to me as meat… I enjoyed it and asked for more. Then, I was told it was actually fish. And since then, I've been bad for shrimp, clams, fish, and lobster.

On the same day at the beginning of the first journey, I was walking through my childhood neighborhood in Marseille, the Andom district, and I passed by the elementary school for boys, where I studied in a class of those who complete their compulsory education before moving on to vocational education or being thrown into the labor market. The more talented ones had already moved on to middle school. “I learned” is a way of expressing it: I didn’t know French yet. I tried English, they didn’t. And they mocked me. We had to memorize the list of provinces in France, 90 at the time, the names of the provincial and district cities, the order of the kings of France since the very first, and other important information without which there is no chance in a working life and trivia quizzes. From there I skipped along with reasonable French for advanced high school, boys and girls, sports, and French lunches. It was fun. One day a week they served roast pork. Nowadays, the Muslim minority, which is using them, is trying to force all parties to eliminate pork dishes in schools. The Jews who attended school and I had no problem with ham and ribs, and no one protested.

In Marseille, I became a picky eater. My mother, who had just emerged from the austerity kitchen, began cooking Provençal food, fish and bouche en doub, a stew of beef chunks in wine, while my father and I frequented simple restaurants. We adopted a pizzeria with two entrances, and we ate there quite a bit: it served huge, thin pizzas, loaded with delicacies. Flavors and crispness that were never repeated.

From Marseille we went on trips to western Provence. Arles, Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, Cassis are familiar to me from 1957-58. We also traveled in the Camargue marshland . I especially remember a trip in my father's battered de Chabou on the narrow dike that separates Lake Vaccarès from the sea. A path so narrow that every encounter with a car forced both drivers to tilt their vehicles to the side, and drive a few meters diagonally, with a tangible danger of capsizing in the water. The gymnasium also sent us on trips. And one day two Israelis came with an old car, and together we drove to Monaco, Nice and the rest of the Riviera. An unforgettable trip.

Since those days I have loved Provence very much. I have returned there many times in the almost 60 years that have passed since I left Marseille for Algiers. I have visited almost every corner and every gem. So when I come to write a book about Provence, I am writing, to a certain extent, about home.

Over the years, my tastes and preferences in Provence have changed and, above all, expanded. Because, like in Paris, which I know no less well, each visit brings me new and unfamiliar things, some of which captivate my heart and senses.

Today, my preferences in Provence are divided between past properties and new discoveries.

Provence – so many places to fall in love with

I love Marseille. Few Israelis tend to visit it. I have followed with concern its deterioration into a city of violence and serious crime, but in recent years I have witnessed the enormous improvement that has taken place in it thanks to several factors, first, its election as the European Capital of Culture in 2013 and the opening of a new and important museum. Hundreds of events have attracted millions to the city. Even huge cruise ships have begun to stop at the port. Second, huge investments in the development and rehabilitation of various neighborhoods, especially the new port district, a project that has attracted foreign companies to establish themselves there. Third, the allocation of resources to improve living conditions in difficult suburbs and increased policing. There is still considerable crime in Marseille. But the atmosphere is different. It's fun there.

I became very attached to Arles when I stayed there twice in the 21st century in a hostel for literary translators. Arles is a small city with its own charm, history, and culture, and in recent years a Swiss philanthropist who grew up in the city has been significantly upgrading its cultural offerings.

In recent years, it has become clear to me that the most beautiful part of Provence is the Riviera. The cultural offering there is also particularly impressive: an incredible concentration of art that can compete with Paris. Therefore, in my new book, I have placed these charming villages west of Nice in a separate section, called "The Art Route." Within a limited area, an extraordinary wealth of museums and chapels and works by great artists: Picasso, Bonnard, Leger, Tobias, Matisse, Armand, Chagall. This is in addition to Nice, which has the Chagall Museum and the Matisse Museum and a special museum for the Nice School.

I fell in love with the art hidden in remote chapels in the hills north of Nice. In my first book, I dedicated a chapter to the "eagles' nests" of the region, dozens of ancient villages hanging on cliffs. In my new book, I went further north, and mapped the art of the "Primitif Nice", the Primitives of Nice. Several dozen artists of Ligurian origin, who worked mainly in the Nice area, the "County of Nice", then and until the mid-19th century part of the Kingdom of Savoy. The nickname Primitive came to indicate that they were pre-Renaissance painters. The prominent name is Ludovic Brea, but the crown jewels of the style are small chapels painted from the foundation to the eaves in villages and towns scattered in a spectacular landscape, such as the La Tina Valley. In the book, three chapters are dedicated to this art and the routes between the chapels and villages.

Years ago I fell in love with the hanging village of Eze above the Riviera. With its incredible views, exotic garden on its dome and steep alleys. On my last trips I spent time on the terrace of the Herre à Château la chèvre d'or, where you sit and sip an aperitif and watch the view of Cap Pre, a long, thin tongue of land that stretches out into the sea. A fascinating picture that constantly changes thanks to the angle of the sun and sometimes the clouds. A terrace, which is now my favorite place in the area.

I fell in love with the Luberon region. A rural area that only lacks the sea to be perfect.

And how is it possible without the culinary aspect?

The markets of Provence, a simple and accessible cultural asset, have always fascinated me. Aromas, flavors, colors, sounds, a great celebration. I was very impressed by the weekly market in the town of Porcalquier. In Arles, I visited the huge Saturday market every week to shop, but I witnessed the gradual changes that took place there, not always for the better. Fewer Provençal food stalls, more stalls of shmates. The amazing Salies market in Nice, the covered market in Avignon, one of whose walls is adorned with a flowering garden. Village markets. Most markets are set up early in the morning and dismantled at noon, and the vendors migrate to the next destination in a predetermined weekly cycle. I became acquainted with the large market of Apt in the heart of the Luberon region. A real open-air market. And that of ancient Aix. I liked the covered market of Cannes , although in my opinion it is too polished, like the city itself. There is hardly a village that does not have a weekly market. In the book, I note the market day in every town I passed through.

Gastronomy, of course. From the most popular, Provençal sauces that are tasted in the markets, to the top restaurants. The light and healthy Mediterranean cuisine is free of cream and fat. Olive oil, seasonal vegetables, herbs, fish and seafood provided by a long stretch of coastline, dotted with fishing ports, and lamb, these are the basics of the cuisine, which are used both in the top restaurants and in the popular layers of the local restaurant industry.

Large parts of Provence are wine regions, and a winery tour takes you through some of the most beautiful parts of the region. Provençal wines do not compete, nor will they in the future, with the best of Burgundy and Bordeaux, nor with the wonderful whites of Alsace . But in the last thirty years there has been an impressive upgrade in vineyards and wineries, and the average quality has risen greatly. Admittedly, the vast majority of the produce is rosé wines, some of which are good. But the main upgrade has been in the reds. Besides the fine classics of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, good red wines at reasonable prices can also be found in other parts of Provence. There has also been an improvement in the minority of whites. I mention all the wine regions in the book, assess their quality, and recommend wineries and wines.

And there are more, of course. Landscapes, villages, works of art… I have compiled my subjective favorites into 50 “musts,” marked in the book with an icon: this is the letter M in the ancient Hebrew alphabet. The maps in the book indicate the locations of the “musts” in the various parts of the region. But the 50 selected are only a small part of the book: they are embedded within the vast complex of everything Provence has to offer the tourist.

I hope I answered the somewhat rhetorical question I asked at the beginning of the article…

Electronic, new – The 50 Delights of Provence, Mendley sells their book online, 32 NIS. Link to the book
In print – 50 Delights of Provence, Steinhardt-Schreb, 99 NIS

A few words about “50 Delights of Provence” and Avital Inbar

The electronic “50 Delights of Provence” is published less than a year after the printed book appeared – and many details have been updated to May 2018. It is published 18 years after Inbar’s first book about Provence, “The Delights of Provence,” which sent tens of thousands of Israelis to the wonderful region. The book takes you and yours to the stunning beauty, to the restaurants, from the top to the most popular, recommends the best wineries in every area, hotels and hostels, and accompanies you to the markets and their tempting stalls, to the hanging villages, to extraordinary museums, to artists’ houses, to chapels painted in the late 15th or 20th centuries, to spectacular landscapes and unfamiliar places.

The historical Jewish aspect is not forgotten. A chapter is dedicated to the ancient region of the Jews of Provence, Comtat Venaissin – the papal estate near Avignon – which absorbed Jews expelled from the Kingdom of France. The Counts of Provence also absorbed deportees, and in various localities the author notes this ancient presence. He also “discovered” a remote ghetto in a small town in the mountains north of Nice, and more.

From the vast selection in the book, the author has chosen the 50 most recommended, in his opinion, the "musts." He highlights each one with an icon, the letter "M" in the ancient Hebrew alphabet.

The book outlines a spiral path, allowing you to begin the journey at any chapter.

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