This is the avenue that inspired the one at Glanesfort in my novel The Neglected Garden. It always looks its best in autumn before the winter winds blow all the leaves away. I often walk the dogs down here and enjoy the colours changing throughout the seasons.
The plane trees of Provence
I’m back home in Ireland now but still dreaming of Provence with its pine-scented walks and sunlight flickering on mellow stone. I can appreciate why so many artists loved the area around Aix-en-Provence, with the changing colours of St Victoire mountain and the dappled shade of plane trees.
Paul Cezanne found it impossible to live anywhere else and Pablo Picasso bought a chateau in the nearby village of Vauvenargues.
Sunlight dapples through the leaves of a plane tree in the courtyard of Hotel de Caumont in Aix-en-Provence
Hotel de Caumont in Aix is now an art centre and is a lovingly restored 18th century city mansion in the Parisian style. It has a courtyard where the carriages would have turned in on their way to the stables and a small but very French formal garden. It’s a peaceful place for coffee and a slice of gateau. There’s an interesting English book store opposite the wrought-iron gate into Caumont that spreads over several floors and is worth visiting.
During World War 2, Caumont was looked after by Hélene Ardevol, a brave member of the French Resistance who sheltered members of the Maquis in apartments here until it was seized by the Nazis.
Apparently there are over 300 fountains in Aix, many of them covered in moss and favourite perching places for local pigeons.
The garden terrace at Hotel de Caumont in Aix-en-Provence. It’s now an Art Centre and is a beautifully restored 18th century mansion in the Parisian style
The formal French garden at Hotel de Caumont in Aix-en-Provence where flowers and white roses still bloomed in October
Picasso’s chateau in the village of Vauvenargues near Aix-en-Provence.
A fountain that looks like a tree
The towns of Provence are full of fountains, some more ornate than others. One of my favourites was in Salon-en-Provence where, under the dappled light of plane trees, the Fontaine Moussue is covered with a thick moss that resembles a Maiden Hair fern. One of the planes was planted in 1799 to mark the end of the revolution and another planted in 1919 at the end of the First World War. Another of Salon’s claims to fame is that the astrologer and physician Nostradamus lived and died here. His book of prophecies was first published in 1555 and has apparently remained in print ever since.
The famous Fontaine Moussue in Salon-de-Provence that dates from the 18th century and is covered in what resembles a maiden-hair fern
My reading list about Provence
The pile of books beside my bed grows higher as the months pass. I’ve read two psychological thrillers recently and I’ll talk about them another time. I’ve now added the following three books by Peter Mayle, an Englishman whose first memoir A Year in Provence shot him to international fame. I’ve read it before and loved it but I’m going to read it again now.
So many people arrived to track him down in the village where he lived in Provence that he felt compelled to escape to the US. But he and his family couldn’t resist the lure of the Luberon and returned to live there in a more secret location until he died.
UK & IRELAND (Associate links)
USA (Associate links)
