Blue Sky Living

A very wet year

You can’t help but feel sorry for the Provence tourist board. Trying to capitalise on the success of the Ridley Scott adaptation of Peter Mayle’s book A Good Year, the board invited 10 of Hollywood’s finest location scouts and script writers for a tour of the region.

Imagine the sales pitch - “come and film in the light that inspired Cezanne. Provence’s crystal clear winter skies are unparalleled throughout the world, once the late summer storms are over sunshine is almost guaranteed. Provence really is a corner of Paradise….”

And so they came, but instead of traipsing through the grapes in their shorts, and smearing sun block on their fast reddening noses, they huddled in their macs under slate grey skies. Every morning they woke up it was the same, rain, rain and more rain. There has been so much of it that a new stream has sprung up at the bottom of our garden and the neighbouring children have even managed to catch a shrimp. According to the people in charge of the Luberon national park rainfall this year is at a 25 year high.

Watch out for a remake of the Kevin Costner film Waterworld, set in Provence.

Weird festival of the year

The French are undoubtedly the kings of the quirky festival. They don't think twice about driving flocks of sheep through town centres or a spot of bull running and for almost every fruit and vegetable there is inevitably a fete in its honour. This week though saw the beginning of one of the strangest festivals ever in the Luberon village of Gargas.

Bertrand Salens the owner of the Cafe des Artisans has created his own festival devoted to that classic article of clothing - the g-string. 17 artists participated creating themed g-strings. The winner of the fete was Thierry Rey who created the disco string. A fashion show is planned for next year.

 

Please email or post details of any other weird festivals you have encountered. Thanks Jamie

La Coquillade opens

This week saw the opening of the Luberon’s newest luxury hotel - La Coquillade - confirming the area’s status as one of the most chique holiday destinations in the world. Once one of the poorest areas of France the national park now hosts 11 four star hotels, six of them within 10 kilometres of Gordes. 300 of the Luberon great and the good gathered at La Coquillade for a champagne reception and guided tour.

The hotel is based around an old hamlet. Once crumbling farm houses have been transformed into luxury hotel suites, most with private terraces. The views, as you would expect, are stunning - vines, olive trees and the Luberon Hills. There’s a gourmet restaurant, an expansive terrace with low slung sofas and white sails billowing in the wind. It’s all very minimalist cool, reminiscent of St Tropez with prices to match.

Click here  for the hotel’s website.

Surveillance society arrives in the Luberon

The villages of the Luberon might seem tranquil, but petty theft and vandalism has risen to such an extent that a number of villages have installed CCTV. Menerbes, idealised in Peter Mayle's book  A Year in Provence as a rustic retreat from modern life, will have 9 cameras by the end of the year. The Mayor, Yves Rousset Rouard is installing the cameras to safeguard tourists who all too often leave their possessions visible in the back of their cars.

Other Luberon villages and towns following the same policy are Cheval Blanc (5 cameras) and Cavaillon (7 cameras)

Credit Crunch hits France

I've written before about how the French have historically been much more prudent than us English and Americans. Credit cards have to be paid off at the end of each month and 100% mortgages are unheard off. But like everywhere else prices are rising and today La Provence warned that families are going to have to cut back on their fruit consumption. A wet spring and the price of petrol has led to rocketing prices - cherries up 30% and apricots up 40%. The figures are yet to be published for melons, but a fat juicy one from our local farm is now over €3. Ironic then that I have just written an article for the Sunday Express (download the pdf at the end of this post) telling the English public that French children are so much healthier because they eat more fruit...not this summer. Download expresspdf.pdf

Rose overtakes white as drink of choice for the French

Its finally happened rose has become more popular than white wine. Whether its in the dappled shade of a plane tree, glinting in the sunshine by the pool, or people watching in a cafe, the French are switching to pink in their droves. And as anyone who lives in Provence will testify its not just in the summer months, a peppery Tavel is the perfect accompaniment to the bitter clear winter skies. As a result rose has now supplanted white wine in volume sales in France, an event which would have been unthinkable a decade ago.

Watery cherries and Nasri to Arsenal....

It's been a bad couple of weeks for the football mad Provencaux. First France get knocked out of Euro 2008 and then horror of all horrors, it was announced today that Olympic Marseille are losing their midfield playmaker Samir Nasri to Arsenal. So what you might say?

Holiday makers see Provence in the baking heat of the summer when football is only for the suicidal. Once the heat disappears however OM fever reigns, and it will be a long cold winter without Nasri. So if you meet a grumpy Provencaux this week, now you know why. And don't mention the damage the rain has done to the cherry crop

Oi Sarky...

Two months ago the British tabloids fell in love with President Sarkozy's new wife - Carla Bruni. They purred so much over his choice of bride it looked as if a beautiful new relationship had begun. And then today The Sun went and wrecked it all with the classic headline:

"Oi Sarky, we're narky over EU navy malarky"

To help streamline the French naval budget Sarkozy had proposed that the British put aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious at the service of the EU navy. Nelson would turn in his grave, the Sun commented.

The BACS BEGIN

If a grumpy teenager shoves past you in the street, knocks your shopping to the floor and hurries off without a word, don't take it personally. It's exam time in France and even the truck drivers engaged in the fuel protests are bending over backwards to accomodate the students. The implementation of road blocks under the wonderfully named "Operation Escargot" have been delayed by an hour each morning to ensure the students get to their exams. 

News: Darkness engulfs the great escape

Motorists trying to avoid the jams this summer and drive through the night to reach the south of France are likely to do so in absolute darkness. A crime wave has hit French autoroutes with enterprising thieves stealing the copper wire that connects the street lighting. The thefts are preplanned and well executed. The power is cut during the day and then late at night a van arrives and the wiring is pulled from beneath the tarmac. The precious metal is then resold.