Overview
Carbone Fontaine, Place d'Albertas, Aix-en-Provence
No other region of France stirs the imagination and stimulates
the senses as strongly as Provence. The soft light and its vivid
landscape of pastel colours have inspired writers and artists from
F. Scott Fitzgerald and Pagnol to Van Gogh and Picasso. The
fragrant countryside redolent with wild herbs is scattered with
historic fortified medieval towns such as Avignon and
Aix-en-Provence and the ancient Roman towns like Orange and Arles
with their great monuments, arches and coliseums. On the coast is
the great port of Marseille, a melting pot of cultures so in
contrast to the traditional social landscape of most French
provincial towns. Low-cost airlines and a fast TGV train from Paris
have made Provence increasingly accessible and this, combined with
glorious weather, puts it high on any list of the world's most
desirable destinations.
