Provence - Menu

MENU OF VISIT - PROVENCE

Isle of Lerins - Monastery of Saint Honorat
	THE ISLAND OF THE MONKS
Saint Cezaire sur Siagne - Chapel of Notre Dame de la Sardaigne
	A GRANARY TEMPLE OF CAESAR
Frejus - Cathedral and Episcopal Complex
	THE ROMANS WERE HERE AND IT SHOWS!
Brignoles - Thoronet Abbey
	A RESTORED ABBEY
Aix en Provence - The Cathedral of Saint Sauveur
	AT THE CROSSROADS OF HISTORY
Cadenet - Silvacane Abbey
	THE YOUNGER SISTER
Gordes - Aumonerie of Saint Jacques and Cathedral
	SOARING IN THE LIMPID SKY OF PROVENCE
Fontaine de Vaucluse - Church of Saint Veran
	MAGNIFICENCE AND BEAUTY
Gordes - Notre-Dame de Senanque Abbey
	THE RETURN OF THE MONKS
Avignon - The Notre Dame de Doms - Cathedral
	MISTRAL LA CANTA
Saint Rémy de Provence - Monastery of Saint Paul de Mausole
	THE ROOTS OF ANCIENT PROVENCE
The Royal Collegiate of Saint Marthe - Saint Gabriel, Saint Michel de Frigolet.
	SEE TO BELIEVE
Arles - Abbey of Saint Pierre de Montmajour
	FORTIFIED ABBEY
Les Baux de Provence - Saint Vincent and Saint Blase Chapels
	PROUD SITE
Les Saintes Maries de la Mer - The Church of Notre Dame
	EARTH, AND THE EFFECTS OF SUN AND WATER
Arles - Saint Trophime Cathedral
	THE CAPITAL OF THE CAMARGUE
Briga - Chapel of Notre-Dame des Fontaines
	THE CHURCH OF THE WATERS
Saint Etienne de Tinée - Saint Sauveur de Tinée
	THE VALLEY OF THE PLAGUE
Saint Martin Vésubie - Notre Dame de Fenestre
	THE VIRGIN WHO SCALES MOUNTAINS

White rocks shining in the sun, lush natural vegetation and animal life, and a sea which before becoming deep blue, merges into every conceivable shade of blue and green: the archipelago of Hyeres on the Côte d'Azur is known as the archipelago of the Golden isles. And what can we say about the Calanques of Cassis, deep furrows caused by water erosion on the clayey slopes with their breathtaking "calette" and rocks which can be reached only by boat or on foot ? Or the extensive Crau plain, which is stoneless, and which has an almost lunar appearance, being one of the last European steppes, delimited according to Giono "by a wall of syrupy air in which the heat pulsates".

The inland area of Provence is a land of natural mysticism and sacredness, and one of the focal points of Medieval monasticism, Bernardo di Chiaravalle alone founding one hundred and seventy abbeys between 1112 and 1153. It is here that we can see the "three sisters", to be visited on a mystical and meditative itinerary: Sénanque, Thoronet and Silvacane, who welcome and restore the spirit with their severe, yet harmonious forms. It still remains a perfect example of the Provençal Romanesque style, that is timeless, and a demonstration that true values are timeless, and expression of the purity of the Cistercian rule.

Many artists have fallen in love with Provence before us, attracted by its bright colours, its rounded forms and its lush, and rather wild nature. In fact the impressionist painters such as Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Manet, Degas and Pissarro do not only limit themselves to portraying Provençal landscapes they choose to live in them: Van Gogh, chose to live in Arles, Toulouse-Lautrec chose Matisse, while Chagall and Pablo Picasso elected to make the Mediterranean coast their home. While Mistral, an authentic provençal native, and Nobel literature prize winner in 1904, also extolled its virtues in his famous poems: Mirèio, Calèndal and Lou pouèmo dòu Rose.