Circuit: Historical Provence

It all began 40,000 years before our time, in the Upper Paleolithic period, which marked the arrival of the first Homo Sapiens in Europe. This was when the Grotte Cosquer in Cassis, one of the oldest incidences of European cave art, was first inhabited. Preserved for thousands of years, submerged by water, the cave was rediscovered in 1985 by Henri Cosquer and the reconstruction of this inestimable prehistoric heritage tells you the whole story in Marseille, just opposite the Mucem. When you have taken the lift which simulates a diving chamber, you’ll climb aboard an exploration module, for an incredible trip back in time which continues in the nearby quarter of Le Panier. Around 600 BC, Greeks from Asia Minor, now Turkey, left Phocaea to found Marseille in the Calanque du Lacydon, where you are standing now. Following 5 centuries of Greek culture, Marseille, conquered by Caesar, became Roman in the 1st century BC. Near the Vieux-Port, two museums tell the story of this period: Le Musée des Docks Romains, a vast port warehouse where huge jars of wine were stored which shows the maritime power of the town. And the Musée d’Histoire de Marseille and its Jardin des Vestiges, which trace the 26 centuries of the history of the Mediterranean town. And now it’s time to unveil 4th and 5th century art, on a visit to the Abbaye Saint-Victor, founded by Jean Cassien in 415. At first, it was an open quarry which was used as a necropolis located well outside the town. In places, the accumulation of sarcophagi reaches up to 7 levels!

Wake up in 1516. François 1st, who had been King of France for a year, decided to build the Château d’If, on a reef opposite de Marseille. His aim was to protect the town, a big Mediterranean port open to the East. The strategy worked and in 1536, Charles Quint, King of Spain and the King of France’s best enemy, abandoned attacks on the Mediterranean town from the sea. Take a seat on the sea shuttle and head for the Îles du Frioul to explore the history of the Château d’If. It later became an exceptional prison, where protesters and German prisoners were held during WW1, and it is also well-known as having a place in The Count of Monte-Cristo, by the successful novelist Alexandre Dumas, who makes it into the fictional prison of Edmond Dantès. Back on dry land! A crucial episode of the economic history of the golden age of the manufactures, and particularly the soap factories. Nowadays, three of them still make the famous Savon de Marseille traditionally, following Colbert’s edict: Fer à Cheval, La Corvette-Savonnerie du Midi (which & also houses a museum) and Le Sérail. Enter them to discover their manufacturing secrets. The day ends with a visit to the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Marseille. Among others, you’ll see paintings by Michel Serre, a direct witness of the Great Plague in 1720, a dramatic episode in the history of Provence.

To get to the Château d’If: maritime shuttle
To get to Fer à cheval: Canebière Bourse, bus 32 towards Saint-Jérome IUT
To get to La Corvette: metro station Gèze, bus 30 towards La Savine
To get to Le Sérail: Malpassé metro station, 38 bus towards Gèze metro station

Third day and the third trip across historical Provence. It will take you first to Saint-Chamas, a charming village in an unspoiled landscape on the Etang de Berre. Just a 20-minute walk from the station, the Pont Flavien bridge, listed as a historical monument made up of two arches, spans the Touloubre River. Built in the 1st century BC, at the time of Emperor Augustus, it is a superb testimony to the Roman era. Back in the centre of Saint-Chamas, you can admire the fort’s gate, the last remains of the wall surrounding the old town, which dates back to the 15th century and the troglodyte dwellings which open onto the harbour. These are old caves dug in the 17th century to stock goods which – much later – became apartments. Last stop: the Pont de l’Horloge bridge, built in 1868, with one of the most beautiful views of the town. The Tourist Office has developed walking circuits to discover Saint-Chamas. Just next door, the authentic medieval town of Miramas-le-Vieux offers a lovely walk on the theme of Provence in the Middle Ages, with its little streets lined with stone houses and its wash house. In the current cemetery, the Chapelle Saint-Julien, a gem of Romanesque art and the oldest building in the town was probably built on the site of a pagan temple in the early 12th century. Another point of interest is the church of Notre-Dame de Beauvezer, in the middle of the fortified city. Probably built in the 15th century, it is said to have housed the relics of Emperor Constantine and Saint Helen. A little extra: a panoramic view of the Alpilles, Mont Ventoux and the Etang de Berre.

To get to Saint-Chamas from Marseille Saint-Charles: TER (line 7A)
To get to Miramas-Le-Vieux from Saint-Chamas: TER (line 7A)
To get to Miramas-le-Vieux: from Miramas station, take bus L6 (Libébus network) towards Salon-de-Provence or bus 11 (Ulysse network).

Let’s move forward in time to the early 20th century to (re)visit the eternal historical Provence of Marcel Pagnol. « I was born in the town of Aubagne, under the Garlaban topped with goats, at the time of the last goat keepers», he wrote as a preamble to La Gloire de mon père, the first part of his Souvenirs d’Enfance. In the centre of Aubagne, you can visit the house where he was born: the Pagnol family’s apartment, with its period furniture and objects, has been entirely recreated there. Just a short walk away, Le Petit monde de Marcel Pagnol and its 200 santons (figurines which cleverly recreate the writer’s world). The rest of the day will be more athletic, with a hike (a medium-level 9km circuit) to the places which marked Marcel Pagnol’s work, and in particular his Souvenirs d’Enfance. Follow the trail from Font de Mai which will take you to the ruins of Angèle’s farm at the foot of the Barres de Saint-Esprit. Then go across the Passe-Temps dale to La Bastide Neuve, before taking Chemin des Bellons down to La Treille. Here you can see Manon’s fountain, the Le Cigalon restaurant and the cemetery where Marcel Pagnol was laid to rest.

To get to Aubagne from Miramas: TER (line 7A) to Marseille Saint-Charles, then another TER (line 01) to Aubagne.
To get to Font de Mai: from Aubagne station, take the bus (line 14 of the Les lignes de l’agglo network) to Eoures (no bus on Sundays).
Return to Aubagne station from La treille: take the bus (Les lignes de l’agglo network, line 10) towards Aubagne station (no buses on Sundays).

On this fourth morning of your trip around Provence through the ages, you’ll suddenly be thrown into the modern history of Aix-en-Provence. Start by walking up the Cours Mirabeau, traced in the 17th century on the site of the old ramparts and which is the heart of the town. Capital of the Comtes de Provence, and later the town of « Good King René » who spread art and literature there, Aix-en-Provence already embodied at the time the Provencal lifestyle. The nobles of Aix were concerned with their image and wishing to assert their rank, had dozens of mansions built in the town. Currently, there are 200 of them, classical or baroque. When you have visited Quartier Mazarin and the sumptuous Hôtel de Caumont, built in 1715 and which has become an art centre, continue your visit to Aix-en-Provence with l’Eglise de la Madeleine church on Place des Trois Ormeaux, and then the Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur and Place d’Albertas. The afternoon will take in the visit of the Site-Mémorial du Camp des Milles. Opened in September 1939 in a former tile factory, it was first an internment camp for nationals of the Reich, to which were added, from 1940 to 1942, the « undesirables ». Lastly, in August and September 1942, it became a deportation camp for Jews. A visit in three parts, historic, memorial and reflective, helps you to learn more about this dark historical episode.

To get to the historic centre of Aix from Aubagne: TER (line 01) to Marseille Saint-Charles then another TER (line 12)
To get to the Camp des Milles from the historic centre of Aubagne: bus (Aix-en-Bus network) line 04

Did you know? It was in La Ciotat that one of the first films in the history of the cinema was filmed by Louis Lumière: « The train arriving in La Ciotat station ». The first paying film show in the history of the cinema also took place in La Ciotat in 1899, precisely at the Eden Théâtre, which is the oldest cinema in the world and still open to the public. Get the programme and take your seat! It was also in La Ciotat that pétanque was invented in 1910. Walk to the Boulodrome Jules Lenoir, and imagine the scene: the former star of la longue boules, the ancestor of pétanque, Lenoir, riddled with arthritis, could no longer run and jump, so he played with his feet together, « les pieds tanqués », as they say in provencal. It’s a great opportunity to let yourself be tempted by a little game in the place where it all started. The town with its many aspects is also home to what was one of the biggest shipyards in France, from 1849 to 1989. It developed considerably with the arrival of new materials and energy – steel and steam -at the beginning of the 19th century. Today, La Ciotat Shipyards is devoted to the maintenance of luxury yachts. La Maison de la Construction Navale watches over the memory of this great industrial adventure and has free exhibitions and visits to yards (NB, book at least one month ahead).

To get to La Ciotat from Aix: Bus L050 to Marseille Saint-Charles, then metro 1 towards Castellane, then bus 79 (Le Car) to the La Ciotat Tourist Office

This circuit taking you through the history of Provence ends on a lovely note in the charming little harbour of Cassis, on the edge of the Calanques National Park. For the anecdote, author Frédéric Mistral fell under the village’s spell in 1861 and was inspired to write the poem Calendal, a declaration of his love for Provence. In the 1920s, writer Virginia Woolf was also charmed by Cassis, which she described as a « little paradise». First stop of the day: the Musée Municipal Méditerranéen d’Arts et Traditions Populaires, set up in a former 18th-century presbytery. Among its permanent collections, you can see many archaeological items, such as pottery, amphoras, jewellery and coins from the Ligurian era to the Middle Ages, all found during digs around the town. Testimonials of a less remote past and ethnographic objects of popular traditions are also shown. Traditional Provencal costumes and fishing gear show the local lifestyles. Second stop of the day: the common oven, a wood-fired oven which was made available to the locals by the Lord of the town for a fee. Cassis’s oven is remarkably well-preserved. Last stop: a walk in the timeless and eternal Calanques!

Get to Cassis from La Ciotat: Ciotabus (line 40 or 10) 0.90 to La Ciotat-Ceyreste station then TER (line 01)