Ancient stone walls still symbolically guard the fortified cities and the hilltops are dotted with villages that used their position to protect themselves against enemy attacks. Inland Provence, in spite of the number of visitors, has managed to maintain its inimitable character. Even today you will find a number of local landmarks reminiscent of the oldest inhabitants, not only the Greeks and the Romans, but also raiding Saracens. Their marks left schismatic popes and local rulers who frequently changed allies.
Provence is a region whose colours have long captivated many painters. Blue sky, purple fields of lavender, yellow, blue and orange facades drenched in sun, which shines here on average, 300 days a year, enchants even today.
Provence is associated with heat, lavender, good food and wine. Regional dishes of seafood and lamb supply flavours of pink garlic, black olives, artichokes and mushrooms, a mixture of rosemary and thyme.
Why "Provence"? The name comes from the Romans who declared the region its first Roman province beyond the Alps, their ‘Provincia Romana’, the origin of its present name.
In the second century, "Gallia Narbonensis", the Roman province covering the south of France from the Pyrenees to the Alps, was so important, and sufficiently close to Rome that it was known in everyday speech as "Provincia", "the province".
rovence, one of the irresistible regions of France, is located in the southeast of the Gallic Rooster. Geographically, it stretches from the snow-covered peaks of the Southern Alps to the plains of the Camargue and the Mediterranean coast. These natural boundaries enclose the landscape of ravines and canyons, lavender fields and sun-drenched beaches. more...