Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The weekend however, is when living in
Provence comes into its own. Going to the loc-
al
marché
(market) on a weekend morning is a
must, not only to pick the finest ingredients for
a delicious lunch or dinner, but also to catch up
on gossip at the stalls or stop for a coffee at the
village cafe.
Sport is another weekend favourite; football,
cycling, trekking, sailing, skiing and scuba-
diving are all popular in the region. Between April and October many people head to the
beach for the afternoon.
Weekends also mean going out, whatever your age: young people pile into the region's
bars and nightclubs (the latter don't open until 11pm so partying generally finishes in the
wee hours of the morning); older generations dress up to go out for dinner, either at the
restaurant or their friends' house, working their way through aperitif, three courses, coffee
and
digestif
.
L'accent du midi
(southern French accent) is one of
the most marked regional French accents. Along
with its sing-song quality, its most distinctive as-
pects are the addition of a 'g' sound for words end-
ing in nasal sounds and silent 'e' at the end of
words becoming a full on 'euh'.
Boules
Pensioners playing boules on a dusty patch of gravel beneath trees seems to be as univer-
sal an image of Provençal life as people heading to the market, basket in hand, or sipping
a glass of pastis on a cafe terrace.
Pétanque
(Provençal boules) was invented in La Ciotat, near Marseille, in 1910 when
arthritis-crippled Jules Le Noir could no longer take the running strides prior to aiming
demanded by the
longue boule
game. The local champion thus stood with his feet firmly
on the ground - a style that became known as
pieds tanques
(Provençal for 'tied feet',
from which '
pétanque'
emerged).
To have a spin yourself (or watch the drama unfold on the village square), here are the
rules:
»Two to six people, split into two teams, can play. Each player has three solid metal
boules (balls).
»Each team takes it in turn to aim a boule at a tiny wooden ball called a
cochonnet
(jack),
the idea being to land the boule as close as possible to it. The team with the closest boule
wins the round; points are allocated by totting up how many boules the winner's team has
closest to the marker (one point for each boule). The first to notch up 13 wins the match.
