AROUND PROVENCE - Top 10 Provence and the Cote D'Azur - page 123

THE VAR AND PROVENCAL COAST

Within a 30-minute drive of the glamour of St-Tropez, you can be on a
rugged mountainside so remote that you dread nightfall. That's the charm of
the Var - an intoxicating mix of the easy life and a harsh landscape. In the
Verdon gorges and Upper Var, nature is both wild and imposing; down be-
low, beauty assumes more rounded forms in beach resorts and casinos. Yet
the Provençal tendency to “let time take its time” unites the region. Little
wonder that this is the most popular of French holiday regions.

1. ABBAYE DU THORONET, LE THORONET
This majestic 12th-century Cistercian abbey was built in a wooded dip near Lorgues.
Probably the finest example of Romanesque architecture in the region, along with its
sister houses, Silvacane and Sénanque (for further details see Abbaye Notre-Dame de
Sénanque ) , it rises with sober magnificence. The un-mortared stones of the church,
monks' buildings and cloisters are decorated only by changing sunlight, their in-
terior volumes inspiring awe and serenity. The harmony of structure and setting
make contemplation unavoidable. Quai Abbaye • Open 10am-6:30pm Mon-Sat;
10am-noon,2-6:30pmSun(Oct-Mar:10am-1pm,2-5pmMon-Sat,10am-noon,
2-5pm Sun) • Closed 1 Jan, 1 May, 1 & 11 Nov, 25 Dec • Adm

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2. SANARY-SUR-MER HARBOUR
The prettiest harbour in the Var remains a proper fishing port, bobbing with boats.
Beyond, palm trees fringe a frontage of pastel façades. Activity varies from relaxed
to intense, notably during the morning market which enlivens the Allées d'Estienne-
d'Orves. The beach is nearby. So, too, are plaques commemorating Thomas Mann,
Bertolt Brecht and other German writers who took refuge from the Nazis here in the
1930s.

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