Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“Yes, we know that, darling, we're
here
. Read something interesting about it before I
switch on the radio.”
Ignoring this acerbic comment I continued.
“Manosque is the largest town and commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence depart-
ment.
However
,” I said, injecting a little drama, “it's
not
the
préfecture
(capital) of the de-
partment. This is in the smaller town of Digne-les-Bains. And there's more.”
“Fascinating. I can barely contain my excitement.”
“Oh don't be so miserable and listen. Manosque stands on a hill and has an interesting
medieval centre to explore. It's also surrounded by the renowned olive groves of the region,
the combination of which is very popular with tourists.”
“Brilliant! What an asset. A local town crawling with tourists stuffing themselves with
olives. Carry on if you must.”
“No, really, this next historical bit
is
interesting, just pay attention please.”
Soldiering on, I related various facts about Manosque's past, the architecture of the
town and the art scene. Jack listened for a while before interrupting again.
“No, not concerned with art. The history is interesting, I'll give you that. But we're
going to be there in a minute so tell me something of practical use about the neighbouring
areas which doesn't involve things growing on bushes.”
I flicked frantically through the rest of the information and found a snippet that I knew
would fit the bill perfectly.
“Right, here we are. The area we're going to visit is an hour's drive from the Gorges
du Verdon in one direction and less than an hour from the famous villages of the Luber-
on. I'm not sure what they're famous for but that's what it says here. Shall I check that bit
out?”
“No.”
“Okay. It's a one and a quarter hour drive to Gap and the mountains. The closest main
city is Aix-en-Provence which is only 56 kilometres away and the famous Côte d'Azur
beaches are approximately two hours by car. Other beaches can be reached in just over an
hour. Howzat?” I said, ending triumphantly.
“Excellent. Why can't you always be that succinct?”
Enthused by this spark of interest I droned on with details of the local market culture,
attractions, majesty of the countryside, dog-walking potential and that sort of thing. Jack
quickly reverted back to a thoughtful “hmm” every so often before finally commenting.
“Look. Can't you read to yourself? I'm happy with a brief overview, but there's abso-
lutely no possibility of us buying this place. It's just too big. So there's no point having an
in-depth investigation into the topography, geography and local tourist attractions for the
place. We're not going to live there.
Huh
, putting down eggs indeed. What on
earth
does
that man think happens? Does he think you just plonk a few eggs down in the woods and
hey presto they all hatch perfectly in 22 days with flocks of chicks trotting around with
