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| Salon-de-Provence, Provence Vacations and Luxury Travel Packages |
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To the south now is Salon-de-Provence, the olive oil capital of Provence. In the sixteenth century, the town was home to Adam de Craponne, a famous civil engineer, and Nostradamus, a much more famous astrologer. There is a museum to the latter man in what was his house.
Elsewhere in the town, the beautiful, if somewhat angular, Chteau de l'Empéri is well-worth visiting. It stands on top of the Puech Rock and dominates the town. Inside is one of the finest military museums in France, with a collection of more than 10,000 pieces covering the history of the French Army from the Middle Ages through to World War I. Students of the campaigns of Napoleon will be especially interested in the museum.
Also in the town are the Salon and Crau Museum, with a series of collections on Provençal furniture and wildlife, and some fine local landscape paintings, and the Grévin de Provence Museum which explores the history of the area through a series of paintings. Find time, too, to locate the Fontaine Moussue, the 'mossy fountain' in Place Crousillat, just beyond the Porte de l'Horloge, a remnant of the town's seventeenth-century ramparts. The fountain, which lives up to its name, is eighteenth century and quite charming.
Around Salon-de-Provence
From Salon, take the D572 eastwards towards Aix-en-Provence. Beyond Pélissanne, a left turn reaches La Barben where an ancient castle, built around 1000, was transformed into a fine mansion over a three hundred year period ending in the seventeenth century. The interior has beautiful ceilings and wall decorations, and some fine paintings. Of particular note is the reception hall, decorated with Cordoban leather made in the late seventeenth century by Avignon leather-masters.
The castle stands in fine gardens, and the old outbuildings house an aviary, vivarium and aquarium, with collections from all over the world. This animal theme is maintained across the road from the castle, where La Barben Zoo covers 99 acres. The zoo has over 400 animals from around 120 different species.
Continuing eastwards along the D573, visitors reach St Cannat where children may be amused by the Village des Automates - just to the south, off the N7 - a series of outdoor tableau, animated by automatons and arionettes. Within the village, the Musée Suffren explores the life of Admiral Suffren, one of France's most successful admirals. Suffren was born in what is now the town hall, which houses the museum.
South of Salon lies the Étang de Berre, a huge brackish lagoon covering some 60 square miles (150 square km) and with a depth that never exceeds 30 ft (9 m). Until 1920 the shores of the lagoon were largely uninhabited, but at that time it was developed into an oil port. Today it supports a huge oil and petro-chemical industry, and on its eastern shore lies the Marseille-Provence airport. Despite this industrialisation there are several interesting sites along its perimeter.
Beside the airport is Marignane whose old castle is now the town hall, worth visiting for its decoration. The town church has excellent barrel-vaulting, and is intriguing for having no windows. The folklore and history of the town is explored in a small museum in Rue de la Cité.
Martigues, on the southern shore, is still a name to conjure with from the days when artists such as Augustus John fell in love with the little fishing port. Today, the town - where the poet Roy Campbell also briefly made his home - still has some old houses lining the canals. In Ferrières, in the northern part of the town, is the Ziem Museum with a collection of paintings by the local andscape artist.
From Martigues, take the D5, turning off left along the D51 to reaches the St Blaise archaeological site. The site here was inhabited as early as the seventh century BC and includes a near-perfect Greek rampart wall from that period. Though the site is chiefly for the specialist and enthusiast, the small museum, housing the best of excavated finds, is of more general interest.
Across the smaller étangs to the west of St Blaise lies the Fos petro-chemical complex, centred on Fos-sur-Mer. A boat trip around Fos Bay has its merits, and the town museum, housed in an old chapel, explores the area's development.
North of St Blaise lies Istres, important for the military airbase which lies to the west. The museum here is very interesting for its section on underwater archaeology, one of several devoted to local history. There is also a good section on local wildlife.
Finally, head for the northern shore of the Étang to visit the Roman Pont Flavien, built in the first century AD. The bridge crosses the River Touloubre and, to celebrate its own success, has triumphal arches - topped by lions - at each end.
To the south of the étang lie the arid hills of l?Estaque, an area beloved of painters including Cézanne who occasionally left Aix and Ste Victoire to paint the hills and Marseille Bay. The southern edge of l'Estaque is a network of inlets on which sit small fishing villages. No one place stands out, but Carro, Sausset-les-Pins and Carry-le-Rouet are all worth a look. |
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| Click here to start planning a France great vacation, tour or cruise with our Virtuoso Travel Advisors. You may call us too, but we'd really appreciate it if you complete a vacation planner first so we can determine which destination specialist to introduce you to.Thank you very much! Call 1 800 330 8820 or 415 446 5252 to book your Salon-de-Provence, Provence vacation. | |
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