In the first one of this occasional series of posts I remembered visits to Australia.

In this the second of the series it is the turn of The Côte d’Azur and Provence in Southern France.

This spectacular part of the world has always been one of our most favourite destinations with the mountains, sea and a wonderful coast. That is before we even start to think of the food and wine.

For an artist it is also a place of wonderful light and clear air, dazzling azure blue seas and marvellous towns , villages and mountains.

I have painted hundreds of watercolours of the region so it  is tricky to pick a few but here goes.

1. St Tropez

St Tropez has it all, a bustling harbour filled with huge yachts, tiny streets and many boutiques, markets and crowds in the summer. The best way to get there is on the Ferry from Saint Maxime, the journey alone is great!

This first watercolour shows St Tropez with yachts racing off shore

View over St Tropez . Watercolour 14 inches by 7

Away from the busy harbour with the vast yachts is the tiny port of La Ponche.

With a  group of restaurants at the entrance the harbour and beach  has not changed in many years, but alas the fishing fleet is no longer there. We love to have a simple lunch there at a restaurant called La Pasquier et Mazagran of a freshly made omelette and frites, some crusty French baguette and a carafe of lovely local Rosé wine. Inside the Restaurant it is like stepping back in time, or outside on the terrace the shade of the awnings is very welcome.

La Ponche old fishing port at St Tropez. Watercolour 14 inches by 10

2. The Perched Villages and Towns

From Eze via Vence, St Paul de Vence, Bar sur Loup, Toutettes sur Loup, Gourdon, Montaroux, Callian, Tourettes, Fayence,S eillans and on toward Bargemon the Perched villages and townsof this area of Provence are wonderful.

House perched on Cliffs, Narrow winding streets, bars and Restaurants in abundance. Small and large Churches and  fine views across to Cannes ,Nice, and The Esterel peninsula.

There just isn’t time to explore them all now so here are just three for this Post.

1 Gourdon

Gourdon and the view towards the sea. Watercolour sketch 19 inches by 8

Gourdon perches on a cliff edge with its Chateau and intesting shops ,perfume distillery and restaurants.

The road up is steep but wide and the views across to the Esterel and Nice quite amazing..There is good restaurant , La Taverne Provencal, looking over the view where we have enjoyed nice lunches too, and the panini in  a  little cafe on the main street are delicious too. 

2. Fayence

Our favourite restaurant for many years was La Table D’Yves in Fayence but sadly it is now closed.

However Fayence and the area have many nice restaurants and our favourite these days is very good Le Moulin De La  Camandoule which is is really terrific and has a lovely oustside Terrace to enjoy . Great menus especially their vast, and slightly wobbly,  Cheese trolley and Dessert Souffles are all excellent. The view of Fayence from the terrace is lovely. A great place to stop and enjoy Lunch or Dinner. Or stay as they have rooms too.

Fayence from the Moulin de la Camandoule terrace. Watercolour 12 inches by 10

3 Sellians 

The next village to Fayence is Sellians

Very old, with narrow winding streets. We ate some while  ago at a Restaurant called Chez Hugo (chezhugo.fr) where I enjoyed a terrific Squid Bourride. With its flavours of Cumin and Spices, it was a special plate of food. 

So much did I enjoy it that I have developed my own recipe for it!

Rather different but I like it!

Here is the method.

Part boil a handful of new potatoes. 

In an oven proof casserole fry, in olive oil with a pat of butter, sliced Shallots, about 6, with two sticks of chopped celery, 3 cloves of chopped garlic and a tablespoon of cumin, some chilli flakes, a good pinch of salt and coarse black pepper, about 12 turns of the grinder. 

When softened but not too brown add  a large glass of white or rose wine and the same about of good stock,chicken or vegetable.

In another pan fry the medium sized squid, or five small ones,  which has been chopped in bite sized pieces and dusted with flour until just going slightly brown. Add this and the halved potatoes to the casserole and pop in the oven at around 160C. If is seems too dry add a splash of water. Cook for 25 minutes and serve immediately with crunchy bread and very chilled Rosé Wine.  Voila!, Bon Appetit!

With so many great places on the Côte d’Azur to visit I think we may need a return visit later on in this series!

Next time this series will take us to the USA and a few destinations there.

Happy Travelling

Brian