JEAN-PIERRE CASSELY SECRET PROVENCE This guide is also available in: French (Provence insolite et secrète) Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter JONGLEZ PUBLISHING FROM MARSEILLE TO TOULON FROM MARSEILLE TO TOULON AUBAGNE SAINT-ZACHARIE THE FAIRIES OF THE HUVEAUNE • Marie, the source fairy: Les Martelières, 83640 Saint-Zacharie 3 • Ubelka, the bridge fairy: Moulin Saint-Claude, 13390 Auriol 4 • Manon, the riverbank fairy: Parc de l’Ilot des Berge, 13400 Aubagne 5 • Gyptis, the Vieux Moulin fairy: Parc du Vieux Moulin, 13010 Marseille (stolen in 2014) • Ophélie, the lake fairy: Parc Borély, 13008 Marseille 6 ince 2013 some striking sculptures of Five young women, often in strange poses, aluminium fairies Shave appeared in four towns along the on the banks Huveaune: Saint-Zacharie, Auriol, Aubagne and Marseille. Called “the fairies” by their of the Huveaune creators, artists Lucy and Jorge Orta, they were commissioned by the Riverbanks and Culture Association formed of residents of the valley of the Huveaune in connection“ with Marseille being European Capital of Culture in 2013. The creation of the fairies was intended to focus attention on the natural and cultural heritage of the Huveaune and to strengthen ties between people living in the different communities through which the 48.4 km river flows. The Huveaune, which has no tributaries, rises in the Sainte-Baume mountains and flows into the Mediterranean in Marseille, near the beaches of the Prado. Starting upstream, the first of the fairies is in the village of Saint-Zacharie in the ZAC (Joint Development Zone) Les Martelières. To find it, drive towards Nans-les-Pins, cross the school roundabout and park on the left at the right- angled bend at the Hostellerie de la Foux (now closed). Cross the road and walk down to the Huveaune. Marie, the source fairy, kneels above the water, drinking from her hand. Her name alludes to Marie-Madeleine, whose tears are said to have created this river at the time she lived in the grotto of the Sainte-Baume. The second statue, the bridge fairy Ubelka (after the Celto-Ligurian name for the river, meaning “destructive one”), is dressed in vivid red and has a witch-like appearance. To find her, take the road from Auriol towards Roquevaire as far as the former Saint-Claude mill where there is a car park on the left side of the road. The mill is now the premises of the Espace Culture et Loisirs d’Auriol. No car is required to reach the riverbank fairy, Manon (an obvious reference to Manon des Source by Pagnol, who was born in this town). From the town centre of Aubagne, pass the supermarket in Avenue Gabriel Péri. The small Ilot des Berges Park, where the fairy awaits you, is just beyond. Sadly, Gyptis, the Vieux Moulin fairy, who once stood in the Vieux Moulin Park in Marseille’s 10th arrondissement, was stolen in 2014. Last but not least, the fifth fairy, Ophélie, the fairy of the lake, is to be found in Marseille’s Park Borély. 22 SECRET PROVENCE SECRET PROVENCE 23 FROM MARSEILLE TO TOULON FROM MARSEILLE TO TOULON GÉMENOS GÉMENOS THE PRIORY OF SAINT-JEAN-DE-GARGUIER 8 2237, route de Saint-Jean-de-Garguier, 13420 Gémenos • Accomodation, restaurant and room hire enquiries: 04 42 32 21 26 • Religious activities and chapel visits (by appointment): 06 59 47 22 33 Thanks to the copious inscriptions and coins found in the valley during www.prieuresaintjeandegarguier.fr archaeological excavations, we know that Gargarius was the largest Gallo- Roman centre in the Huveaune valley in the 1st century BC following the conquest of Provence by Julius Caesar. In the Gallo-Roman period, as well as thermae there stood a Greek temple dedicated to Bacchus and Diana. The place of pagan worship was transformed into a church shortly after the Edict A ar from being just a little country chapel of Milan in 313 AD, which permitted Christian worship in the Roman Empire spectacular like so many others, Saint-Jean-de- before it later became obligatory. collection FGarguier is the oldest known parish in A true cultural and commercial crossroads, Gargarius, which would later the diocese of Marseille. The priory is situated become Gargarie, witnessed an influx of large numbers of pilgrims. It is not of ex-votos in the commune of Gémenos where it borders known when the worship of John the Baptist first began, though it continues with those of Aubagne and Roquevaire. Its to this day. It would appear that when the pagan temple was converted into a unique collection of 300 ex-votos is displayed church the people wished to continue the symbolism of purification by water. “in a spectacular manner on the walls of the chapel. Some of them date from Whereas earlier they came to the thermae to do their ablutions and worship the 17th century. pagan divinities or the Emperor, now, in the Christian tradition, baptism In antiquity the only hamlet on the Aubagne plain was Gargarius. Its name purified them, allowing them to find a new life in God. Who better to embody is Hellenic in origin; gargar means seed. It seems to date from the time of that symbolism than John the Baptist? The name Saint-Jean-de-Garguier is the foundation of Marseille: to feed the population of the new Phocaean city simply Saint John the Baptist to which the name of Gargarie was added (and some of its inhabitants set off in search of cultivable land, settling on the plain later changed to Garguier). to plant wheat and vines. The small hamlet quickly grew into an important During the first decade of the current millennium, the diocese of Marseille crossroads with a large market. By the 2nd century BC it was already well decided to commission some major works (2003–2013) to restore to this place known and people travelled from afar to buy raw materials. the radiance seen here today. 26 SECRET PROVENCE SECRET PROVENCE 27 FROM MARSEILLE TO TOULON TOULON MONSIEUR NOBLE’S 49 FALSE MEDIEVAL TOWER Rue Beaussier, Quartier du Mourillon, 83000 Toulon • Visits are not permitted, but the important parts can be seen from the street hile most people who live in Toulon The know the Maison du Fada (“The Crackpot’s House WCrackpot’s House” in the popular parlance of the midi!), the majority are not familiar with the intriguing story of how, at the end of the 19th century, this tower came to be built in the new quartier of Le Mourillon for one Jean Noble, an entrepreneur in the field of public works. Noble had acquired three plots of land on which“ to construct three blocks of adjoining urban residential buildings. He reserved one of them for himself and his family. It had a garden that at the time extended as far as the sea. In 1898, at a time when some of his workers had been temporarily laid off, he offered to one of them, Louis Borfiga, the opportunity to create the exterior of his building. Borfiga, like Noble, came from Menton and had arrived in Toulon only a short time before. “Have fun!” was the only architectural brief that Noble supplied. So, to Noble’s delighted surprise, Borfiga created a rock façade in the form of a crenelated tower. At its top he placed three cement figures fashioned in the image of three local characters: the widow Sellier (who sold newspapers), a fisherman, and the woman who sold fish. Unfortunately, the three characters became seriously damaged (one of them was destroyed completely) by celebratory arms fire at the time of the Liberation in 1944. If you get lost in the winding streets of Le Mourillon, simply ask for di- rections to the Maison du Fada, because that is the nickname that the people of Le Mourillon have given it; Le Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse in Marseille was so named in a similar fashion. The rock construction of the Noble house has been registered as an historic monument since 2014. SECRET PROVENCE 81 PROVENCE VERTE AND CENTRAL VAR PROVENCE VERTE AND CENTRAL VAR LE PLAN-D'AUPS THE COMPAGNON’S MONUMENT 10 Chemin du Canapé, La Sainte-Baume, 83640 Le Plan-d’Aups • Longitude 43°20’11’’N – Latitude 5°44’2244E t the start of the Chemin du Canapé, Where Mary leading to Saint Mary Magdalene’s Magdalen spent AGrotto, an obelisk has been greeting pilgrims since 2011. This is the chef-d’œuvre her final years? de réception (masterpiece of reception) that led to a stonecutter – who went by the nickname Languedoc Coeur Simple – achieving the status of Compagnon du Tour de France des Devoirs. This monument bears“ witness to the centuries-old presence of the Compagnons in this spot, where their patron saint, Mary Magdalene, is said to have spent her final years (see previous page). The obelisk is engraved on its four sides and at the top. The engraving around the base reads, “According to legend Maître Jacques lived at la Sainte- Baume following the construction of the temple in Jerusalem, more than nine centuries before Mary Magdalene. He was master craftsman to King Solomon and a friend to Père Soubise, the son of a stonecutter from southern Gaul. At the age of 15 he set off for Greece to perfect his craft and was one of the founding fathers of the Compagnons du Tour de France. His body rests in peace not far from here.” On the west side, under the heading “Solomon’s Wisdom”, are the words “Justice, temperance, prudence, strength”. On either side of the text stand the columns of Solomon’s temple.