48 hours in Giono country

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur - Corsica - Monaco/2024

Follow in the footsteps of the author of Le Hussard sur le toit, born in Manosque in 1895. Jean Giono's country is a wild rarity. A kind of miracle of hills and plateaus, where the wind never stops blowing. It inspires artists, poets and hermits. Sit anywhere on the Montagne de Lure, close your eyes, meditate, listen to the breath and sometimes the silence.

"A mysterious, improbable land, the land of gods and auroras", wrote Jean Giono. Haute-Provence is also a land of writers, carried by the roar. The Brontës' Wuthering Heights has its replica in Provence. Everywhere in this land, leaves fly and writings remain. The starting point, the first natural port of call, is Manosque, where Jean Giono spent his life. The town is home to his birthplace, the Centre Jean-Giono in the Hôtel Raffin, a building entirely dedicated to literature, and the Paraïs, where he lived for forty years with his wife Élise. And if, as in all French towns gripped by the construction frenzy, the inner city has also been devoured by excavators, the heart of Manosque still beats to the rhythm of the gentle Provencal climate. So it's worth taking advantage of the summer, with the tourists, when the jackhammers take a break, to appreciate all its hidden beauties, the charm of its narrow streets, the timeless appeal of the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, where the pulse beats a little faster. In the comments on social networks, we found this touching evocation: "The most beautiful square in the world! The place where my daughter took her first steps, the place where I drank the most coffee, the place where I saw thousands of people fall in love, the place of words, appointments, light and shadow, the place of the four seasons, children, vanilla ice cream, fountains and birds. The place of a lifetime!" The author, who kindly signs his name, is also a writer. His name is René Frégni. This is Provence with talent and heart. From Manosque, it's on to Mane and its citadel, the only preserved example of fortifications in Provence, built by the Counts of Toulouse in the 12th century. Then on to Forcalquier, a medieval jewel with its superb old town center, its "Rue des Arts" with its many craftsmen, its Rue Vieille and its Place aux Œufs. The town is dominated by the Notre-Dame de Provence chapel, whose dome emerges from the clumps of trees. The next stop is Banon, for many good reasons. For Le Bleuet, of course, the largest independent bookshop in a rural setting, with 100,000 volumes spread over four floors, which in recent years has become a multi-themed cultural space. For the magnificent scenery of the Lure mountains, and the path through the lavender fields that leads to Redortiers-Le Contadour, where Giono acquired an old mill to host literary gatherings for many years. Last but not least, there's banon, a PDO goat's cheese made from whole raw milk and wrapped in chestnut leaves. M. E.