traveldk.com

With the medieval castle up top, the rest of the old village hugs the rocky promontory. Its labyrinth of streets and vaulted stairways unfolds to the modern village below.

Like other large Roman arenas in Provence, the amphitheatre at Fréjus (see Fréjus Old Town), which can seat up to 10,000 people, is still used regularly for bullfights and classical music concerts. It was originally built in the 1st–2nd centuries AD. Nearby are parts of the original Roman wall.

A must for those who like lamb, with specialities that include lamb’s tongue salad and snails in white wine. There are tables on a beautiful, flowerbedecked terrace.

Within 15 minutes of Marseille’s centre, you are out of the city and into a different world. Here white rocks plunge into the blue sea and the road snakes into creeks (calanques ) of great beauty, and small settlements. This is where the Marseillais spend their weekends, eating, drinking and keeping rich developers out. After the “village” of Les Goudes, the road peters out and access to other, even more picturesque creeks (towards Cassis) is by foot or boat (see Calanque d’En-Vau, Cassis).

To mingle with the rich, famous and beautiful, book a room at St-Trop’s most fashionable hotel and swan into Les Caves du Roy, the hotel’s nightclub. Les Caves in season is the haunt of super models, film stars and racing drivers. Gucci, Versace or Armani almost compulsory (see Les Caves du Roy, St-Tropez).

The Byblos Hotel’s legendary club has a suitably strict door policy: the unfashionable are generally unfortunate. Once selected, you’re at the heart of Tropezien nightlife (see Les Caves du Roy, St-Tropez).

Billing itself as an “open-air hotel”, this camp site just west of Cannes has spaces for tents and caravans under the olive trees, cabins and mobile homes to rent, and a pool with a toddlers’ lagoon. The site is on a river with boats, kayaks and pedalos to rent.

Another warehouse and full, this time, of olives, olive preparations and olive derivatives such as tapenade or melet (fennel, peppers, olives and anchovies).

Probably the prettiest mountain range in Provence, the Dentelles are formed by three ridges of chalk topped by ragged crests. The French think of these as lacework (dentelles ), but they can look more like fangs in rough weather. Within the range, tiny villages (Suzette, La Roque Alric) cling to the crags as if by magic and climbers are attracted to the sheer rock-faces. The walking, too, is spectacularly good, notably up to St Amand, at 730 m (2,400 ft), the highest point. Round the western edge cluster the picturesque wine villages of Beaumes-de-Venise, Gigondas, Vacqueyras and Séguret. It’s advisable to stop here after, rather than before, a ramble (see Vineyards and Distilleries).

Provençale food based on lamb, duck and seafood.