South of France

Travelling around France you will occasionally find yourself in a lost corner that has not yet been taken over by renovating expats and is miles from the nearest sign of life.

These corners are ever harder to find, especially in the more popular tourist centres of the country, but are a particular treat because they hark back to how France ‘is supposed to be’ and how visitors will still perhaps imagine it.

It is these small discoveries that are as important and memorable as your visits to the ‘major’ destinations, and it is because of these special moments that France continues to be such a popular attraction.

Unfortunately many local councils (communes) permit excessive new development around their communes, which very rapidly destroys all semblance of the village as a scenic highlight. In other places the beauty of the place gets discovered and many of the properties get bought up (frequently as second homes) and renovated. Renovated houses have their own charm, but can rarely match the appeal of a property that is untouched.

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The south of France - especially the south-east of France - attracted many artists during the decades between 1890 and 1960, several of whom later became household names with paintings and artworks valued at millions of dollars. This we all know.

In a village a few kilometres inland from Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French riviera is a great work of art that will never be sold and is impossible to value - the Matisse chapel at Vence. Matisse himself is said to have claimed it was his greatest work.

Built after world war 2 between 1949 and 1951 it was Matisse who designed every aspect of the chapel after the suggestion of Sister Jacques-Marie (who had worked for Matisse before entering the convent). It is useful to remember that Matisse was 77 years old when he started on the project - most artists create their greatest works when they are rather younger!

Vence chapel is a small, understated building, although the tall cross on the roof gives a clue that it is something out of the ordinary - in particular the crescent moons that decorate it. Not entirely conventional for a church cross.

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