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Quote by Marcel Pagnol

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La Gloire de mon père

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Marcel Pagnol
Marcel Pagnol

Marcel Pagnol was a French playwright, screenwriter, and novelist, renowned for his works that celebrate the Provençal region of France. He is best known for his 'Mistral' cycle, a series of novels and plays that depict the life and culture of the Provençal people. more

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“In Aix we take pride in cultivating our minds, it’s our desire and tradition to do so’, claimed Maurice Gontard. He pointed out that the great Provençal poet, Frederic Mistral, had originally found Aix rather cold, but had finally declared that there was a ‘certain charm to the place’. Music had always played an important role in Aix and there were many active musical societies. The theatre was well frequented, there was a university and various local heritage and language societies to keep the past alive, to show that Aix had its own cultural identity.”

ProvenceAixAix En Provence
Book:Cezanne and the Provençal Table
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“The oblong tower of the church, with its wrought-iron steeple, caught the last reflections of the sun against the hills. This is what a cinematographer would call the golden hour, the glowing time just after the sun sinks below the horizon and before the dark sets in. It's the watercolor skies--- discreet layers of cotton-candy pink, dusky rose, and periwinkle, when the fields are their deepest green, and the wheat has a halo that rises from the surface. We were standing on the medieval ramparts, the walls that once protected this small community from the hostilities of the outside world. Just below us was a field of lavender, the rows tidy and symmetrical. Just behind, a hedge of rosemary bushes. In the distance I could make out the summit of Reillanne, golden city on a hill.”

HillsTwilightNatures BeautyProvenceGolden HourColors Of The Sunset
Book:Picnic in Provence: A Memoir with Recipes
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“When we'd arrived in Céreste, our neighbor Arnaud said we should go to the Musée de Salagon, in Mane. In addition to its twelfth-century church and Gallo-Roman ruins, the museum has a wonderful medieval garden. The monks used these herbs to heal as well as to flavor. I've met many people in Provence who use herbal remedies, not because it's trendy, but because it's what their grandmothers taught them. My friend Lynne puts lavender oil on bug bites to reduce the swelling; I recently found Arnaud on his front steps tying small bundles of wild absinthe, which he burns to fumigate the house. Many of the pharmacies in France still sell licorice root for low blood pressure. We drink lemon verbena herbal tea for digestion. I also like the more poetic symbolism of the herbs. I'm planting sage for wisdom, lavender for tenderness (and, according to French folklore, your forty-sixth wedding anniversary), rosemary for remembrance. Thyme is for courage, but there is also the Greek legend that when Paris kidnapped Helen of Troy, each tear that fell to the ground sprouted a tuft of thyme. All things being equal, I prefer courage to tears in my pot roast.”

ProvenceHerbal RemediesFolklore Symbolism
Book:Picnic in Provence: A Memoir with Recipes
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“Mushroom hunting in Provence is veiled in secrecy, second only to truffle hunting in the level of dissimulation and suspicion it inspires. If you are lucky enough to find a good spot, you might unearth skinny yellow and black trompettes de la mort (trumpets of death) or flat meaty pleurots (oyster mushrooms) or even small spongelike black morels. If you are not sure exactly what you've found, you can take your basket to the local pharmacy, and the pharmacist will help you sort the culinary from the potentially deadly--- it's part of their training.”

HuntingMushroomsPharmacyDeadlyProvenceEdible
Book:Picnic in Provence: A Memoir with Recipes
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