Travel France: Var

Lars and Annie make bags – or more accurately, des carniers, Provençal peasants’ bags. They sit across from each other in the tiny workshop underneath their ludicrously old house, surrounded by sheep and cow hide at various stages of the bag-making process. Most of their visitors end up staying for a drink which means stepping back into the land that time forgot and the homeliest of sitting rooms that makes you want to stay forever.

They came to Var in the late 60s, did the vendange to make ends meet before stumbling across the traditional shepherd’s bag – a practical thing with numerous pockets to carry your packed lunch – that Lars decided to deconstruct and re-build. Completely self-taught, their lovingly crafted bags now sell all over the world and the entire output comes from this simple cottage industry in the tiny hamlet of Matourne. And all this just a stone’s throw from the glossy Riviera.

It’s worth taking the time to get to know the heart of Var. With Marseille and Nice standing sentinel either side, it risks either being overlooked altogether or just being known for label-loving St-Tropez.

But there is so much more to this rich and varied department. It is Provençal through and through and, as well as the glitz and glamour of the coast, there is a heartland of unadulterated countryside to explore and a multitude of paysages in one.

Toulon-Hyères airport is served by a daily flight courtesy of Ryanair and within minutes of leaving the airport, you can be on the open road, in the throes of being seduced by this countryside. The mountainous terrain conceals hill-top villages and deep gorges and travelling twenty kilometres can seem like you have flown a thousand miles.

If you head inland, due north, from the airport, you will soon be in what is locally known as Dracénie. Here you will find one region and culture within another, a uniquely French phenomenon, so easily translated by the word pays, and a whole host of villages that beg to be explored.

The concertina winding roads are punctuated by breathtaking vistas of clusters of peach-coloured tiles and you will be suitably rewarded should you stop at any number of them. The Abbaye du Thoronet is a great place to start and an emblem of Dracénie, while the remote and vast Bastide des Hautes Moures is not far away for a good night’s sleep. That the ancient abbey is of the Cistercian order indicates just how far from those throbbing Riviera towns you are, and its peaceful solidity makes for an inspiring detour.

Palatial settlement

You don’t have to drive very far in Var before you stumble across a Côtes de Provence vineyard and there are numerous noteworthy ones in the vicinity of the abbey. We had a tasty evening meal in the boho Oie qui Boit in nearby Carcès and the fruity sweet muscat from the local Domaine de Sainte Croix was so good that we dropped by the following morning to pick up a couple of bottles. Had the Clos Gautier domaine not been in completely the opposite direction, we would have stockpiled some of the excellent red as well.

A bit further northeast is the town of Lorgues and this is a good base for exploring the far reaches of Dracénie. Just a short, albeit windy, drive away is Flayosc and equidistant between the two is the Château de Berne. This huge domaine – 650 hectares in total, 80 of which are vines – is a luxurious, palatial settlement that feels like it should have its own monarchy.

You can stay in the somewhat humble sounding and so wholly misnomered Auberge at the château and wake up among the vines; alternatively, you could book into wine or cookery school. Should you just be passing, take a spot of lunch and be served Château de Berne wines or indulge in a fine dinner just across the paved way. Visits to the cave are available and tastings of the domaine’s reds, whites and rosés are a must. The grounds are enormous and can be explored by quad bike for the adventurous or bicycle for the less extreme. The owner’s family of emus is quite remarkable and be sure to coincide your visit with an open air concert or picnic-and-jazz night.

From the opulent grandeur of the Château de Berne, bring yourself slowly back to the equally beautiful reality of Flayosc. A light plat du jour on the town’s main square can be savoured over a picture postcard view of blue shutters and a fountain and then gently walked off with an exploration the cobbled streets.

For a completely different perspective, start at the angular, u-shaped lavoir. From the far corner, follow the snaking trail of the water channel that once powered numerous mills along its way around the town. Little more than a steady trickle today, the miniature water way tells a story of its own as it leads you through secret passages and along intimate paths.

The bell tower is a Flayosc landmark that is rarely off your visual radar and the wrought iron campanile perched on top of the white-yellow stone is set against the backdrop of a perfectly blue sky to guide you back to the centre. It is a treat to lose a couple of hours in this pretty Provençal town.

Not far from Flayosc is Lars, home of Annie Fischer’s leather bag atelier, and a little further still is the Moulin de Flayosquet. The Var is olive land and olive mills are a common sight in the area. In days gone by, the mills were powered by water as the now decorative water channel in Flayosc so clearly demonstrates but few remain today and so it is well worth making a detour to Flayosquet to the moulin d’olives there.

The young Max Doélatte is one of a rare breed that produces olive oil à l’ancienne in his small family water mill. His only concession to modernity is a mechanical press and the physically demanding work is carried out determinedly by Max and his brother-in-law. The stone workplace is immaculately clean and the operation is smooth and well-practised. The quiet output of the mill at Flayosquet is a lone but strong voice that modestly champions craftsmanship.

Tasting the oil neat on a spoon or dripping from toasted bread is Max’s fail-safe sales technique and a drizzle back home will instantly transport you back to his remote and rustic mill. Although a different end of the scale to the Château de Berne, the nectar is certainly as sweet.

Breathtaking views

Châteaudouble lies a few windy kilometres to the northeast of Flayosquet and is an intriguing village that clings to the edge of the gorge. The quaint stone houses and breathtaking views over the surrounding land are unmissable but before you get there, be sure to call in at the chèvrerie at Châteaudouble. This unassuming concern produces an undisclosed quantity of cheese and serves local markets, restaurants and supermarkets.

White-haired, gruff but gentle and twinkle-eyed, Serge is on call everyday of the week and so his is most likely the first human face you will see once you’ve been greeted by the dogs.

Passers-by can purchase a fine selection of cheeses from the little shop. Better than this though is the barn around the back where goats frolic like Bambi and sheep contemplatively eat at the far end. One crafty goat had squeezed through the gate and was prancing free around the gravel drive when we got there; a single clap from Serge sent one of the dogs to gently round her up and she was happy to return with only a little canine persuasion.

There are 75 sheep on the farm and the same again of goats as well as a handful of cows. This makes owner Catherine Fleury’s initiative quite unique and allows for the experimental blending of cheeses that we do not get to see in supermarkets. It is fascinating to see this team at work: Serge expertly managing a medicine cabinet of homeopathic remedies just inside the door and calling the beasts by name; a young Françoise who, after two months of training, produces all the cheeses herself and the omniscient Mme Fleury who intuitively knows the score even if she is not there.

Witnessing such hard-working rural idylls makes it hard to believe that the glitz and glamour of St-Tropez is only a short drive away on the coast. This seaside resort needs little introduction and couldn’t be further away from Dracénie’s countryside communities.

A happy medium between the two extremes comes in the shape of the Île de Porquerolles. You can get a ten-minute ferry crossing just down the peninsula from Hyères and the one-town island is at your feet. The lush landscape is a microcosm of Var with its olive groves, vineyards and forest and, as visitors are unable to bring over their cars (helicopters, I believe, are acceptable), it is an oasis of calm to be explored at your leisure by bicycle or on foot.

The island’s fragility means it is better to visit out of season and it also means you get even more spoilt. Only 350 inhabitants live on the island all year round and so you will pretty much get free rein outside of the peak summer months. Being an island, it does mean that the enterprising businesses do have a monopoly on the incoming visitors so expect to pay more than you would on the mainland. The boats are frequent enough to do a day trip however, so the choice is yours. It has to be said though that it is a memorable experience to watch the sunset over the sea and locate the twinkling resorts on the mainland.

The island’s three vineyards are open to the public and still come under the jurisdiction of the Côtes de Provence. But if a wine-tasting trip is not for you and you’re feeling energetic, it’s delightful to while away an afternoon doing one of the many circuitous routes of the island taking in the lighthouse and beautiful beaches.

There really is a bit of everything in Var. For those that like to ski there are cosy resorts like Auron or Isola that are perennially popular with the locals; Provençal villages nestle in the folds of the undulating mountains and the Mediterranean serves up beaches with a slick of old-fashioned glitz. With all this on their doorstep, Lars and Annie’s chosen home of Matourne seems like a very wise choice.

Fact File:

Elizabeth flew to Toulon-Hyères with Ryanair.

WHERE TO STAY:

Bastide des Hautes Moures
Route de Vidauban
83340 Le Thoronet
Tel: 00 33 (0)4 94 60 13 36
www.bastidedesmoures.com

Delightful B&B off the beaten track. Rooms from €110 (£)

Bastide du Pin
1017, route de Salernes
83510 Lorgues
Tel: 00 33 (0)4 94 73 90 38
www.bastidedupin.com

Enjoy delicious home cooking with your hosts. Rooms from €80(£)

WHERE TO EAT:

L’Oie qui Boit
33 cours Clemenceau
83570 Carcès
Tel: 00 33 (0)4 94 04 39 42
www.oiequiboit.com

Fresh, local food in a bohemian setting.

Château de Berne
Route de Salernes
83510 Lorgues
Tel: 00 33 (0)4 94 60 43 60
www.chateauberne.com

Eat fine food in fine surroundings and stay over if necessary.