“Postcard from” is my semi regular weekend series of non recipe posts. It’s been a while since I did one but I’m starting them again.
Whether it’s on TV or film, every now and again, the glimpse of somewhere I’ve been before pictured on screen fills me with excitement. Daniel Craig walking down the street where I used to work in Layer Cake. An obscure Tim Roth movie filmed in and around Southgate tube station. Borough Market in Bridget Jones’ Diary.
Sometimes it’s the other way round. I see somewhere on screen and am determined to seek it out and go there myself to feel a little of the magic I felt when watching. Working out which French beach featured the wooden chalets on stilts in Betty Blue with no internet took some detective work I can tell you. (It’s Gruissan near Narbonne in the Languedoc region)
About 4 years ago, in the closing titles of 80s detective series Bergerac on UK Gold, I saw a picture of the plane tree lined pool shown below. Not many people remember that the closing series relocated to Provence rather than its usual Jersey. I have holidayed in Provence many times and was intrigued by this pool which was shown at the very end of each episode. How come I’d never seen it in a tourist guide or on my travels? Where on earth was it?
I was determined to find it, not because Bergerac, my pregnancy craving at the time (others dip Cheerios in ketchup; I watched endless episodes of Bergerac and did 3 Sudoku puzzles per day but have done neither before or since, honest) had been filmed there but out of my quest to know every corner of Provence.
Shortly afterwards I saw my Provencal pool onscreen once more. It was featured in what was to become my favourite film ever, Ridley Scott’s romantic comedy A Good Year starring Russell Crowe and Marion Cottilard. Now this film did not go down well with critics and you’ll probably find more people admitting to liking Bergarac than the film but I know from conversations other people share my love of it.
My wife and I have been to Provence several times and have been to many of the villages in the gorgeous Luberon. We love it there and we love the movie, A Good Year, which we’ve seen about a half a dozen times. We just finished watching the whole movie again with the dialogue from the director and the screenwriter, which we found very enjoyable. We are going back to Provence next year and maybe we’ll stop in and see Cucuron!
I’ve watched all those extra features and commentary on the dvd, they’re great!
There is a cinema in Cucuron. It is indoors, though!
I got to Cucuron, just after the fair had been. The Bassin was a bit mor mucky than in the film.
Does anyone have any locations for A Year in Provence”?
I found the baker’s in Gordes, but there were a lot of nice places I haven’t tracked down.
I went to Menerbes but couldn’r spot anything, or the house used for filming.
I must admit I’ve never seen A Year in Provence even though I have read all of Peter Mayle’s books. It wasn’t something I watched on telly when it was broadcast and the hideous reviews have put me off renting it from Love Film. Having said that, probably there are just as many hideous reviews of A Good Year so I should just ignore and watch. I heard that the TV series was filmed in nearby Bonnieux. Venasque slightly further north rings a bell too, it’s a very similar “shaped” and sized village to Menerbes.