Inspire Modern Trobadors Provencal History & Traditions

The French Foreign Legion from Hollywood to Aubagne to Paris

It’s Academy Award season, and as it was with me a year ago when I wrote of Marcel Pagnol, I am drawn back to Provence, in fact to his hometown of Aubagne. On this occasion it began last fall when I was discussing with my wife Benedicte, who is French, about the genre films that Hollywood is known for which might appeal to her.

Jerry’s detailed article on the history of the French Foreign Legion in France and on the battlefields. While in Provence, Jerry and his wife attempted (unsuccessfully) to pay a visit to the Foreign Legion vineyard in Puyloubier, near Aix-en-Provence. They did however visit the Musée Legion Étrangère in Aubagne, outside Marseilles.

The French Foreign Legion is headquartered in Aubagne, but the public can access the museum, for free, from Wednesday through Sundays. There are an impressive number of artefacts, small film clips and a wealth of historical information. However, the majority of the information is in French only.

Musée de la Légion étrangère
Hours: 10h00 to 12h00 and 14h00 to 18h00
Tel: +33 (0)4 42 18 12 41 or +33 (0)4 42 18 10 96
Chemin de Thuilière
13400 Aubagne

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Tags:Aubagne,French Foreign Legion,History

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Susan Newman Manfull

It was love at first sight when my family and I arrived in the charming village of Lourmarin for a short vacation, nearly 20 years ago. We returned home to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and the next thing I knew we were planning a much longer sojourn in that village and making arrangements to enrol our daughter in the local school there. That led to buying a maison de village— actually two, then a courtyard, a parking spot, and a bergerie— in our favourite Provençal village where we (readily) adopted that certain joie de vivre, established dear friendships, and, to this day, endeavour to blend in with the crowd at Café Gaby.

We no longer own property in Lourmarin, but we continue to hang our hats there frequently and gather fodder for our souls and for The Modern Trobaors and Provence WineZine. There is never a shortage.

The Modern Trobaors , conceived in 2008, is about all things Provence: its markets, hilltop villages, lavender, art, literature, culture, history, food, wine, and news. Provence WineZine, launched in August 2014, focuses on wines from the regions of Provence and the Southern Rhône Valley—with a special emphasis on Provence's world-renowned rosés—and the men and women who make them.