Exploring The Luberon

Provence is a huge area in France encompassing many different regions, all interesting. Many people think that the Cote d'Azure on the Mediterranean is Provence and it is but only a small part. In my opinion, one of the most lovely and fasinating sections of Provence is the area known as the Luberon and I put together a driving tour of some of my favorite places. It really can't be done in one day but it would be possible to split it into two days with north of the Luberon mountains one day and south the next but be sure to take the chance to savor what makes the Luberon so special. From lavender fields to perched villages, rolling hills covered in vines, fruit trees or olive trees, the Luberon is a place to which you will want to return again and again. Be sure to keep your eyes open for advertisements on little signs announcing either vide greniers or brochantes for buying local Provencal products, antiques or maybe just someone's junk. Especially investigate at tourist offices if there are any festivals which are always fun and which give a unique view of what makes Provence what it is.

Most of the Luberon lies around the Grand and Petite Luberon Mountain range and there are intriguing things to see on both sides. The roads themselves can be narrow, always two lane, sometimes seeming more like one lane with barely room for two cars to pass each other. After a while you will get used to driving along, going around a corner and suddenly seeing a car or truck heading towards you. Just slow down and get over but be careful of the deep ditches that often run along side the roads for water run-off. I often won't give highway numbers but you will easily find the village you want by being alert as you come to round abouts which don't always give highway numbers but only which villages or cities lie in the direction of the exit. By the way, there is nothing wrong with circling a round about several times deciding which exit you need to take.

Heading north from the lovely city of Aix-en-Provence on D 956 you will reach Pertuis not, in my opinion, a very interesting city although it does have a nice tourist center in the old section of the city located in a nice tower. If you go west on D 973 in the direction of Villelaure, there is a really nice winery to visit, le Val de Joanis. It has a magnificant garden and a quality gift shop. Follow the directions for la Tour d'Aigues which you will reach by continuing through many round abouts on D956. la Tour d'Aigues has a charming ruined chateau and you can take a tour of the mostly empty interior. (You many notice that there are several villages with the word “aigues” in there names. This refers to their location in the valley of Aigues. Aigues is an old Provencal word meaning water.)


La Tour d'Aigues

Driving through la Tour d'Aigues continue on D 956 to the perched village of Grambois. It is worth the stop for a look at its petite square and the charming church. If it is Monday and if you have the time, there is a huge market-the largest in Provence- in the mornings on a town outside of the Luberon area called Forcalquier reached by taking N96, a major highway and taking D 12 or N 100 which is on the north side of the Luberons. From Grambois or la Tour d'Aigues follow the signs to Ansouis, winding your way through vineyards. Ansouis has a castle at the top of the village with tours given and a really lovely chapel attached and fantastic views of the country circling around. From Ansouis follow the signs seen at round abouts for Cucuron. Cucuron has a wonderful rectangle pond once used for tanning surrounded by two hundred year old plane trees. The inside of the village itself is interesting to walk around, and you can see how the typical person lives here.


Ansouis


Another alternative when in the area of Grambois is to take D33 in the direction of Vitrolles-en-Luberon, over the mountain and down into the village of Cereste. From there take N100 to Apt which is the site of a good market on Saturday mornings. It is fun to wander through the old streets and to visit the Cathedral of Saint Anne. On the way to Apt is the little village of Saignon well worth a visit. There is a stupendous view from a rocky cliff with lavender fields down below in the summer and, although there are only a couple of small streets, there is a beautiful fountain in front of a hotel and many photo opportunities. It makes a refreshing stop. From apt you can head on to Gordes or Roussillon.

Leaving Cucuron, follow the signs once more to Lourmarin, D 27. This will probably be your favorite village. It is a delight, especially on the Friday morning market day, full of all sorts of Provencal wares to buy as well as fruit, vegetables, cheeses and more. Wander around the alluring streets and sit and have a drink at one of the cafes for a spot of people watching.


Lourmarin

An especially lovely drive is the one on D943 from Lourmarin to Bonnieux, another perched village with breath-taking views of the valley below. From here you can visit Lacoste and Menerbes if you wish. I would recommend that you go to Roussillon, an ochre and rust colored village reflecting the ochre that was once mined there. There is a valley there to walk through too but it will leave your shoes covered in orange dust.


Roussillon

Gordes is nearby, a gorgeous perched village built totally of stone. There is a wonderful view of it as you approach.


Gordes

Not far away is the interesting village des bories, a deserted little city built entirely of rock and, lovely when the lavender is in bloom, Senaque Abbey. For those interested in antiques, Ile sur la Sorgue is a must although it is not within the Luberon. Sunday is the huge market day there but it is packed with antique shops and it is a delightful place to wander around as there are canals and water wheels everywhere. You can end in Cavaillon, a good place for wandering around, eating or shopping.

Corsica Part 3

After a nice breakfast (typical French with great bread) we backtracked a little as I wanted to see a village called SantAntononino. We were high in the mountains and as we took turn after turn we could see villages high on top of hills that we had just driven through across a valley or see the next village we would arrive at perched on top of a hill looking a long distance away but quickly driven into. We went back through Ile Rousse, a popular tourist stop packed with people and traffic as it is a sea side village in a beautiful setting with turquoise and dark blue water curving around the cliffs and beaches which we could see as we climbed again to find SantAntonino.



The whole area gives me the feel of Provence with rocks and boulders everywhere, and many perched villages, although there is a lot more vegetation called maquis here in Corsica. The village was one of those built totally of rocks easily found here with winding climbing steets also of stone reminding me of Gordes. There wasn't that much there to see other than the stellar view-just a few shops and places to eat. We stopped to see a 12th century church inside a cemetery with primitive carvings on the outside in the area.



Then we crossed what is called a desert here, although I'm not sure why. There were mainly rocks but there was vegetation, not sand with very little else to see. Maybe nothing can be grown there.
We made our way up and then down many curves and twists to St Florent, a little harbor village which we didn't like nearly as much as Calvi although my husband had good memories of it when he went sailing with friends years ago around the island. It didn't have the neat beaches and architecture of Calvi although there are apparantly beaches to be found only not easily accessed.
Our hotel was interesting. When we first pulled in we were appalled as we entered an unpaved parking lot full of weeds and unfinished walls. We would have driven on and found another place but we had already payed for our room with a credit card. We went through a garden which badly needed weeding to a dirty, messy office. Thank goodness our room turned out to be clean and it had a/c and a TV so all was fine. They even served drinks in the evening with a few munchies on a porch with a view of children's toys everywhere in the weed overrun yard and cleaning products and equipement on shelves with spiderwebs everwhere (I am a critical viewer of other people's housekeeping) and we met everyone staying there. The owner of the hotel is a Harley Davidson owner and so was one of the guests. He=2 0told us about really delightful sounding but remote beaches but it would require a four wheeler or be a three hour walk. A nice little lady sat next to me at the “cocktail hour”. She and her husband were from Paris and she told me that they had come to Corsica several years ago and fallen in love with it. Then she told me that on her first trip she and her husband had circled the island on their Harley Davidson motorcycle. This surprised me as she certainly didn't look the part sitting there with short gray hair cut in an old fashioned curly short style. I looked at her husband and he was more the type with a sleeveless t-shirt and beard. Just goes to show—you can't judge a book by its cover.

The next day we drove back to Calvi after passing through a really bad traffic jam in Ile Rousse. All the highways in Corsica are two lane and when you enter villages and towns it can really be crowded. After picking lunch, we headed on to Piana climbing, twisting and turning as all roads seem to do here passing breath-taking views of the deep blue sea below breaking on cliffs, and finally entering the famous calenques which are cliffs and rocks in shades of red and rust in all sorts of intersting shapes. It is really lovely.



We had dinner at the gite where we spent the night in Piana which featured wonderful salads made up from vegetables from their own garden-jullienned zuchinni, carrots, onions and anise and another of jullienned beets. We were also served sanglier, wild boar, which, as expected, tasted gamey but I ate a little of it for the experience. The gite is set up rather like a dorm-we have a room with a bed (no a/c or TV), and the bathroom is down the hall with showers down stairs. I haven't done something like this since high school camp. There is a young couple here riding their bikes. They started in Accacio and plan to ride up all the way to Ile Rousse which is over 150 kilometers with lots of climbs. It is rather dangerous with cars as one must slow way down to get by approaching cars. We had a really fabulous sunset as we sat outside in the rather chilly air eating dinner. Everyone went and got coats, sweaters and long pants. I'm not sure if it is a cold spell, or due to the wind, or if it is normal for this part of Corsica.
The next day was spent in Cargese where we scuba dived which was disappointing due to the lack of much to see. The town itself was interesting with two lovely churches and a tiny harbor down at the bottom of the hill on which the buildings tumble down. Back to Ile Rousse the next day where we caught the ferry for a five hour ride to Nice.
We really loved Corisca. We loved it so much we are going back next June. It's undeveloped and simple and, best of all, close to France.

Corsica Part 2

We left Calvi and set off to do a bit of exploring. First we went to the west coast to see a chapel called Notre Dame della Serra which turned out to be closed but was set up on top of a cliff overlooking a spectacular view of Calvi and the bay. A statue of the Virgin Mary was on top of a big group of rocks.





There are huge rocks in this part of Corsica, some with very strange shapes with part of the shell of the rock broken off with a halow section inside. It isn't unusual to see buildings using these in their structures. The whole area reminded me of northern Arizona which has an area that is very rocky, especially one called Granite Dells near Prescott.

Next we went back through Calvi and then took highway D 151 which took us to Calenzana where we had lunch, then to Zilia, Lunghignano where there was an olive press turned by a friendly mule named Charley where we bought some olive oil and a t-shirt.



The road kept curving up and up until we reached the summet full of some vegetation but mostly rocks and boulders and, I bet, snow in the winter. We finally made it to our village called Speloncato which turned out to be charming with two unusual churches and interesting streets winding up to a view of a lake far down below. Our hotel, A Spelunca, was made from the former summer palace of Cardinal Savelli, a minister of Po pe Pius IX.



There were no elevators or air conditioning (or WiFi or TV) but it was very charming with antiques all around. Our room had a strange little cubicle and a plastic curtain for the toilet but here was a nice shower in our room. The hotel was totally full and we understand that after the 15th of July it is almost impossible to get a room anywhere in Corsica, especially in August when most of Europe and especially France take vacations. We decided that we very much want to retun to Calvi again and stay at the same hotel we were in, l'Onda, which is near the beach but it will probably be in June to escape the crowds. We had a nice meal at the cafe across from our hotel in Speloncato with lots of Corsican rose. When the sun set the temperatures cooled off and with the open window I was thinking we would have a cool night which we did. By the way, there were signs all over the hotel warning clients to close the windows and shutters when they were there or left the rooms due to violent winds. I'm sure they must really blow around here with the village on such a high mountain. When we went into our room for the night there was a wonderful crescent moon in the sky that we could see from our window. Such a nice stop.

Corsica Part I

We finally had a trip planned to Corsica, a place I had had on my list of places to visit ever since we came to France. Corsica is French island which is 114 miles long by 52 wide lying between France and Italy. Sardenia, which is Italian, is immediately to the south. Corsica through many conquerers and rulers finally ended up being French although apparantly there are radical citizens who want to have their own country and sometimes set off bombs. As late as the 50's it was very primitive and under-developed and the Corsicans were known for their violent disagreements, usually over honor, and the shooting and killing of offenders often as many as 900 in one year being killed. Once 36 people died as the result of a vendetta when a sheep was wounded. I think it is pretty much a thing of the past. Now there are people involved in drug rings usually set up in Marseilles from what I read. It is now a haven for tourists with all sorts of hotels and resorts. There are many rugged mountains with forests inbetween and it is known as The Granite Island. It is also the birthplace of Napoleon although his family had to flee to France during a political uprising there and Napoleon only returned there once on his way back to France from Egypt.




We set off for Toulon to catch the ferry to Corsica. Various ferries can be caught in many places along the coast from France but Toulon was our hopping off point due to last minute tickets. We got in line with other cars and were supposed to be boarded and on our way by 10:30 PM but another huge ferry pulled in first and ours finally did afterwards. They are all enormous, able to hold six to eight hundred cars. We didn't board the ferry until 10:30 and we didn't set off until 11:30. It turned out that this was going to be an overnight trip taking almost eight hours. If we had left from Marseille and gone to the town of Calvi in Corsica it would have been a five hour trip. Sometimes you just can't plan these things in time. Almost everyone in France that I told that we were going to Corsica always replied, “So are we!” It turns out Corsica is a very popular vacation spot for both French and Italians. We didn't have tickets for either rooms with beds or special chairs that reclined into beds. Luckily, we just went to the bar, claimed long couches and, in a few hours, were stretched out trying to sleep. Of course it was noisy, full of bright lights and people walked around for hours. Around 2 AM a little girl started acting up and yelling “No!” over and over. Luckily they took her out. Around 4 AM a baby started crying but hushed up before long. Actually, I didn't sleep much worse than I do on a plane from Paris to the States although Maurice got very little sleep.



Finally we landed in our port of Ajaccio. Imagine two huge ferries carrying hundreds of cars each, both unloading at the same time. It took us quite a while to finally get on the road. We didn't even take time to explore Ajaccio as we had to head north to Calvi where Maurice's son and his girlfriend had to find a space at a camp where they were going to stay for a few days for a music concert and they had to get there early enough so there were still some places to chose from. There are two ways to Calvi from Ajaccio. One is a picturesque, winding road along the coast and the other is cutting across the island, then heading north and then west to finally reach Calvi on the northern end of the island. On the map it looks like the coast road would be best but actually, because of the curves, it takes twice as long. As it was, we twisted and curved our way across mountains across the center of Corsica actually circling the base of what looks like an enormous chain finally reaching Calvi in about three hours. A camp site was secured. The camps seem very nice with huge buildings holding shower stalls, toilets and sinks, swimming pools, trees to camp under, a unit with small refrigerators to rent, and a short walk to a beach.
We then had lunch and set off to have a look at Calvi which has a beautiful harbor full of huge sail boats and yachts and then a climb to the top of the village for breath-taking views of the turquoise and blue waters below. Calvi seemed to me to be a typical French village full of ancient buildings, interesting churches and shops for tourists. That evening we sat on the beach with a bottle of Corsican rose wine and watched the sun set. Nearby a small bar was playing music, a mix of pop and techno and young people were on the beach dancing and enjoying the music. I think I was the oldest person on the beach. We then had a pizza at a little place at the camp before calling it a day.

Dijon and Beyond

I have often been asked, “What are some good areas outside of Paris to visit?” There are many, many possibilities such as Giverny; Epernay and the Champagne region; Chartres; a trip to Normandy is even possible. If the person asking has more than one day available I often recommend making a trip to Dijon and some of the other villages and cities nearby. I made my first trip to Dijon by train from Gare de Lyon and arrived there in a little over an hour. The old city is a short walk from the train station and the tourist information building is passed on the way — so a map can be picked up. Walk through a nice pedestrian area, with a stop at a Maille shop if you want some mustard from the area and a cute little mustard jar to put it in. Cassis, a sweet liquor, is also made in the area and is seen in many of the shops along the way.
One of the distinctive things about architecture in Burgundy, the section of France in which Dijon is located, is the wonderful rooftops decorated in colorful argyle-like designs. There is also a wonderful delicate outline around many doorways shaped in a gothic design — seen in many castles and buildings throughout the region. The cathedral is an interesting one to wander through and the outside is loaded with statutes on the roof. I loved the museum, Musée des Beaux-Arts, a one time palace, full of great artwork and the very dramatic elevated tombs of Dukes of Burgundy: Philip the Bold and John the Fearless surrounded by hovering angels. Burgundy, or Bourgogne, was once a separate country from France and the dukes were the royalty there. They were often in disputes with France and even sided with England at times.
If you are lucky enough to have a car there is a wonderful town nearby to see called Chateauneuf. My husband and I had passed this village many times on the way to southern France and had wanted to visit it. It sits on the top of a high hill topped with a castle. Finally, we made plans to stop over night. It is a charming village where fewer than 100 inhabitants live and it is small enough to see in an hour. We walked around looking at old buildings with ancient carvings above the doors, some with those gothic outlines. There is a huge round tower not far from the center of the village and a rather magical walk through a forest leads to an old chapel and a moss covered wall with a bench in front made of huge slabs of rock. There are several view points of the valley below which are breathtaking with rectangular fields spread out below gentle hills and vineyards in their soldierly rows. We walked through the castle free of charge seeing 3 or 4 different centuries of work. I liked the chapel in the castle the best with a replica of the tomb of Philippe Pot, one of the rulers there. It is unusual in that eight black robed monk statues stand around it. The real tomb is in the Louvre and the monks there support the tomb with the "body" of Philippe on their shoulders. We learned some curious local history. The last remaining member of the original family was put to death when she poisoned a husband she had been forced to wed. The title was then passed to Philippe Pot.
In the village, there is also a sixteenth century church with a carved wooden pulpit, some remains of a cross and ramparts, where there are stunning views of the Burgundy Canal and countryside. We stayed in a nice hotel right next to the castle, the Hostellerie du Chateau, run by a young couple. It was very clean and there is a nice restaurant for evening dining. A great lunch was available right across the way at the Grill of the Castle. We just had steak and frites — but they were great, followed by an ice cream sundae chosen from a huge selection of flavors.
The next day we drove on a small road that followed the Burgundy Canal for a while and we decided we wanted to do a barge trip someday. We passed freshly tilled fields waiting for the spring crops to be planted and some growing what looked like green grass to me. Even in the winter it was a beautiful area with gently rolling hills to drive through as we made our way to the little city of Beaune. This is yet another interesting place to walk through. It has its own little Arc de Triomphe and many parts of an old city wall remain. And, of course, the argyle tiled roofs can be seen in many places. It's a great city to walk around with pedestrian areas and lots of great shopping.
And I didn't mean to forget to mention the wine — those wonderful Burgundy wines. This is the area to stop and try some really great vintages. There is a hall in Beaune called the Marché aux Vins where close to 40 wines can be tasted and bought. And, they ship overseas, if you are lucky enough to live in a State allows it. We did all of these stops in two days with one overnight stay in Chateauneuf and were back in Paris in time for dinner. It's just one more wonderful area to see close to Paris.

Hostellerie du Chateau
Chateauneuf, Bourgogne, France
Telephone: 03 80 49 22 00

Marché aux Vins
Rue Nicolas-Rolin
Beaune

Finding Europe in America

Few of us would consider Washington D.C. one of the side roads of Europe—but it can be thought of as a New Rome. I have spent the better part of the year in the D.C. area, becoming acquainted with a city that can hold its own with any of the European capitals in its cultural richness and its multiethnic diversity. What has been not only surprising to me but a fact of some chagrin is that I am more familiar with many areas of Europe than I am with this corner of the United States. And I certainly did not expect to find myself in France, as I did last night.

The French Embassy in Washington offers to visitors, which it welcomes in a particularly charming and very French way, a cultural program of exhibits, performances and concerts that showcase French culture. Last Sunday all the European embassies held open house. Our visit to the French Embassy introduced my companions to wonderful French wines, pastries and cheeses, the varied programs of the Alliance Française, and intrigued a gaggle of children with a display of French aviation achievements sponsored by Air France. French music playing in the courtyard and the Embassy staff greeting visitors made it indeed a step across the Atlantic to French territory.

Last night I visited the Embassy once again to hear one of the last and surely one of the best of this year’s series of concerts offered at La Maison Française in the Embassy itself. The Suspicious Cheese Lords, a male a cappella ensemble, enthralled a packed house with a program of little heard and previously unrecorded works of the Renaissance master composer, Jean Mouton. I was unfamiliar with Mouton, despite the fact that a large population of families by that name live in my Louisiana home town, all descended from a 17th century immigrant to Acadia, now Nova Scotia whose came to Louisiana in the great expulsion from there in the mid-1700s, an early example of ethnic cleansing. This earlier musical Jean Mouton, perhaps related to the Acadian and Louisiana families, was probably born in northern France in the mid-1450s. He is first recorded as a singer and a teacher in a church in Nesle, moving to the Cathedral in St. Omer by 1494 and becoming master of the boys choir at Amien Cathedral in 1500. He ultimately became a prominent member and Master of the Chapel for Queen Anne of Brittany from 1510 until his death in 1522. He compositions were widely influential in France and in other parts of Europe; he was praised by the Pope and celebrated by other European musicians. Now, more than 400 years since they were written, his major compositions are being recorded, performed and re-published.


The Suspicious Cheese Lords


This was a spellbinding concert. The Cheese Lords—their name derives from a corruption of the first line of one of their standard Latin motets—first coalesced in 1996, when Clifton (“Skip”) West III invited some of his friends to join him for food, friendship and singing. They continue to have dinner together during their rehearsals, and their focus on food extended to the cheeses served with wine and good French bread after the concert. The cheeses alone took me right across the Atlantic. An exhibition of Delphine Perlstein’s paintings enlived the atrium for the reception.


From Deborah Perlstein’s Tisse Sa Toile.


If you can’t get to Europe but you can get to D.C., think about a “vacation” in France—or Germany, or Britain, or Finland—attending the cultural programs at their embassies. The Open House at the German embassy last Sunday was particularly good fun as well, with bratwurst, free beer, a Bavarian band and an Alpine horn concert on the patio.

The special exhibition at the National Gallery on the Mall offers another taste of France. In the Forest of Fontainebleu: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet displays some 100 nineteenth century paintings, pastels and photographs made in the forest near Paris before 1870. Tracing the development of French landscape painting, it leads the viewer down a romantic road at the very dawn of new technologies as they led to a modern vision.


Claude Monet, Walking in the Forest of Fontainebleu

Europe’s side roads extend farther than we normally suspect! Next week, I think I’ll visit Britain. Until I can get back to Europe, I will seek European experiences here at home, and Washington isn’t the only place to find them. Wherever you live, you can travel a European cultural road until you can actually get there, even if you’re housebound.

Citroën: A French Legend

I am not a person who pays much attention to cars. When my son says, "Wow, did you see that car?" I never have. I'm not too picky about what kind of car I drive. I just want it to be dependable and easy to park. But all of that changed when I saw my first Deux Chevaux here in Paris. There is just something special about it:it has personality, spunk. Just the fact that its name means “Two Horses” is spunky, even though it only means it has two cylinders. I would love to have one but as they are no longer making them and as we already have a car, I probably won't ever get my wish. There is an antique car show the first Sunday of every month in front of the Chateau Vincennes — and there is always at least one Deux Chevaux. I am hoping to talk one of the owners into giving me a ride. I want to see what it is like inside.
I found out that the Deux Chavaux was made by Citroën, a French company. I had no idea that Citroën was somebody's name until I was strolling through the Montparnasse Cemetery and saw the name Citroën on a gravestone. I have since found out that Renault and Peugeot are also family names. It wasn't until I met a young Australian who was absolutely crazy about Citroën and it's suspension (something about hydro-pneumatic suspension) that I got curious about the company. There are clubs all over the world of Citroën fanatics where they must spend a lot of time discussing where to find spare parts for cars no longer being made. There are 60 registered clubs in Paris alone.
It was an André Citroën, an engineer, who started his own company and by 1919 was the first to mass produce a European car that was unlike others. It came with electric lighting, a starter, a hood, and a spare tire. Citroën was a marketing genius who hired the Eiffel Tower and advertised his car on the side with a sign 30 meters high with 200,000 light bulbs. He talked the French government into letting him make safety signs that said things like, "Dangerous Bend — Slow Down — Thanks to Citroën". He did the first mass mailing of car catalogues to customers and started his own printing company. Josephine Baker sang at a car show, "I have two loves: my country and my Citroën."
The first documentary films were done by the Citroën company when a caterpillar car did an expedition from Beruit to Peking crossing the Himalayas and Gobi Desert. When the Deux Chevaux was dreamed up most cars in Europe were far too expensive for ordinary workers and farmers to buy. In fact, when the Deux Chevaux model was first introduced in 1931, it was not supposed to cost more than '2 cows'. This meant it had to be light with special suspension and could only go at slow speeds. It was, in fact, a type of bicycle with four wheels, although watertight, and able to roll along at 60 kph if the terrain was flat and there was no wind. There is also the story that it had to be able to be driven across a field by a farmer wearing wooden clogs, with eggs in the back seat that would arrive at his destination unbroken.
Eventually, in 1935, the company started having financial problems and Citroën handed over his shares to Michelin who had previously helped him. He then retired and just a few months later died. 1948 was the year the car itself got it's famous shape, the one I like so much. In 1976 Peugeot bought Citroën although the cars made by them still say Citroën and still have the little double chevron sign, which has always been the logo for Citroën.
There are many legends about Citroën. Supposedly two of the latest models were buried during W.W.II to save them from Hitler's hands and dug up after the end of the war. Charles de Gaulle escaped an assassination attempt while driving one; when that famous suspension allowed him to escape even though all four wheels had been shot out. Citroën has turned out to be yet one more thing about France that I had no idea about. I see them parked here and there in Paris and have whizzed past them on highways without a clue to their history. Ask most Frenchmen about it and they say "Yes, it is a French Legend."