Village Of The Week: Aups

This is the first post in what will be a series of posts entitled, Village of the Week. I have lived here in Provence for a while now and have done a lot of exploring. I have come across many charming, quaint,  picturesque villages that barely get a mention in the tourist books, so I thought that I would shine a light on some of them for those who want to discover the real Provence and perhaps see a part of France that they never knew existed!

This is Rue Rosette Ciofi; through to the left of the arch is where I hold my market stall.

I am somone that loves history; it facinates me and I love going to old places, standing on cobbled roads and wondering who else walked those very streets in another time. I am mesmerized by the architecture, the bell towers, fountains and the narrow streets lined with stone houses adorned by window boxes over-flowing with colour. To me, it conjures up memories of life from another time that I have never lived - that sentence could only make sense to me, but... it's pure magic. 

This is the Bell-tower of Aups; it is a certified, historical monument and dates back to the 16th century.

With that said, my first Village-of-the-Week-pick is Aups. I've chosen this one to start with because I have quite a soft spot for this village. It is part of the National Park of the Verdon and is known as the 'Southern Gateway' to the Gorges du Verdon {Verdon Gorges}. Aups rests at the foothills of the Alps  and is rich in culture and history dating back to 6 BC. It's a stone's throw away from Lake St. Croix and Lake Esparron, two of the most beautiful lakes in the South.

Lake St. Croix.

Lake Esparron.

For those who are culinary inclined & the rest of you Foodies - Aups is full of divine restaurants that will tantilize your taste buds. You wont be disappointed with an array of local wines, olive oil, honey and of course truffles {no, I dont mean chocolate truffles, I mean the mushroomy kind}!  There are a few small boutiques & galleries and of course, the market every Wednesday and Saturday until 1pm.

Local lamb in provençal herbs, wedges & what southern meal would be complete without a serve of ratatouille!

Local honey products including various types of honies, royal jelly, honeycomb and beeswax candles!

A little French boutique selling the usual, soaps, bedding, cushions, pottery & other homewares.

The first time I went to Aups was back in 2007. I spoke no more than a few words of French - bonjour; au revoir; merci! One fine, August morning, Mathieu said to me, 'You are going to sell Melons at Aups Market today' - 'Um... OK'!

An hour later, he dropped me in front of an old fountain, set up my melon stand and off he went to another market. My stand wasn't in the heart of the actual market {I took great comfort in that!}, it was futher up a cobbled road, surrounded by old apartments and leading up to the Porte des Aires. To my left was a very romantic laneway and to my right, through an archway was a street called Rosette Ciofi. Little did I know at the time that I was surrounded by ghosts waiting for me to discover their stories.

There are many Roman remains around the South of France, even in Aups. In fact, the very fountain that my market stall was set up in front of, was an old Roman milestone. The Porte des Aires is part of the old wall surrounding the village of Aups and from this arched gateway, you can see the rooftops of the very well preserved, medievil village. In those days, outside those village walls would have been surrounding wheat fields but today, the highschool, carparks and small apartment buildings are neighbours to the ancient site. Amongst the terracotta coloured tiles, belltower, and stairwells you will also be able to spot some of the remnants of the castle ramparts dating back to the 12th and 16th centuries.

Anyone who is interested in history would know that religious wars plagued Europe for centuries. This was an incredibly brutal and bloody time and in 1574, the horror spilled into Aups with over 200 people slaughtered in front of the Church {Notre Dame de l'Assomption} which included women and children having their throats slit.

Notre Dame de l'Assomption & the fountain in the main square of the Aups village.

But, the warfare did not end there. Centuries later, as Napolean III was coming into power, Aups became the capital of  the 'Red Var', and was very much anti-Bonaparte. Troops from all over the Var faught against Bonaparte's army until they were finally defeated in 1851.

Notre Dame de la Délivrance: This church is built on the ruins of the former castle and is in honour of the Virgin for sparing the lives of the inhabitants of Aups during the war against Napoléon Bonaparte.

Aups was also home to many members of the French Resistance Army during the German occupation of WW2 and there are monuments in every village to pay tribute to them. Rosette Ciofi was a 17 year old girl and an aid to the Resistance Army. She was shot whilst trying to prevent German soldiers from discovering members of the Resistance who were hiding in a street. The street where she was shot was named after her and I have sat next to it a thousand times, selling melons during the Summer months.

This one speaks for itself.

While the history of Aups is not so well known, one thing that Aups is definitely well known for, is it's markets. Every Wednesday and Saturday, people flock from far and wide to be a part of this very vibrant atmosphere.

The tree lined square is full of white parasoles as far as the eye can see with vendors selling food, clothes and everything in between. The air is pungent with a mélange of different scents ranging from lavender & other fresh cut flowers, herby olives & garlicy sun-dried tomatoes, cheese, dried meats and of course, paella.

Dried lavender, soaps, hand towels - touristy gifts typical to Provence. 

Dried meats including donkey, goat, horse, cow, pig & boar.

Wine-crusted donkey sausage - the French dont muck around when it comes to dried meats!

Pick a sausage, any sausage!

A variety of cheese - local to Corsican!

Corsican cheese is extremely strong in taste and smell! If you are trying French cheese for the first time, dont start with this because the smell alone will put you off for life!

Fresh fish...

Artichoke flowers... these will last forever. I still have some in a vase that I picked 3 years ago!

Locally made pottery - be careful that you aren't buying cheap-made-in-china-knock-offs!

Espadrilles - A french shoe, although, if I'm going to wear a canvas shoe, it better have a 'Toms' logo on it.

Beeswax candles made by the local Apiculteur!

 

The paella, roast chickens and roast potatoes; Get there early, or you might get a free case of food poisoning.

Table cloths...

Spices, pickles & sauces - Oh my!

So, my dear friends, I hope that you enjoyed your little trip to Aups! Stay tuned for next weeks 'Village of the Week'... I think that we may pay Cotignac a visit!