Visiting Provence In The Footsteps Of Marcel Pagnol
Marcel Pagnol was born in Aubagne on February 28, 1895, and died in Paris on April 18, 1974. As we commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of his passing in 2024, we invite you to visit Provence, following in the footsteps of the writer, in the places he cherished and that inspired many of his literary works and films.
Aubagne: his hometown
"I was born in the town of Aubagne, under the Garlaban crowned with goats at the time of the last goatherds." This is the opening sentence of My Father's Glory, the first book in the series Souvenirs d'enfance.
Aubagne, located about fifteen kilometers from Marseille, is thus the logical starting point for a walk in Provence following in the footsteps of the local child. Little Marcel, son of Joseph the schoolteacher and Augustine the seamstress, was born on February 28, 1895, in a bourgeois house from the 19th century, located at number 16 Barthélemy Street.
Today open to the public, Marcel Pagnol's birthplace features family portraits, handwritten letters, and a carefully reconstructed interior with the dining room, kitchen, and bedroom with its little cradle.
The Garlaban Massif: Its Beloved Hills
To rediscover the places that inspired Marcel Pagnol, one must then take the path to "[his] dear hills," in the Garlaban massif which overlooks Aubagne from its great height. It is there, between Aubagne, Eoures, La Treille, and Marseille, that young Marcel lived the adventures recounted throughout the Souvenirs d'Enfance, in the company of his friend Lili des Bellons.
It is also in these garrigue landscapes that Marcel Pagnol, having become a filmmaker, bought a 24-hectare estate in 1934 to make it, in his own words, his Provençal "Hollywood"! He shot several of his films there, including Angèle (1934), Regain (1937), and Manon des Sources (1952).
La Treille: the village where he rests
The Aubagne tourist office offers several routes, ranging from 4.5 km to 13.5 km, to walk in the footsteps of the academician.
During these walks, you can discover:
• Angèle's farm, now in ruins.
• Bastide Neuve, the Pagnol family's vacation home.
• Lili's house.
• Raimu's well.
• The Barres de Saint-Esprit.
• Manon's cave or Plantier cave.
• The village of La Treille.
The village of La Treille is where the Pagnol family used to stock up during the summer holidays. The writer was particularly fond of this village, which held childhood memories for him. It was in the square of this village that young Marcel was photographed alongside his father holding bartavelles.
Touchingly, Marcel Pagnol is now buried in the small cemetery of this village so dear to his heart.
Manon's Cave: At the Crossroads of Fiction and Reality
The Manon Cave refers to the cave used by Marcel Pagnol for filming several scenes of the movie Manon des Sources.
If you visit it, don't forget to also go to the Stag Cave located just above. The writer had a small Basin built there to collect spring water. On the edges of this basin, you can see the handprints of Pagnol and Orane Demazis, his companion from 1925 to 1938.
He who wrote: "We become old when the young abandon us" has left his mark on the history of literature and cinema. One hundred and thirty years after his birth, his work is more alive than ever and inspires series and documentary projects. From an unpublished play found in his archives, Gaby or Beauty and Money was turned into a graphic novel. As for the project of a Pagnol museum, it could one day come to fruition in Allauch near Marseille ...
