Page 59 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Provence & The Côte d'Azur

THE HIST OR Y OF PROVENCE  57

Where to See 1920s to
1940s Provence
The now slightly seedy suburbs
of Hyères (see p119) retain
evidence of graceful living after
World War I. Toulon harbour’s
bristling warships (see pp116–17)
are a reminder of the French
navy’s former power. The
activities of the Résistance are
well documented in the Musée
Marcel Pagnol (1905–74) d’Histoire 1939–45 in Fontaine-
Pagnol immortalized Provence and its inhabitants in his de-Vaucluse (see p169).
plays, novels and films, depicting a simple, rural life (see p33).
Many who joined the Résistance had
scarcely left school. Training was often
only by experience.

Les Deux Garçons, Aix
This still chic café was frequented
by Winston Churchill and Jean
Allied Landings Cocteau among others (see
On 14 August 1944, Allied pp152–3).
troops bombarded the coast
between Toulon and Marseille
and soon gained ground.

La Citadelle, Sisteron
Marseille Exhibition Rebuilt after the Allied bombing
The 1922 exhibition was in 1944, the impressive citadel
an invitation to enjoy has displays on its turbulent
the cosmopolitan delights history (see p182).
of Marseille.

1942 Nazis invade southern France; French 1943 Maquis
fleet scuttled in Toulon harbour resistance cells
formed
1940 Italians occupy Menton
1935 1940

1939 Cannes Film Festival inaugurated, 1944 American and French
but first festival delayed by war troops land near St-Tropez;
liberation of Marseille
Liberation of Marseille