Jane Birkin’s Provence

“I had managed to land a part in the thriller La Piscine, which was being shot in Provence, so Serge Gainsbourg, whom I’d recently started dating in Paris, and I traveled across the country in a hired limousine with my daughter, Kate (from my previous marriage to John Barry). She sat on my lap, and her carry-cot and nappies were tied to the roof. For eight weeks, Serge stayed with Kate at the Hôtel Byblos, while I went to work every day. My parents came to stay, too. I think my mother realized I was crazy about Serge because she went up to my bathroom on the first day and saw ‘Je t’aime, je t’aime, je t’aime…’ written all over the bathroom mirror. It was one of the most tender family vacations ever; from my daughter munching corn on the cob, and my ma and pa swimming in the sea, to long lunches at pretty Provençal restaurants like Le Club 55 on Pampelonne Beach. The atmosphere of innocence was in complete contrast to the torrid plot of La Piscine about a group of friends on vacation in a villa.

A few summers later, Serge and I rented Château Volterra near Saint-Tropez in Ramatuelle [pictured above], which was big enough to house both our extended families, including Kate, baby Charlotte and our bull terrier, Nana. I remember the stress of trying to avoid the crowds in Saint-Tropez in August as we had to deliver the money (in cash) in a big bag to the owner, Suzy Volterra, in order to rent the chateau. In the end, we only managed to stay a week because I was asked to star in the film Don Juan opposite Brigitte Bardot.

I was a teenager when I first vacationed in Provence, and I have fond memories of wearing my first bikini, breakfasts of croissants and milk-chocolate drinks in bottles, the warm midnight air and the sound of crickets, lazing on Lilos and playing beach tennis on Jokari wooden bats.

I’ve traveled all over the South of France, venturing in from the coast to the arid mountain village of Sigonce near Forcalquier. I treasure the happy times I’ve spent in Provence, buying peaches and apricots in wonderful markets, visiting Avignon for a week in the sweltering heat to watch great theater productions at the annual festival, or heading to Marseille and beyond to La Ciotat with its secret coves and little bays. Whenever I get a whiff of Ambre Solaire [sunscreen], it always takes me back to my summers spent there.”

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