Wealth and ideas have flowed along this natural highway down the ages, with many cultures leaving their mark. Marseille a vibrant city and France’s largest port, was founded by the Greeks and lies on ancient trade routes. At Aix, Arles, St-Remy-de-Provence and Orange impressive Roman remains survive and the Papal influence is ever-present at Avignon and Chateauneuf-du-Pape where the Cote du Rhone vineyards abound. The nearby mighty River Rhone marks the western limit of Provence, emptying into the Mediterranean across the vast Camargue delta. Here in the wetlands dotted with rice paddies you can also still see wild white horses and pink flamingos. Thriving in the sun-baked landscape of Provence, the gnarled olive tree has come to symbolise Provence. To the north, in the Drome, the olive capital of Nyons lies near attractive hill-walking country around the intriguing Foret de Saou. The town is famous for refining the olive’s precious oil into every product imaginable, while neighbouring Montelimar, in the Rhone Valley, made its name from a sweet confection of local almonds and nougat.

The mighty Mont Ventoux, ‘the giant of Provence’ with its barren white summit dominates the landscape. To the south in the Vaucluse, lies Fontaine-de-Vaucluse with its astonishing spring, the artists’ village of Gordes, red Roussillon and Apt – capital of  the Luberon regional park, whose lovely scenery and villages – Menerbes, Oppede, Lacoste and Bonnieux (pictured)  among them – were immortalised by Peter Mayle in A Year in Provence.

Another iconic mountain, Sainte Victoire, with its distinctive rock face that seems to change colour and hue by the hour – and much painted by the Impressionist painters – overlooks the countryside around Aix en Provence.

The Durance valley heads north-eastwards to the highlands of Provence, one of the largest and least populated areas of France. Although well inland, this rugged, empty landscape remains Mediterranean in feel, with long dry summers and high temperatures. Here are the spectacular Verdon Gorges, considered by many to comprise Europe’s most beautiful river canyon. Not to be missed is the nearby village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, a Medieval village below a notch at the base of a rocky cliff.