Les Secrets des Îles de Méditerranée – Les 100 lieux qu’il faut voir – Documentaire complet – MG

Les Secrets des Îles de Méditerranée – Les 100 lieux qu’il faut voir – Documentaire complet – MG

Do you like France? Do you like to explore it,
discover it, and meet it? Sometimes you even
feel like you know her well. We all have a small beach,
a small cove, a clearing, a hamlet or a path
that belongs only to us, far from the beaten track and that we
only want to share with those we love. This is the France we want
you to discover through 100 places that you absolutely must see in your lifetime. Today, we offer you a trip to the Mediterranean islands. From the islands of L’Hérince to Porcarolles,
passing through the Frioul archipelago, on the harbor of Marseille,
you will be captivated by a remarkable maritime heritage and by the
natural riches of our small Mediterranean islands. On the island of Saint-Honorat,
the Cistercian monks exceptionally opened
the doors of their monastery to us. This place is wonderful. This garden open to the sky
is an invitation to contemplation. In the heart of the Frioul archipelago,
you will discover how Alexandre Dumas made the Château
d’If famous throughout the world. Dumas returns to the Château d’If
and discovers the famous hole he imagined in his novel. Who made this hole, Armel? They are the guardians of the fortress. In Porquerol, you will set off for a stroll
between sky and sea on the trails of this paradise island. Yeah, I like coming here.
It’s a beautiful place. It’s very beautiful.
No houses, no boat, no one. Take the helm and head south
for a surprising journey. Our exploration of the Mediterranean begins in the Érince archipelago, off the coast of Cannes. 15 minutes south of the coast,
the archipelago consists of two islands located very close to each other. Two islands with very different pasts. Jacqueline Bénéza fell in love
40 years ago with the largest of them, Sainte-Marguerite Island. For nearly 20 years,
this adopted Cannes resident has been the president of the Association
of Friends of Sainte-Marguerite. This is the Island of Sainte-Croûte,
an association committed to the preservation and promotion of this
little corner of paradise. This
morning, Jacqueline takes us to discover the island’s emblem,
the royal fort Rueil-Mal. Christophe Rousteand de la Tour,
a history enthusiast and deputy director of the Cannes museums, is waiting for him there. So here, Jacqueline,
is really the place where we understand why a fortress was built
on this island and in this location. Oh yes, because it is a
truly extraordinary situation. The royal fort is a rare building,
unchanged since Vauban, the famous military architect
of Louis XIV, remodeled it in the 18th century. But what archaeological excavations
have shown is that since Roman times,
this place had a military function. We are very close to the coast and therefore we
can control this entire enormous space, the Gulf of Annapoule, the Gulf of Juan. We are at the junction of the two and
all maritime trade has passed through here since Antiquity. So look at this landscape, precisely. What a marvel and what immensity,
above all. So, it’s really been an
extremely strategic and important location for centuries. And what are
these buildings? These buildings?
Yes. These are the barracks, the old
barracks of the troops, of the garrison. So, it was Vauban who decided
to raise these barracks at the end of the 17th century. And we see there, on two floors…
That, I’m learning. Yes, he housed the non-commissioned officers in
the gables and the rest of the building. Very organized, always, with your bans. And how long did he stay
in garrison? And it depends. These were companies that came
from all over France and toured. And there were families,
spouses, children. And the fort functions like a sort
of small village, with its births, its deaths, its marriages. And in these barracks,
how many were there? That depended on the times. And it varies greatly,
between 150 and perhaps 400. But we have a building that gives us
a little idea of ​​how many there were in the 17th century. You’ll see, it’s something unique. Thanks to Christophe, Jacqueline has the chance
to access a place that is currently off-limits to the public. This intrigues me terribly. Look at this. So, what are we getting into? So here we are, in the old
bakery of the royal fort. Ah. There you go, and look at this, this magnificent oven. Look at this wonderful
oven depth. It’s huge. It’s in a perfect pond, too. Yes, it’s an oven that size. It is estimated that
perhaps 250 or 300 loaves could be made per day. So that gives you an estimate of the
size of the garrison at that time. This gives us an idea of ​​how
people lived here, what their daily lives were like, and
how garrison life was ultimately organized here in the 17th century. Shall we continue the tour? Quite. A garrison life, but not only that. In 1687, Louis XIV ordered the construction
of a state prison from which escape would be impossible. The king wants to lock up the most mysterious prisoner in the history of France: the man in the iron mask. But for what reasons
Who was this man? This enigma has inspired
writers, artists and historians for over three centuries, like Christophe, who has been working for
several years to unravel this secret. You see, we are
in the Iron Mask block. This is the whole part that was
built especially for the prisoner. Look, we have an original door. And the little detail,
the hinges are reversed. We can’t unhinge this door. I invite you to come inside. There is a second two doors. And a second door,
there was a third at the time, which has disappeared today. So we have a cell that is very large. We have a very large window. Wait, look, we’re going to open it. A large window, but with one,
two, three grilles. There is a little
peculiarity about these grids. They are staggered.
Yes, the bars are offset. It prevents anyone from throwing an object
outside, for example, or from communicating. In fact, this whole cell is
built around security, you see. And at the same time, there is comfort. So here we could really have
something very comfortable with the furniture, of course, which has disappeared. And you see, this is the only cell
that is decorated in the Saint Margaret’s State Prison. Who could this prisoner be
to have this comfort? Well, that’s precisely the question we’ve been
asking ourselves for three and a half centuries. Now we have a name to propose. The prisoner’s name was Eustache d’Auger. And what did he do
to deserve to be locked up here? Who knows this prisoner who is entitled to so much
consideration, who is escorted by 45 musketeers with a
steel mask on his face? This leaves the door open
to a lot of hypotheses. There were 52 hypotheses
presented. I think we are dealing with a close
relative of Louis XIV, someone who threatened royal power. We are in a world of silence,
a world of absolute secrecy. It’s a real state secret. Identity The true identity of the Man in the Iron Mask may never be solved. The only certainty is that
after 34 years of captivity, the man died in the Bastille in 1703. None of his remains have
been found to prove it. The secret of the Man in the Iron Mask
remains one of the best kept in French history. Along with the royal fort and the standard
of Sainte-Marguerite, the island can also boast
nearly 160 hectares of century-old pines and eucalyptus trees. The Canois call it the Forest on the Water. There,
you see, Jacqueline, we are really only in the forest,
the forest with scrubland. An area that
Éric Tassonne, the forest ranger in charge of its preservation, watches over every day. What kind of
fuel can be found on the island? So, you have all the essences
of the Provençal maquis. All the big trees and all that,
it’s mainly pindalep and holm oak, cypress,
july trees, eucalyptus too. Coming from Australia, eucalyptus trees are
the big stars of Sainte-Marguerite. Introduced to the island in 1865 by the Duke
of Broglie, they are the oldest in Europe, but also the most
threatened trees due to droughts and particularly destructive insects. Unfortunately, we are living the last
moments of this year. Jacqueline, you see,
while these are trees that we monitor closely for
safety reasons, we monitor all these cracks, the mushrooms that can
come out, so which are really very hollow. There may be a fragility
that will cause it to fall. This is a tree that does
n’t have a very, very great future. But hey, he’s still alive,
so we’ll try to keep him as long as possible.
But they are attacked from all sides? Oh yes, from all sides. We have insects that come from Asia,
which arrived here on the island a few years ago and which cause
considerable damage to the branches and all that, to the point of killing the tree. By the way, look, I’ll show you. That’s a little bit. The longicon, which is about the
size of my little finger. The female lays her eggs. And then after, the eggs,
they develop into larvae and they just eat the underside of the bark. Just this part that’s there. And so, it cuts off all circulation
of the wax and the branch and the wall. And is there a treatment? No, there is no treatment. No, there is no treatment.
No. This is the one
that worries me a little. Look, he lost some branches. So we notice that they are sick
when the branches start to dry out. That was eaten. That’s all that’s left of what he has… They’re basically grinding it into powder.
Yes, yes, yes. The work of these creatures is impressive. I think he is doomed. Unfortunately. There are too many risks there. There, I’m giving him a cross.
It will be cut at the bottom. Here.
Oh, absolutely, right on the edge. It’s still a shame,
such imposing, important trees. Destroyed in a few months. It’s going very fast. It’s sad. And he can leave again.
He can go back downstairs. I’ll go show you one. So, it’s right there,
a little bit further away. You have to try everything, that’s for sure. You see, Jacqueline,
the future eucalyptus avenue, if we manage to save them,
could be with trees like that. There is a bud that was under
the bark at ground level, which has grown back. And this is what it turned out to be.
A new eucalyptus. A magnificent eucalyptus And this saint? He is very veggie. In fact, he is exactly
the same age as him. That is to say, if it was planted in
1865, it is also from 1865. He is 160 years old today. There is continuity. A continuity, yes. This is a hope, perhaps,
for the avenue of Eucalyptus trees. It’s the only solution we have to be
able to maintain it for a long time, but it’s far from being a given. It was impossible for Jacqueline to leave her
Island of Hearts without taking a little trip to the western tip of Sainte-Marguerite,
very close to the Batéguier pond. Well, here we are really at the meeting point
of two worlds, the sea on one side, the land on the other. And then, it is one of the
most breathtaking panoramas of the island. So, we have the ancestral pine forest
which is there. We can see the pond
which is here, behind. And then, when we turn around,
we have the entire Esterel massif in front of us. It’s true, it brings together all
the natural beauties. Yes. There are worse offices. It’s from afar, yes. One of the most beautiful cities. On the south side, it is the small island of Saint-Honora that is visible. Saint-Honora is home to one of the
oldest monasteries in the West. For 16 centuries, the island has been owned by Cistercian monks. Jacqueline now takes us
to meet Brother Vincent, the youngest member of this community. Today, 20 monks live
at the abbey all year round. A
life punctuated by work and prayer, the two pillars that govern
the lives of Cistercian monks. Hello Brother Vincent.
Hello Jacqueline. Thank you for welcoming me
into your monastery. When was this monastery founded? The abbey was founded at the beginning of the 5th
century by Saint-Honorac and thus began a 16-century history
of monastic history. I suggest that we go and visit
the fence of the place where we live, brothers. It is a small medieval gem in the heart of
the abbey. We will go to the cloisters. This place is wonderful. This garden open to the sky
is an invitation to contemplation. It’s a marvel. It is a bit of a symbol
of the garden of paradise. It inspires contemplation. We pass by it daily,
non-stop during the day. Usually, for us,
it is a place of silence. In the morning here you have
the bell that rings the alarm. That’s it. At 4:10 in the morning, there is a brother
who comes here and rings the alarm. And then, throughout the day,
you will hear the bells ringing to call for prayer. What is this big room? This room is our dining hall. This is where people come to eat their meals every day,
for lunch, dinner and breakfast. How are meals? Meals are usually eaten in silence. The brothers are
each arranged in their place. A brother will read
from the lectern upstairs. And two brothers will do the service. Serving one another
is something that is very important to us in the monastic tradition. So our meals are quite quick,
because when we eat in silence, the disadvantage is that we
tend to eat quickly. So it’s about 20 minutes for
lunch, and then a quarter of an hour for dinner. So it’s a bit of laughing,
chatting, we eat a bit where we get worse. Do you have places to allocate? Places are allocated
in order of seniority. The father abbot is in the center. He has a little bell to
ring the end of meals. I admire
this. Is it a fresco? No, it’s not a fresco, it’s
a canvas that’s stuck to the wall. A very beautiful work of art
dating from 1900, to be exact. It was created by the marcier painter
Henri Pinta, specifically for the place. So, Henri Pinta came on site
and the project itself was to paint the entire refectory. He only made this wonderful
scene that fits well with the play. And Christ has his halo. He has his halo and
is surrounded by the apostles. It’s classic Yes, it’s certain that here,
we immediately think of the scene from Leonardo da Vinci, which was
also made for a refectory. She is very beautiful, very, very beautiful. On the southern tip of the island, Brother Vincent invites Jacqueline to discover another architectural gem. Now undergoing restoration,
this defensive tower was built by monks in the 11th century to
protect themselves in the event of an attack. The brothers, in case of threats or dangers,
would run to take refuge in the tower to find shelter. The really surprising thing
is that in 1390, they decided to settle permanently in the tower. And for four centuries they will
occupy the tower and settle there and develop it, transform it to
create a cloister, the abbey church, the refectory, all the
essential elements of a monastery. This tower becomes a monastery condensed
into one and that is truly unique in the world. It is an exceptional construction. Yes, and it’s related
to the cramped space. They had this idea of ​​developing
a cloister on the height with three levels and they recovered these granites
which come from Egypt, marbles which come from Türkiye. So it’s quite surprising. Here we can see
12 marble columns from Jaine which were commissioned
and carved in the 15th century. It is known that very shortly after
the construction of this cloister, there were around 40 monks living in the tower.
Forty. Forty, yes. And in fact, we know the reason,
really, why they took refuge in this defense tower. As far as I know, it has
n’t been found yet. So maybe we’ll find out,
because there are still many historians working on the abbey. So, there is a whole team
of archaeologists who have currently been doing work.
So maybe one day we’ll find each other again. Whether it has a military
or religious past, the islands of Erince still hold many secrets. May be buried forever
in the waves of the Mediterranean. A sea near Marseille that Fanny Havas knows well. Aboard her Coco,
a traditional Marseille boat, the young skipper takes
visitors to explore the Marseille archipelagos in summer and winter. I come from Neuilly-Plaisance, near Paris,
and I arrived in the region more than ten years ago to gain my
first professional experience. I didn’t know the sea at all. When I discovered sailing,
it was a turning point. I was immediately taken with
love by the wind, the elements. I am always impressed. The sky changes every day,
the wind changes every day. The sea is never the same color. When I see the Caroline du Frioul hospital
or the Château d’Ifre, I am extremely happy. These are all the wonders
that Fanny loves to share. But for now,
Coco’s captain is docking at the mouth of the Old Port, in Anse du Phareau,
where her friend Denis Borg lives. Coco’s return.
Hello. How are you, Denis?
Very, very good. Come on, I can finally give you a kiss. It’s worth it to get here. Denis is one of the last
traditional shipwrights in the region. That one. It was in her shipyard that Fanny was
able to completely restore her boat. Ah, there you go. I know that. This is the
site mascot, just like yours. Lili Barquette,
the barquette is to Marseille what the gondola is to Venice. This is what was imported at the same time
as the migratory flow of people coming from the great south of Italy. In the mid-19th century,
this workforce came to bring its technical and cultural knowledge,
which makes these boats unique, compared to the carpenters
who came from the far south of Italy, is at the level of the front, the stem,
what we call here the capien. Come on, go ahead, show me. The Capien, here. This bow here,
with these two side cheeks, is something very phallic. The myth says that we ask for
the sea to be fertile so that the fisherman can catch
fish and not have too many problems navigating and that it
wards off bad luck a little. And do you know what we call them here? The trays.
And there are some who call it sharp. Pointy ones because they have
pointy noses and pointy rear ends? And then, especially around the
Mediterranean, we find these boats which are pointed on both sides. It was the boat that
the fishermen worked with. They had lifespans of
around 30 or 40 years. And the son who was coming to take over,
we would go and recommend a new boat to the ship’s carpenter. It’s evolved, hasn’t it? The boat has evolved and
moved towards its ideal forms. And that’s certainly why we
still have the boats here that weather the waves so well. When the wind picks up
or strengthens, you can easily pass through the chop and go back into shelter. And what are you doing on Lili, so
we’re going to do some painting, we’re going to re-engine,
we’re going to make some water inlets permanent. But here, we are dealing with something very
closed, not very visual in terms of structure. But alongside this, we have a lovely catering programme
on a 6.50 metre boat. We
will discover the architect’s emerging architecture of a new deck plan for a
boat dating from 1968, which was used for cruising and which may
also have been used for fishing. It will be fitted out with a roof,
a real living space, a small sleeping and bivouac area, with
the possibility, as on your boat, of being able to cook and
have a fresh water point. It reminds me of Coco,
but worse, you know? When I brought it in,
there was at least one bunk. There, it is true that there are
still many things to do. And since there are still quite a few things
to do, you’re going to caulk with me, that is to say, make the
boat watertight. I’ll show you the gesture. It is a very sensitive operation. You can’t
fail, and neither can I. The goal of the game is to
trap the cotton. All right ?
And then try to get it back in. With the particularity, it is by making it
enter, to make it turn. Do you see it turning there? So as it turns, it tenses,
as it tenses, it becomes hard. And as it becomes hard,
we have something very static. We’re not going to just jam it
in, but we have to practice it. Okay. Shall I try?
Yeah. I saw you took the cord,
so you twisted it. You twist it.
You turned it, sorry. I feel like I have
so much in my hands. Go ahead, go ahead. I already feel that
Denis is not going to be happy. Shall we continue? One centimeter.
One meter, well done. It’s moving forward. That’s cool, you can do it on coco,
now that you know how to do it. You won’t need me anymore. If I have a voice of water,
I will think again about what you tell me. Well done, that’s enough. You’re going to take it off. We can leave it. Are
you doing the last meter? We might not be
a meter tall, but we’ll… Denis, did you know
you were going to be a carpenter? Dad was a
shipwright and so was grandfather. They were Italians who came
from Tunisia and took French nationality in the 50s and 60s. And I hung out with Dad when I was little.
And after that, it’s a job. It’s not about being
by his side to… You have to prove yourself. Did that take you a long time? It took me between 5 and 7 years. Are there still many of you who
do this traditional marine carpentry work? There are no longer many of us
restoring wooden boats. And we hope it doesn’t get lost. That’s it, that’s it. Because behind all these gestures,
there are years of learning, there are years of history that have been
passed down from generation to generation. And we must continue to make
Marseille shine, and also through its local crafts, which are
very hidden, unfortunately. Well, thanks for the visit, Denis. Perfect, we’ll help you
get out of the workshop. And in any case, congratulations
on the adventure you are experiencing with Coco. That’s fabulous. Yeah. After this short stop at Denis’s,
Fanny leaves Anse du Phareau to head for the Frioul archipelago. Two kilometers from the Old Port, this archipelago, made up of four rugged islands,
was, two million years ago, connected to the mainland by an ism. But today, it is by sea that Fanny returns to the island of If. It is the most famous island in the archipelago,
thanks to its fort built by François I in 1524, to defend access to Marseille. Fanny has a date with Armelle Baduel. Fanny, we’re about to arrive in front of the castle. The castle’s administrator has been watching
over this treasure of Marseille’s maritime landscape for 25 years . We will enter the heart of the fortress,
which is an open-air courtyard. I didn’t think it was that small. This is the courtyard where the garrison lives. There are casemates on the upper floor where
the officers are located and galleries to accommodate the garrison
all around this courtyard. Subsequently, Yves’s castle
became an exceptional prison. The prisoners are crammed
into the galleries and the casemates. Who were these prisoners? The most famous are the 48 Art,
in the 19th century, all opponents of monarchy, republic, empire, in Marseille,
meet at the Château d’Ifre and Fort Saint-Jean. And to prevent an insurrection
inside the Château d’Ifre, the prefect will give them tools
and they will create a real memorial. So this memorial is unique, it ca
n’t be found anywhere else. Yes, indeed.
They engrave their name. And some are twisted with small
chains that recall the chain of Confinement. Oh yeah. Where else we can see, for example,
the attribute of the profession is the vase that is used by the barber. There you go.
That’s when… There’s his name. That’s what we put there.
This is what we put here. He reproduced it here. He reproduced it to say: I,
who was a barber. It’s original. I think that the pinnacle is that
they have written their motto which is: Hotel of the sovereign people. This is the motto of the 48-
hour prisoners who continue their fight and want it to be
passed on to future generations. They carved this into the door.
It’s majestic. These graffiti allow us
to understand the history of the Château d’If prison. You should know that there are up to 200 of them. There were up to 200 prisoners
on top of each other. We don’t live in the
Château d’If prison, we survive there. To show you the atmosphere there
can be. There are 50 of them, they have 50 square meters. So a collective cell with
straw mattresses on the floor, without heating. One can imagine the stench
described by visitors. Few supplies with the boats. They can go for
several days without food. All right. It was the reputation of this prison
that made Alexandre Dumas come to the Château d’If to see
what this terrifying prison was all about. Alexandre Dumas was inspired by it to
create the famous Count of Monte Cristo. Alexandre Dumas’s novel,
published in the mid-19th century, was an immediate worldwide success. The enthusiasm for this story of love
and revenge attracted hundreds of visitors to the Château d’If
, eager to discover the cell of Edmond Dantès,
the hero imagined by the great writer. Dumas will return to the Château d’If
incognito, and what is his astonishment? He enters one of the cells
and discovers the famous hole he imagined in his novel. The famous hole created by Abbé
Faria and Edmond Dantès. This is the key moment of the novel. And who made this hole, Armel? They are the guardians of the fortress
to appropriate the Dumas tour circuit. And everyone comes to the Château d’If. We want to relive the emotion we felt
while reading it and also smell the damp smell of its dungeons. This is the creative genius of Dumas. It’s so good that he did
it again, anyway. It’s exciting. There, Fanny, we arrive at
the terraces of the Château d’If. We have a 360-degree view of the
entire harbor of Marseille. In the distance we see the first blush
that Marseille announces, the blush of Planier. We see the Frioul archipelago, at Meig. The famous dike that connects the islands…
Ah yes, the Berry dike, there. There you go, between them. And then, a little further
north, Caroline Hospital. It’s curious to see a hospital like this
on an island somewhat lost in the middle of the water.
Yes yes. When every
boat was quarantined, when there was suspicion of disease or epidemic,
it was a failure to respect this quarantine that caused the plague to
spread throughout Provence. And besides, the captain
was locked up for that. Yes, locked in the castle. I could see his name on one of the cells. Can you show me your favorite view? So yes, it’s on the other side. From the terraces,
you have a unique, incredible view of Marseille,
like you can’t see anywhere else. Yes, indeed.
It’s exceptional. The Estac, the Old Port. And our Good Mother.
And opposite. Who sit like that.
It’s beautiful. The Marseille archipelagos
still have other splendors in store for us. Just a few minutes from the Phocaean city,
the Riou archipelago is an exceptional nature reserve. And it is by the coastal path that Fanny heads towards one of the most beautiful
sites in the Calanques National Park. Hello Fanny, welcome
to Monkey Bay. Thank you Luc.
At Cap Croisette. It’s incredible here,
it’s a hidden and unsuspected place. Exactly. Garnier is the chef of this restaurant,
nestled at the end of the world, facing the wild archipelago of Rio. Opposite, is there an island
that is part of the archipelago? Yes, it’s the Isle of May. It is the largest of the four.
All right. Opposite, we have ruins which were
a customs house under Napoleon III and controlled the arrival
of cargo ships. Check the arrival in
this small pass, here. The arrival of the boats
in the pass, exactly. Has this always been a restaurant? So, it’s been a restaurant for
about forty years. All right.
It was originally a fisherman’s house. Luc, is fish the specialty here? Absolutely, Fanny. We’re making grilled fish,
lobster, lobster, bouillabaisse and fish soup that we’ll cook
together, if you like. Oh yes, I’m coming. Emblematic dish of Marseille. It’s like fish, Luc, there. It’s full of little…
So, we have little wrasse. Bouillabaisse is a simple,
family-friendly dish whose origins date back to Antiquity. We’re going to put our fish in. An essential step in making
this legendary recipe. It’s fabulous.
Preparing fish soup. Should I stir?
Yes. There, look what I’m doing.
I’m crushing them. No, no, but it’s okay,
anyway, at some point, we won’t find the fish anymore
at the end of cooking. We’ll put in
a small glass of pastis. Is that because we’re sick? That’s
it. Where did you get
this recipe, Luc? I took this
recipe here with the family. And one thing led to another, year after year, and
I became the person in charge of the fish soup here. Here we are going to add
some tomato coulis. This is the ancestral recipe of the house. Cook covered,
cook for about a good hour. In the meantime, I’ll show you
the fish in the bouillabaisse. We have a John Dory. There we have two scorpion fish, a capon,
a weever fish, an old one. Here, it’s a white scorpionfish. It is also nicknamed
the ox in the region. Maybe because of his big head.
By his head, I think, yes, that’s it. There, we are very lucky today.
We really… The fishing was good.
Yes. Little bichon.
Sorry. This is the first time
I’ve cooked with a chef. Ah. Luke, tell me, what is
the story behind bouillabaisse? Bouillabaisse was
a dish of the poor, of fishermen. They sold the most beautiful fish and
kept all the rock fish for themselves, which they kept for themselves
and cooked in a large pot with vegetables and spices. It smells so good. Now things are starting to boil. When it boils, we lower the heat,
hence the name bouillabaisse. That is to say that it has a
tendency to boil, to lower. I had no idea it
came from there, it’s incredible. I’ll keep it in mind and hope I
make one as good as yours. I can’t wait to taste it.
Let’s go for the tasting. I have prepared a little
table for you on the archipelagos of Rio. I see that.
The most beautiful terrace in the house. Fanny, I wish you
a good tasting. It’s delicious, Luc. THANKS.
It’s really successful. There is a bouquet of flavors.
It is an exceptional flavor. And we have all the flavor
of the Mediterranean. A bouillabaisse at the end of the world is
priceless. After Marseille and its archipelagos, our journey in the Mediterranean naturally takes us
to the astonishing Gien peninsula. Deeply
committed to environmental protection,
Émilie Papaleo lives and works here for the essential preservation
of this geological wonder. I arrived at the age of three
from the Lyon region and grew up at the start of the Salt Route, in Almanar. I was thrown there every summer. I left for a while to
study and finally came back here because
nature and getting back to my roots are important. I was lucky enough to be hired
by an association that protects the Gien peninsula. And since that day,
I have never left her. Every day, I discover a
little more of my natural heritage. In one day, you can
radically change your environment. Everyone can find something to suit them. On the hill of Hyères, Émilie
meets her old friend, Michel Ogias. Plus, you go upstairs with your
hand in your pockets. You have nothing to make up for it.
It balances me out. Michel is passionate about the
geological history of the Peninsula. To begin the tour,
he invited Emilie to the most spectacular viewpoint in the city. The view is magical from here. Oh yeah, well you see Emilie, we have
Lovan Island over there, Portcrop, Portcrolles. It’s called the Golden Islands, that’s
how it was named. And here after we have Gien. Gien is not an island,
it is a peninsula. It is a peninsula because
there were two strips of sand that formed over time,
over the millennia. These are called tombs. But then,
this formation is exceptional from a geological point of view. Oh yes, a new tombelleau,
that’s extremely rare. It’s even exceptional. There are only five of them in the world.
Oh yeah, really? Yes, there are three in Europe. So, you see, we’re lucky
to have one here, somewhere else. So, it must be preserved. It must be preserved. But right now, well,
it’s not easy because the tombelleau is suffering at the moment. Well, listen, if you want,
we can take a closer look. I’ll take you downstairs. This unique site, 28,000 years old,
is today doubly threatened by unabated tourist pressure
, but also by the continuous erosion of the coastline. Well, there, you see, Emilie,
we arrive at the tomb, the West. So, it is the one that is
the most fragile and the most threatened. Well, it’s fragile especially
because when there are storms, the sand is carried away by the swell
and goes to the other side of the road into the salt marshes. Here we have facilities
to try to limit erosion. These wooden barriers, there, like that? These wooden barriers
are called ganivelles. Gaffs?
Wads of wood, yes. It is made with chestnut wood. And you can see that at
the back, we have wattle fences that are practically buried. They played their part. That is to say, when the wind blew
the sand away, the sand became trapped on the wood. So these were planted
before these, etc. The wattle fence over there only
has about 20 to 30 cm sticking out. Well, initially
it had this dimension. Okay, so it actually works. It traps sand well. And then you have the vegetation,
at that point, which can develop. If it hadn’t been for the slats,
all that sand would have gone to the other side. So, that limits the damage,
but it doesn’t solve all the problems. So what do you think
will become of this double tomb? Well, listen, I don’t know. So we will leave this work to
our future generations. We did another one and tried
to give a little account of its condition so that
the problem would be better known. On the other side of the beach,
there is another site which is preserved from all human pressure. Nestled between the two tombs
of the peninsula, the salt marshes of Pesquier. And for good reason, these ancient salt marshes
are a fantastic food reserve for migratory birds. A precious ornithological heritage
that Émilie will be able to admire in the company of her friend, Norbert Chardon. So, we’re going to sit here and
start counting the birds. Norbert is an ornithologist. He ensures the monitoring of populations within the League
for the Protection of Birds . So we count them species by species. That is, I will focus
the telescope on a small group. I’ll start with the avocets. So there are two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight
, nine, ten. Ten avocets, you can write them down. They are migratory birds that come
from Africa in early spring. They have their babies here,
they raise them. The elegant avocet
is the small black and white one. There you go, with a curved beak.
They have a beak. Yes, the beak, it rises? There it is, curved upwards. You see, Emilie, we are
in a truly unique area. It’s a projection into the sea. It’s truly a pocket of
unspoiled nature in the middle of urbanization. There are about 300 species of birds.
It’s remarkable. You should know that in France,
there are approximately 550 species of birds. And it has always been
a birdwatching site? No, before, we produced
salt here, until 1995. So, it stopped. It was bought by the Conservatoire
du Littoral and became a nature reserve. So, Emilie,
I’m going to show you a hydraulic structure that bears witness to the old era of the Salins,
which will soon be restored. Be careful.
There, it’s the construction site. Yeah, we’re going to get closer. So you see, there you have it,
it’s the Pesquiers tympanum, a hydraulic structure unique in France,
which was used to take water from the canals. It turns, there were
helical blades that brought the water back to the center. Okay, so it worked
during the Salins period. That was in the
heyday of the Salins. It’s impressive,
he’s very, very stupid. Yeah, it’s really quite unique. So, we’re going to leave again,
we’re going to continue counting birds. Come on, let’s go back. So already, there are flamingos, look,
they are flying down there, they are going to land.
There, I have… They are very pink, those ones. So. They are really very, very beautiful. Flamingos are truly the most majestic
. Yes, it is a bird, therefore,
emblematic of the Vien peninsula. There are apparently a lot of them there. Yes, there are quite a few in this basin. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,
16, 17. Are you counting all the individuals? Yes, all individuals, yes. 51. And where do
these Flemings come from? What is their background? They can come from quite far away,
for example, Algeria, Tunisia, but also from Greece, Spain. There are colonies all
around the Mediterranean. Every day we try to reconcile
scientific monitoring, welcoming the public and preserving this
natural jewel in the Mediterranean which is remarkable and very, very rare. Thank you Norbert, it was
a great discovery. To round off this trip to the Mediterranean,
there is another gem, just a stone’s throw from the
Gien peninsula: the island of Porquerolles, the most famous of the islands of the Var coast.
Let’s go. Come on, let’s go. Émilie meets Baptiste Lebert,
a local boy who knows every nook and cranny. His great-grandfather owned
the island at the beginning of the 20th century, before Porquerolles became a national park. So here I am taking you
to a very nice little place. Who is called the lobster boat.
It is at the western end of the island. And what I really like here
is that if you don’t like a beach, it doesn’t matter, because on the other
side, there’s another one. On one side, black,
on the other side, white. Like this, there is no water. So here we are on the
lobster peninsula, on the thinnest, narrowest part. It’s very beautiful, I must say.
The white beach. There, you can see opposite,
it is the Petit Langoustier fort, which dates from 1660, which was built
to protect the bay of Toulon. And then, on the other side,
from the same period, you have the Grand Langoustier fort. It’s true that it’s a very,
very beautiful, very natural, very peaceful beach. It’s very relaxing, very nice. Then we will pass them
to the other side, the south side. After the white beach,
we will have the black beach. He looks.
Oh yes, I see, the sand is black. You see, this, right here, there,
I’m going to take in my hand. You see, you have the little marbles.
Yes, the small pebbles, orange. And then you have everything that’s black. White is sand, but
black is iron slag. It is used to make roads. Also. The history of this
beach is special. Between 1825 and 1875, there was a factory,
a soda factory which was used to make Marseille soap. And to make soda,
you need coal, limestone, salt and other materials. All of this, when you burn it,
what results is iron slag. And they put all the iron slag
here. That’s why you see this contrast,
the orange color at the bottom, the purple color on top. And all this iron-chewer, it was
200 years ago, he came to the beach. You might think it’s natural,
but it’s not. It’s nice to look at, we’ll keep it. That’s
it. Come on. Shall I take you somewhere else?
Come on, let’s go. There we are , we took the path
to arrive at Obregansonnais. On a plain with vineyards. What you need to know
is that in 1912, my great-grandfather bought the island as a
wedding gift for his wife. That’s a nice gift. That’s
it. And in those years, there was a very
serious fire that ravaged the whole island. Following this, my great-grandfather
had vines planted on the three plains of Porcarolles. Why vines?
To serve as a firewall. I don’t know if you notice,
but these vines run from north to south. There really needs to be
a clear separation between the forest, the scrubland and the vineyards,
so that if this fire reappears, it can be stopped and
the whole island is not ravaged. Yes, that’s wise. We’ll stop there. We’re going to see if the director
of the island estate is in his vineyards. There it is. I will introduce you to Nicolas Audebert. Hello Nicolas.
Hello Emilie, Mr. Baptiste. Is the harvest
over yet? Yes, we finished the harvest
a week ago. Now we are in full planning mode.
All right. We press, we collect the juice,
we put it in a tank. If you want, we can go and taste
a certain number of juices to understand what they look like and how
we will then work on the blend. My pleasure. For Nicolas, assembly is
the most delicate stage of the year. Each of these bottles corresponds
to a specific grape variety that must be combined
to create the vintage of the year. You mix them anyhow or you… We put everything in a big pot. No, no, but after that, what we’re going to do
is actually determine what proportions
of wines work together. Come on, let’s go. This is a tank, a plot. Start of alcoholic fermentation.
It tastes a little like cider. Are we talking about cider?
Grapefruit ? Yeah, yeah. There’s a fairly fresh grapefruit vine peach side
, it’s quite floral. There, we have an almost fluorescent pink on it. Yeah, that’s neon. A peony side, a little May rose,
very, very, very, very flowery. Tell me, Nicolas, what will
the island estate look like next year? We know we will have a wine
with a lot of freshness. In terms of color. We will end up with a
final color that is lighter. And so you see there, that’s
last year’s vintage. From experience, I can tell you that if we
put all these colors together, once they are finished
and stabilized, we will have something roughly like this.
All right. Thank you for this course.
Yeah, that’s great. From our homes. We will come back here when
fermentation is complete. Exactly.
And the mixture is done. Exactly.
You must come and see us at that time. Goodbye Nicolas.
Great, excellent. THANKS.
THANKS. Father, I’m taking you to the Chevroau
to see the sunset. It’s a pretty amazing place. This is one of my secret gardens. We’re still climbing there. We’re almost there. Oh my! So. Oh yes. Oh yes, it’s very beautiful. Yeah, I like coming here.
It’s a beautiful place. With the Percée rock there. A little further ahead,
we have the Pointe du Brigançonnet, the Pointe des Carrières and in the distance, over
there, with the fort, we have the lobster boat. It’s beautiful. I really found a side
of Port-de-Rolles that I didn’t know at all. It’s very beautiful.
No houses, no boats, no one. The people of Port-Couroulais love freedom. I remember this beautiful phrase
from Baudelaire, a free man: Always, you will carry the sea. It is with these words of the great poet
that our journey to the islands of the Mediterranean ends. Now it’s up to you to invent your next
stopovers for an odyssey that’s sure to be unforgettable.

Des îles de Lérins, situées au large de Cannes, jusqu’aux îles de Hyères, en passant par les archipels marseillais du Frioul et de Riou, dans le Parc national des Calanques, ce périple révèle un passé patrimonial insulaire méconnu et une extraordinaire diversité de paysages.

Pour découvrir les merveilles des plus belles régions de France, c’est ici – Abonnez-vous 👉 http://bit.ly/3zjR2Vj 🙏

Des hommes et des femmes – navigateur, artisan, garde-forestier, conservateur, moine ou ornithologue -, passionnés par leur territoire, ont à coeur d’être les gardiens de ce patrimoine maritime exceptionnel des côtes françaises.

Réalisé par Sam Caro
© MORGANE PRODUCTION