St. Rémy & Passion for Provence Head for the Small (French) Screen

It’s a wrap! Who woulda thunk Passion for Provence: 22 Keys to La Belle Vie and its author (moi) would make a French TV travel show? But here I am, after the shoot, with charming Nathalie Simon, (tallest blond), the presenter of Chroniques Méditerranéennes, the delightful crew, plus five of my Francophile friends on leafy Place Favier. This segment starring St. Rémy includes interviews with several locals; it’s slotted to air on 22 September 2019, 12:50, Canal France 3 (PACA).

It all started with a phone call that very nearly went unanswered–I didn’t recognize the number. Already behind schedule for a morning walk in the Alpilles, I had no time to chat to a stranger who’d dialed the wrong number or explain to a cell phone provider why I wanted to stay with my current service. But, before my brain connected with my hand, instinctively my index finger swiped my phone and I heard myself saying, “Allô, oui?”

It was a producer from a French TV travel show (France Canal 3) called Chroniques Méditerrannéennes with the presenter, Nathalie Simon, a former windsurfing champ. The Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) regional program would be doing a segment on St. Rémy soon, and she hoped to include me as the author of Passion for Provence: 22 Keys to La Belle Vie. Would it be possible to meet the following week to discuss it? she asked.

Flabbergasted, I nodded and bobbed my way through the conversation—all en français, unbelievably. The producer came to the house the next week, and the week after that she returned with the director and a logistics guy. On both occasions, I gave a highlights tour of my St. Rémy, giving nods to cafés where Ralph and I like to eat or have an apéro, favorite home décor and clothing boutiques, the expansive St. Rémy Presse (stocks Passion for Provence!), as well as special niches and events.

The producer gently reminded me to avoid talking about boutiques during the filming—the show would focus on history and heritage. But would I be so kind as to point them out to her? “Avec plaisir!” I answered.

Before the filming on 10 and 11 June, I beefed up on St. Rémy’s history and learned some fun facts to know and tell. For example, St. Rémy’s most famous native son, doctor/astrologer/would-be seer, Nostradamus, was born in 1503, in a simple house that was part of the city’s original ramparts. (It’s now a private residence.) His most popular book, The Prophecies, an attempt to predict the future, continues to be controversial to this day. The stately Hôtel de Ville (city hall) on Place Plessier was formerly an Augustine convent. The impressive Fountain of the Four Dolphins—modeled after a similar fountain in Aix en Provence—graced the convent garden.

In 1864 when the now chic Hôtel Gounod was a modest lodging and Charles Gounod was a guest, he wrote the opera, Mireille. It was inspired by a poem by Nobel Prize winner (1904), Frédéric Mistral, born in nearby Maillane.

The day of the filming I was fitted with a mic and given instructions on how the scene would unfold. Take One! I’m sitting on a bench pretending to write in my petit carnet (journal), while the presenter, Nathalie, peddles down a cobblestone street, parks her bike and walks over to greet me. “Bonjour, Gayle!” she says.

“Bonjour, Nathalie!” I respond. We are off to the races.

After the first scene, we moved to the Nostradamus Fountain. It was then the weather decided to stage a temper tantrum. With raindrops beginning to fall and the sun hiding, filming was not possible. We moved over to Place Favier to wait for improved conditions under the huge chestnut trees. The crew took a break, remaining upbeat, congenial and professional. Without missing a beat, the director quickly rewrote the script and explained the changes to me. I just hoped I could keep up with the revised conversation! Soon after my Francophile friends arrived for the planned “buddies” shot, we had a break in the drizzle and were able to finish the filming. We celebrated with a group photo, everyone much relieved Mother Nature allowed us to complete our small portion of the program.

I can honestly say, the shoot was an unforgettable experience. How can I forget what I struggle to remember? Much of it remains a blur–one big, beautiful blur!