There are landscapes that exist only because a writer looked at them. The hills between Aubagne, La Treille and Allauch are among them. Marcel Pagnol spent his childhood summers there, and when you walk the scrubland paths linking these three communes, you sometimes feel you are entering his books rather than a real landscape. La Gloire de mon père, Le Château de ma mère: these stories are still alive here, in the limestone and the scent of thyme.
Aubagne: the home town
Pagnol was born at 16 cours Barthélémy, in Aubagne, on 28 February 1895. The birthplace can be visited, as can the Pagnol museum, which traces his life and work with documents, filming photos and original manuscripts. Aubagne is also the capital of Provençal santons, and the workshops open to the public let you see the craftspeople at work.
La Treille and the Pagnol hills
The village of La Treille, near Aubagne, is where Pagnol lies, the cemetery holds his grave, simple and flowered all year round. The marked trails of the Marcel Pagnol Circuit start here and cross the hills towards Allauch and Garlaban. These scrubland paths are the same ones where young Marcel hunted partridges with his father. The view over Marseille and the Mediterranean from the ridges is striking.
Gémenos and the Saint-Pons abbey
Gémenos, a few kilometres away, appears in the background of several of Pagnol's works, its Saint-Pons valley was the edge of his childhood world. The Cistercian abbey and its shaded park are today an ideal place for a walk to close this literary day.
How to organise this day
Aubagne is accessible from Marseille via the A50. MR Taxi takes you there and can adapt the route to your interests, museum and village or a hike on the Pagnol trails, with a return at your chosen time.
MR Taxi offers you a day in Pagnol's footsteps from Marseille, Aix-en-Provence or Toulon. Book your Pagnol tour, available 24/7.
