| This piece of rock
is limestone from the Montagne Ste Victoire in Provence. It was originally
laid down as sediment on the bed of a warm, shallow ocean around 300 million
years ago. Fragments eroded from surrounding land slid into the water,
joining the remnants of a primordial seafood cocktail
to form a gritty, calcareous soup.
When the waters retreated this dried out and eventually hardened into rock.
Around 60 million years ago, possibly when the tectonic plate carrying Africa nudged the landmass to the north, the rock was folded upwards to form the European Alps and the more modest mountain ranges to the south and west. My small chunk of pre-history can be held easily in one hand. It weighs a kilo and a half and has six planes of very different sizes which are mostly primarily pale grey in colour. There are, however, two surfaces which are patched with an ochre-coloured mineral deposit. On the largest surface, an irregular hexagon, small fragments of shell are visible, like tentative drawings made in 4H pencil. It is the paleness of the bare limestone that makes the mountain itself so fascinating to observe. It gives a surface which reflects the subtlest variations of light, shade and colour. Sometimes Sainte Victoire looks like a huge white marble sarcophagus. At others it is dark and threatening. In certain lights it resembles a gigantic, recumbent creature with creased and baggy skin. At dawn and sunset it glows gold or rose or violet. NEXT |
| The most famous
view is from the westernmost end, where it is a child¹s-drawing of
a mountain: an asymmetrical triangular peak rising above trees and fertile
agricultural land. But it stretches west to east for seven kilometres and
is over a thousand metres at its highest point. The northern slopes are
tree-clad and form gentle terraces angled towards the valley of the Durance
river. The other side, however, is mostly bare limestone jutting above
a plain of russet earth where vines and olive trees grow.
The name is said to derive from a battle fought in this area during the Roman occupation of France. Savage hordes from Eastern Europe had slaughtered their way southwards and were now approaching Provence, preceded by a reputation for terrifying ferocity. General Marius, a military genius the equal of Julius Caesar, was called from his consular post in Africa. He restored the morale of the short, swarthy legionnaires by delaying the battle until their fears were outweighed by the longing to engage with the tall, blond barbarians. When the confrontation finally took place in the shadow of the mountain, 100,000 of the invaders were killed, and half as many again were taken prisoner. To see it dominating the surrounding landscape, and to walk on its shaley slopes, is to be aware of a spirit which transcends time. No wonder Cézanne was fascinated. TOP |