Travellers' Tales: Don't knock it til you try it

Liam del Carme finds the South of France as appealing for rugby fans as it is for rugby players

The Mediterranean-coast city of Toulon and, by extension, Provence have for the last while attracted rugby's biggest stars by paying the biggest wages. Now the region feels it's about time it cashed in on these star attractions.

Rugby tourism is being promoted, especially now that Toulon Rugby Club is to rugby what Real Madrid has been to football. Jonny Wilkinson, Bryan Habana, Frédéric Michalak, Matt Giteau, Joe van Niekerk, Bakkies Botha, Juan Smith, Danie Rossouw, Carl Hayman and Ali Williams are among those on the payroll. Far from the opposition to the Roman force of yore, the region is in full embrace of the invasion.

South Africans, as you would have noticed, are also out in force in the South of France.

Smith, one of the fairly recent arrivals, doesn't seem to miss Bloemfontein. "From what I've seen, to stay in Toulon is the best in France. I've been to Paris a lot. The weather here is much better."

Van Niekerk, another exiled Springbok loose forward, concurs, although in more detail. "The weather is absolutely fantastic and is similar to back home." He should know because he swapped Province for Provence.

"The sun is always out and we have occasional rain in winter. The region is extremely beautiful. You can't surf that much but you can enjoy kite surfing. The Mistral is the famous wind in Toulon for these kinds of activities.

"The beaches are stunning, especially one called St Claire in Le Lavandou, about 40 minutes away. If you have bucks to spend, St Tropez and Cannes are an hour away.

"The port of Carqueiranne is great for a meal. Restaurant La Reserve has very reasonable prices and the owner, Olivier, is friendly."

Van Niekerk is an honest-enough bloke but we needed to get a real sense of what the fuss was about.

Paris, with all its majesty and haughty splendour, captivates but, soon after we arrived, sun-kissed Provence got under our skin.

Even in autumn, the rolling hills and the Mediterranean provide an atmospheric backdrop that lends itself to al fresco living.

Naturally this manifests in the food of the region, as the perennially thirsty chef Keith Floyd put it on the pages of Floyd on France: "The cuisine of Provence is based on sun, olive oil and garlic - all of them poured forth in unstinted measures."

That, however, depending on where you go, is also reflected in the prices, with local speciality bouillabaisse setting you back just under R900 a plate. We found a more wallet-friendly and digestively-agreeable fishy feast at football club Olympique Marseille's Brasserie for R350.

As Grand Dame of the south, Marseille has recaptured her air of sophistication. Almost gone is the grubby reputation it earned around the time of Popeye Doyle's relentless pursuit of heroin smuggler Alain Charnier in the gritty 1970s caper The French Connection.

The city's roots are all too visible in Vieux Port (the Old Port), where the catch of the day disagreeably convulses on the quay, but the city is undeniably in full embrace of the new.

With its Roman roots, museums, theatres and five art galleries, Marseille seemed a logical choice last year to be named European Capital of Culture.

The history-showcasing Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations is a modern architectural marvel. Perched high on a hill to the east of the port, the Notre Dame de la Garde basilica is spectacular, with views to match.

While Marseille remains the anchor and main port of entry to the region, Provence's essence lies in its small towns.

Cassis, 20km to the east, is a tiny idyllic port of cliffs and sheltered inlets called calanques. With just 8000 inhabitants, it could pass for a movie set. Parts of it appear frozen in time as ageing men toss weighty balls in a game of Pétanque, while their partners occasionally spring to life in a nearby bingo hall.

Eric Gianettini is the local fishmonger and port-side owner of La Poissonnerie. As the autumn sun penetrates the vine-leaf canopy outside his establishment, the garrulous Gianettini gets all animated. He tells us he hates fish as much as he hates erstwhile power-brokers Goldman Sachs, but then this fifth-generation restaurateur has reason to want to insulate the region against capricious foreign markets.

Close by - about 4km inland - is the Dolce Fregate, a hotel and golf resort on the rolling hills between St Cyr-sur Mer and Bandol. On the 10th hole, the highest point on the course, you mistakenly get the sense that an errant drive will drop into the Med's cool embrace.

Opened in the late 1980s, the Dolce Fregate has probably seen better days but its friendly, attentive staff more than compensate - as do its stunning vistas.

Almost adjacent to the Dolce, spread along 44ha near the chalky, limestone cliffs is Château de Pibarnon. It grows some of the region's finest rosé but their signature red, made up of 95% mourvèdre and 5% grenache, hit all the right notes.

A little further east is the hillside hamlet Cadière-d'Azur. It, too, is picture-perfect and you may be sufficiently moved to send postcards from the edge.

The sales and communication manager at Hostellerie Bérard and Spa, Stéphane Zanarelli, is effortlessly charming. He is giddy about an appointment he has in Paris the next day. "I'm going to watch Celine Dion and it is going to be wonderful," he says.

René and Daniele Bérard first opened the hotel's doors in 1969. René was awarded a Michelin star in 2006 and, once seated in his restaurant, you will soon find out why.

With his confit chicken stuffed with truffle, he takes a familiar feathery friend to unexplored realms on the palate. The dinner service eventually wound down but not before a trolley buckling under 38 different cheeses further stretched the evening's indulgence.

Bérard also offers five-night, four-day cooking courses starting from around R27000 per person, but couples who wish to share the experience will pay R22400. Naturally, the price includes accommodation.

From there, you can free-wheel into Toulon with its rich naval history and nouveau riche rugby team. As a strategic naval port, its significance remains undiminished and daily some 26000 people pass through the three entrances of the base.

The naval museum is on the main road, as is Stade Mayol, RC Toulonnais's home ground. Stadiums are usually located in industrial wasteland, which made the sight of Stade Mayol in the city centre, with its intimate 15400-seat capacity, a little surreal. From here, we took a three-minute walk from Herrer's portside eatery, where the food was exceptional, although an angle grinder alerted us to renovations next door.

Perhaps equally grinding, as player's agent Damien Dussault explained, are the real reasons players move to France.

"The first is money," insisted Dussault.

"Professional athletes and foreigners get huge tax breaks here. You divide by half what you give to the government."

Family time is another consideration. "When you play Super Rugby, you tour for four or five weeks. Here, when you play away matches, you leave home for just 24 hours because you are so central. It is very important for married players and even more if they have kids.

"London, Rome, Barcelona, Brussels and Amsterdam are 90 minutes away. And there are so many things to visit in France that a player who wants to discover the world is in an ideal country."