Toit Vegetal – Roof of Vegetation
Nature’s Bounty
Life is full of happifying wonders.
The trick is in knowing where to find them.
A little oasis of natural magic lies less than 15 minutes from Cavalaire sur Mer, just the other side of La Croix Valmer.
It is ostensibly a fruit and vegetable outlet, specialising in top of the range bio products.
It also sells local delights, including jam and tapenade, a Provençal delicacy made from puréed or chopped olives, capers, anchovies and olive oil.
And, of course, wine.
All of the very highest quality.
But this is merely the tip of the aesthetic iceberg.
Around the shop there are outdoor enclosures housing a variety of creatures, including rabbits and goats, geese, roosters and doves.
Here you can also buy a wide variety of plants, some of which are rooted in moss-filled grills, or cages.
And this is perhaps the most salient feature of our report.
These moss blocks are strong and adaptable, and are used to make an extraordinary range of objects.
Because they are so flexible they can be made into any shape, like AnElephant, bear, horse, swan or whatever.
But because of their strength they are also used to build walls.
And roofs.
There are huts here, and even a tree house!
It is truly remarkable.
As if all this is not enough, the whole site is a veritable museum.
There are ancient carriages, and an excess of wheels.
There are farming and gardening implements.
There are stuffed animals and birds.
There are hand-levered water pumps and bottle openers.
There are things that look like they might have been really useful if one knew what they were for.
But we don’t.
There are bicycles that M. Bonaparte might have borrowed if he had passed by here on his way to Paris.
But he didn’t.
And ancient beehives.
But no ancient bees.
So, if you want an hour or two away from our glorious beaches, wander up here, and give most of your senses a treat.
Cavalaire in English 