L'Ombre de l'Olivier

The Shadow of the Olive Tree

being the maunderings of an Englishman on the Côte d'Azur

20 July 2007 Blog Home : July 2007 : Permalink

Friday Olive Tree Blogging

Just off shore from Cannes are two islands - the Iles Lerins. One of them, St Honorat, is home to an abbey and the monks grow olive trees and vines to make olive oil and wine respectively. The site is beautiful and it is possible to stay at the abbey if you wish. The monks are apparently very welcoming but not exactly scandal free. A recent abbot was picked up on the Croisette in Cannes soliciting for prostitutes and they got done for either diddling the EU by claiming more vines/olive trees than they had or selling more wine than they grew (I forget the precise details).

Anyway when you land on the island you can walk across it to the monastery and as you do so you pass under this arch surrounded by olive trees. It's a beautiful place and far less visited than its larger neighbour Ste Marguerite.

As always you can click on the image to see it enlarged and new visitors are encouraged to visit the Olive Tree Blogging Archives.