COGOLIN... THE WORLD-FAMOUS VILLAGE

Set ideally between sea and country, COGOLIN is a delightful village internationally famed for its unique craft industries. It's bustling maritime activities revolve around "Port Cogolin" and the "Marines de Cogolin" marina, equipped to welcome 1800 boats. Here is the story of Cogolin...

Legen tells that aboard the boat carrying the body of the Christian martyr Torpes from Italy, which ran aground on the shores of today's Saint-Tropez , were a rooster ("coq" in French) and a dog. At the time, the bay was filled with dirty, briny water, infested with mosquitoes and reeds. The rooster flew away into a neighbouring linseed ("lin" in French) field... and the name Cogolin (Coq Au Lin!) was born. No-one knows exactly what happened to the dog though !

Today, this village with its temperate climate, sheltering at the foot of the Maures Hills, has preserved all its traditional Provençal features, including a ruined castle, clock tower, drawbridge and ancient fortifications. The 16th century Romanesque church and sun dial, serpentine stone porches and square belfry with its vaulted door are well worth a visit.

Cogolin could simply be considered as a village you cross through on the way to Toulon - but don't be fooled!

A great holiday destination in its own right, the village is home to extremely original and internationally-renowned craft industries - in particular handmade rugs, briar pipes, reeds for wind instruments... and a special tart!

Cogolin's numerous antique and bric-a-brac shops also make it a favourite haunt for lovers of old and unusual objects.

Rugs you say? Yes indeed, the Cogolin workshop has been producing beautiful hand-woven Jacquard rugs since the 1920's. The "tufté" technique has now replaced the more ancient thickpile knotted rugs. The rugs produced by the Cogolin workshop decorate the floors of the Elysée Palace, the White House and the Grand Trianon.

Briar pipes? Manufactured and carved using briar from the Maures Hills, the pipes come in all sizes and shapes - Tarts? The one and only "Tarte Tropézienne" - or as we say here "often imitated, never equalled".

This wide, creamy and sweet cake is traditionally served at Formula 1 Grand Prix races! Reeds for wind instruments? Manufactured from local reeds by the firm "Rigotti et Ruiz", they are then exported all over the world, from Japan to the West Coast of the United States. The greatest international musicians order them by the boxful.

But it would be impossible to visit Cogolin without taking a visit to the Raimu museum, created by the daughter and granddaughter of the famous French actor: posters, over 200 black & white photos and tens of personal objects including a school book where Raimu copied down all the texts he had to learn, stand witness to the life and work of Jules  Muraire, nicknamed "Raimu" - the immortal César of Marcel Pagnol's famous trilogy.

Yes, it really would be a shame not to visit Cogolin...