Original subtitles

Back in 2015...

Oh! Look at that!

...an intrepid British couple...

Turn, turn-turn-turn!

Wow!

...Dick and Angel Strawbridge, bought a neglected 45-room French chateau.

200-plus pages of reasons NOT to buy a house.

It was a huge undertaking.

Right, we're going in.

It's so incredibly important to bring it back to life.

But, having spent so much time

creating this extraordinary family home...

I just don't think it's ever looked this good.

Service!

...and running a wedding and events business...

...they haven't had many chances to explore France.

But now, with their chateau almost complete...

Honestly, I can't... You're happy, that's good. It's exactly right.

...Dick and Angel are hitting the road...

It does feel like an adventure, darling girl.

...to explore their adopted home of France...

That is spectacular!

Oh, thank you.

Oh! You must be French. Of course!

...uncovering its wonders.

Somebody's made a man-made mountain of salt.

It's phenomenal.

Flamingos. In France.

Ah! This is magic.

...and getting off the beaten track...

I promised you adventure! Ha-ha-ha!

...in their 1950s 4CV.

Come on, my wee beauty! Come on, little baby!

On this part of their trip, they're heading to Provence

and its capital, Marseille.

I'm going to lose my hat up here!

It's a city defined by its access to the sea.

I had my first little boat when I was nine.

For Angel, it's the first time!

Whoa!

But, on this trip, they want to explore its secrets...

It's a wardrobe!

Ange!

...discover its surprises...

I love it.

...and hidden history.

This is 1860s Marseille.

Oh, babe! This is your heaven!

It's stunning up here.

Don't go too close to the edges, baby. I won't, darling girl.

No, but I'm on this side.

Well, if we go over the edge, we're both going over.

Only when you get to the little roads

do you actually see the countryside

and this little road... Yeah. ...this car was meant for it.

It does feel like an adventure, doesn't it?

Provence is famed for its beautiful landscapes,

picturesque villages, and stunning coastline.

But, all too often,

travellers overlook Provence's capital city...

...Marseille.

A bustling metropolis,

this port city is unlike any other part of France.

Wow! I love all the old, rickety buildings,

with the shutters and the colours.

And the best way to take it all in

is from the city's highest point...

...the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde.

BELLS RING

I'm going to lose my hat up here.

You know, after Paris, this is the big one.

This is the second biggest city in France.

There's not many cities that you can actually come this high

and see, like, a panoramic view, it's quite special. I agree.

We have got mosques over in that direction,

we've got a synagogue over there,

this is a real melting pot.

And, when we look around the city,

we're going to see all these different cultures coming together.

Remember before we had children,

when we used to just go away for a few days

to a different city, and just sit and grab a coffee

and just sort of, like, watch the world go by?

Nah, my memory's not that good.

Come on, let's go and do it. Let's go and do it.

Situated on France's south coast,

Marseille's port has access to the Mediterranean,

Africa and the Middle East.

The city became a trading hub for seafaring merchants

and Marseille grew rapidly in the 1800s.

And the area of Noailles, near the city's old port,

bustles with traders and crafts of this vibrant port city.

It's really Tunisian. It's a souk. It feels like a souk.

This is amazing!

This market is open six days a week

and its colourful stalls offer produce from all over the world.

ANGEL LAUGHS

What a fusion of lovely stuff!

It's... Ahhh! Look, look, look, look!

Spices by weight.

I know you don't do geography,

but work with me for a second. Yeah, look, here we go,

Maroc, Morocco. Yeah. OK?

Madagascar for the peppers, yeah?

Lebanon for the za'atar.

I used to make that dish,

with the... Remember? ..all the green beans... All the beans.

...and the fish, and cream and za'atar.

Think about the geography of this, yeah?

Yeah. Where we are. If you go to the east,

Eastern Mediterranean, that's where Lebanon is.

If you go to the west and out, the side of Africa,

that's where Morocco is.

We've even gone down to the bottom of Africa there

for these things from Madagascar.

This is all of these different places coming together.

That's Marseille.

That is the melting pot, isn't it?

This shop is run by Gigi.

Her father emigrated to Marseille in the 1970s

and the family have managed this store for the last 40 years.

Is it possible to have some spices, please? A little bag of each?

Yes.

In the 1870s, spices poured through Marseille's port.

The opening of the Suez Canal meant that trade with

the Middle East and southern Africa boomed.

It's making me hungry. Parfait! Good, uh? It's very good.

And the flavours and tastes of France changed forever.

And the tahini? And the tahini. OK. Falafel.

Falafel. Falafel, OK.

Merci beaucoup. Thank you very much. You're welcome. thank you.

Alors, maintenant on boit du the...

We're going to drink tea. ...por la bienvenue.

We're getting offered tea to say... To welcome us as clients.

That'd be wonderful. Thank you!

The North African of welcoming the guest with mint tea...

Ohhh! Yes!

...is thought to be rooted in Islamic etiquette.

Thank you so, so much.

Merci. Qu'est-ce qu'on dit?

Very kind. Chin-chin. Chin-chin! Chin-chin!

Chin-chin! Chin-chin!

Merci a vous. Thank you. Merci.

Mm!

That's good.

That is very, very, very good. Do you know what?

I just had a moment where I completely forgot where we was.

I actually feel like I'm... we're in Marrakech.

Firmly back on the streets of Marseille,

just around the corner from the market stalls of Noailles,

there's one particular shop that dates back to the city's heyday.

Did you see the sign? 1827. Come on.

It's a Marseille institution which has long been

on Dick and Angel's bucket list.

Ah, babe! This is your heaven!

There is so, so, so much to see here!

I'm not committing to anything until we've seen everything.

La Maison Empereur,

France's oldest hardware store, has been run by the same family

for seven generations

and it's rammed with quirky items from France's past,

both hardware and homeware.

Oh, that's beautiful!

It's a tiny stockpot. Gosh!

All our stockpots are huge.

They're this sort of size, yeah? Yeah.

I think a little one like that would be great for the family kitchen.

I love the proportions of it, I love the shape of it.

Oh, it's beautiful!

I would be very surprised if we left Marseille without that.

Me, too. I'm just saying. I'm just saying.

Remember getting one of those?

Yes. They're really, really handy and a little bit dangerous.

That's cork. They harvest it off the trees.

How many bottles of wine have you opened in your time?

I've never really, honestly, thought where a cork comes from.

The bottom line is... Mm. ...we don't need one.

But the bottom... We don't need one,

but you now get to have a look. OK, that's cork for you. Come on.

We don't need one of those, that's for sure.

Unsurprisingly, the shop is full of the city's most historic product.

It's like a candy store of soap.

Oh, just smell it! It... Ahh!

The world-famous Savon de Marseille was once

the city's biggest industry.

I want to eat it. These look like marshmallows.

Right, you're going to have to take me out of here

because everywhere I look there is something that we don't need.

We're quite fortunate, actually. You don't have to rush.

I think, probably about there

and sort of two floors up is where we're staying.

We're staying in...? What?

We're staying in here tonight?

We're staying here.

Is there a bedroom,

or are we actually staying in a hardware store? Come with me.

Hidden above the shop is

a very special apartment available to guests.

I would carry you over the threshold but it's two flights.

It's quite dark.

It's very dark.

Oh, look!

Careful.

Dick could've picked from the many modern hotels around

the city's old port.

Oh! The lights have gone.

THEY LAUGH

Whoops-a-daisy! Don't fall down the stairs, babes.

Ohhhh! Hey! Well done! Cor blimey!

But this place has to be seen to be believed.

ANGEL GASPS

This is 1860s Marseille.

It's incredible!

Oh, my gosh! You're joking.

That's hilarious.

That reminds me of the sort of shirts we had to wear

when I joined the army in the '70s.

This is incredible.

Oh! Look at this.

Oh, that is beautiful.

This chambre d'hote is lovingly named the One Night.

Is there a bathroom? It's huge.

Ah!

Ha!

And even one night might be a stretch with this bathroom.

I can't fit in that!

Oh, my gosh! I love it!

Ah!

You're all right, Thomas Crapper's been here

and given you a porcelain potty as well.

How's that for an authentic 1860s toilet?

Everything is so old but so beautiful,

just that correct amount of dilapidated.

But the 21st-century visitor can

still expect their creature comforts.

Ah! Hey! Ha-ha-hah!

That is a lovely, comfy bed.

A nice little veranda.

This place is huge.

The store's been in the family for seven generations

and I reckon what's happened, the last generation have gone

and found all the old bits of furniture leftover from the family,

put it in here and said,

"Do you know what? This is somewhere people would like to stay."

Such a find.

Fancy a drink?

I do. Actually, I'm taking you somewhere now.

As night falls, the city is transformed...

...as the bustling streets,

rooftop bars, cafes and clubs all come alive.

This way. Follow me.

Do you trust me?

Really? Not particularly.

And, tonight, Angel is on the hunt

for one of Marseille's most unusual bars.

Are you sure this is right?

Hmm. Are we getting warmer?

Can we start this game so I've got an idea of what's going on?

We're getting warmer.

THEY LAUGH

This... Oh, no.

It's a souvenir shop, darling.

You are joking!

Are you taking the mickey?

Hidden from view is one of the city's best kept secrets.

Wow! What are you doing, girl? What are you doing?

ANGEL LAUGHS Are you serious?

It's a... It's a wardrobe!

Come in!

Come into my wardrobe. What?

Angela?

Ange!

Come in.

On their quest to discover the secrets of Marseille...

...Angel has taken Dick beyond

the wardrobe doors to a secret bar.

Hiya! Bonsoir! Hi! Hello! Welcome, guys. Nice to see you. Enchantee.

Gosh! I've got to steal that idea! That was absolutely magical.

That's going to cause me work. Wow! This is amazing!

I thought she was lost.

You were looking for Souvenirs de Marseille. Yes?

Souvenirs? Souvenirs. Right.

The bar is all about Prohibition.

So, it's a speakeasy bar, so it's a hiding bar.

What would you say is a local cocktail for us?

Er, picon. We love picon.

Picon was made in Algeria

and after that they moved the factory in Marseille,

so it's been very famous in Marseille for a while,

so picon is strong here.

Made with oranges. Made with oranges.

Full of vitamins, very good for you.

Exactly. My mum loves it as well, actually, cos we've brought it home.

Her mum loves it a bit too much. OK!

A mixture of orange peel, sugar and quinine,

picon was originally created by French soldiers stationed in Africa

seeking a remedy for malaria.

A good picon cocktail, it's an old riff on the Manhattan.

We do our own here, so French rye whisky,

with a little bit of picon,

maraschino liqueur, and a touch of vermouth.

That's a good-sized measure.

Nice and chilled.

Here we go. Wow!

That's going to be our Brooklyn from Marseille.

Thank you.

Thank you. Sante! Sante!

Ooooh, I'm happy!

It's very strong. I'm a bit worried.

Yes.

I can carry my wife out of any wardrobe you put her in.

After one or two more cocktails.

I have absolutely no idea how we're going to get home.

Yeah.

It's just out the wardrobe...

...through-through the pants.

Despite the late night,

an early morning visit to Marseille's celebrated

daily fish market can't be missed.

I've never been to such a big port.

It has the feel of beauty,

but it's got the feel of working as well.

A visit here is also a chance to follow in the footsteps

of one of Dick and Angel's favourite chefs,

Julia Child,

who lived in Marseille in the 1950s

and regularly bought fish from this very market.

Fancy one of those?

No!

I just love the fact that people have been coming in here,

like this, this is millennium old.

Bonjour! Bonjour, madame.

Ah, they're tiny!

C'est quoi?

Le fond de Bouillabaisse.

Oh. The fond... Wow!

Le fond de Bouillabaisse ou le fruit normal.

The Bouillabaisse is one of France's most famous dishes,

thought to have originated right here.

But what was once a humble fisherman's soup

of leftover unsold fish is now a fashionable dish,

which tourists pay high prices for.

But Dick and Angel want to go back to its roots

and cook their own cheaper Bouillabaisse.

HE ORDERS IN FRENCH

Local chef Christian

is going to show them how to navigate the fish market.

Good to see you, matey. Good to see you! How are you?

How's the market today? What do you reckon?

It's a matter of checking, you know?

You have to go round and each one has different fish to offer.

How much is a bowl of Bouillabaisse in Marseille, in a restaurant?

Oh, it's around 70 euros.

OHHH! Noooo!

Arret! No!

Yes. They upscale the Bouillabaisse into something very bourgeois.

They made it fashionable.

So you can have the bourgeois Bouillabaisse

and you can have the really cheap fisherman's Bouillabaisse.

Christian is going to show Dick and Angel how he shops

for a traditional bouillabaisse, by using whatever is affordable

and abundant here, in the market,

a much more sustainable way to cook.

The soup to begin with.

Yeah, you have to get a bit of rockfish -

that's a very dangerous fish.

So, that's poisonous? Yeah, that's poisonous. Spikes. Right, OK.

It's got poison. Are they tasty?

Yeah. That's why you need them.

In Britain, we don't tend to buy ugly fish.

I know.

Monkfish. Monkfish comes as tails,

and, when you see the monkfish head, it's grrgh!

The monkfish head is great for the soup.

Oh, right. Oh, is it?

Yeah. Cos they are leftovers.

You have to make with something cheap, you know, as well.

You don't have to spend so much money.

These aren't popular. Not at all.

And these are the ones we want people to have more of.

That's when you start

to discover fish that you never used before.

For their own sustainable low-cost Bouillabaisse,

Dick and Angel are buying

a selection of rockfish, gurnard and scorpion fish.

Merci. Merci, madame.

Ah, these are beautiful, aren't they?

STALL HOLDER SPEAKS FRENCH

These are shells for decoration. Oh, they're shells!

Yeah, they're shells. I didn't know. Well, let's buy some for Dorothy.

It's a lucky charm. You put it in your pocket and money will grow.

Oh, my gosh!

Pardon? That's very important. C'est tres important. We need some.

Allez, nana. SHE REPLIES IN FRENCH

Christian, do you call her nana?

Oh, gosh! I feel... I just think that's beautiful.

She started working at the port at the age of ten,

so she knows everything. She has... If you want a recipe,

you have to ask Nana. People think she is...

...like a folkloric person,

but she has so much knowledge to share.

The fish market has a host of colourful characters

and none more so than father and son duo Sebastien and Fabio.

I've never, ever seen this in my lifetime,

a little boy helping out.

Just as Dick and Angel thought they were all shopped up,

there's one last tempting ingredient which they can't pass by -

Moray eel.

Oh, yeah, just so... All right, gutting it.

Chhh! Yeah.

That's wonderful and kind of a bit slimy in equal measures.

Amazing! Merci!

Merci, Sebastien. Fabio, enchantee. Bon chance.

Merci. Au revoir.

With a basket full of Mediterranean produce,

Dick's determined that Angel will have her first taste

of Bouillabaisse in a very traditional location.

La Flaneuse de Marseille.

Wow!

A beautiful replica of a traditional tartane.

300 years ago,

similar small ships would've been common,

fishing and trading throughout the Mediterranean.

Bonjour! Bruno!

Hey! Hello. Permission to come on board? Welcome aboard!

OK. Oh, me first? OK. Thank you.

Go. Ah, merci.

Oh-ho-ho!

C'est la premiere fois pour Angela.

Ah, first time in a boat. Um...

In a sailing boat? Yes. On a sailing boat, yes.

Are we going to sail? Yes.

You're in charge. I'll take that down.

I do this one. You get ready. Take us away. Yes.

Anyone can charter La Flaneuse

and it's one of the last sailable tartanes left in France.

BRUNO INSTRUCTS IN FRENCH

Pull, Angela! Pull!

Pull, pull, pull, pull, pull!

On vais!

Bruno has extensive experience of sailing on this stretch of water.

You turn on the right.

For turning on the right, you push this one. OK.

Allez! More!

Two hands is necessary.

Right. Very good.

He does not know I don't know my left from my right.

I had my first little boat when I was nine.

For Angela, it's the first time!

Bruno? Ca va?

OK, tout droit. Droit.

I'll come straightforward now, yeah? Like this. OK.

Ah, my girl's a captain!

We're on a tartane sailing out of Marseille.

350 years ago, 400 years ago, they're doing this. Brilliant.

Are we ready? Allez! Go!

INDISTINCT

OK. Up and down.

BRUNO INSTRUCTS IN FRENCH

As Angel steers clear of port, it's up to Bruno,

Dick and the crew to hoist the mainsail.

Whoa!

BRUNO INSTRUCTS IN FRENCH

Two. Come to me.

The big one!

Ah! Super!

We're getting the views, kid.

That's Chateau d'If from the sea.

You have no idea how excited I am about that.

Visitors can take a tour of this notorious prison,

made famous by the Alexandre Dumas novel The Count of Monte Cristo.

In the novel, the main character made a daring escape

in a tartane like this one.

You knew that I had sailed quite a lot. Yes.

And I told you it was quite special, being on

a big old wooden boat. Yes.

I've absolutely loved it.

I'm not a sailor. I'm not... Yet.

No, I'm not. But I've really, really enjoyed myself.

Bonjour, ca va?

In a journey that might've been made hundreds of years ago,

Dick and Angel are sailing their fresh fish

from the market of Marseille

some three miles to the Frioul islands...

...and are going to reward Bruno and his crew

with a freshly cooked Bouillabaisse.

I first heard of it, going back a long time ago,

Julia Child's book, her book from the '50s. Yes, yes.

She was serving in Marseille.

Well, her husband was at the embassy.

So that's the first time I heard of it. We're going rustic.

I guessed that. That's what you do, baby.

Ca marche?

Ca marche. Ca marche - that works for me.

Ca marche. I'm starving.

Marseille's history and culture are inextricably linked to the sea,

and Dick has found the perfect setting

to prepare the city's most famous dish.

Oh, that looks so juicy and delicious.

OK, throw it in.

First things first - a stock to cook the larger fish in.

Aromatics. Aromatics.

Aromatics of the province, bay and thyme. Mm-hm.

Leeks, onion, fennel, tomatoes,

and a bouquet of fresh herbes de Provence,

all cooked in plenty of local olive oil.

Oh, man, that smells so good.

I'm going to do something I've never done before,

I'm going to start throwing whole fish in here. Do it.

There you go.

These little ones are really cheap.

They're about three euros a kilo. That's incredible, isn't it?

They're going to give us all the flavour. Yeah.

And the ugly ones, with the spikes on them, the poisonous ones.

Thoroughly cooking and then straining the stock carefully

will ensure that the poison in the spines

doesn't find its way into the final dish.

I've seen these things when I've been snorkelling before.

I never thought I'd just be throwing them in a pot.

Are you happy?

I'm very happy. I'm very happy.

Adding the gurnard and the rockfish, Dick needs to add more water.

Here we go, hot water in.

And bring it all up to the boil.

You'd look at that and think, "That's a fish stew."

Oh, I know how to make my husband smile.

I had no idea what was gonna happen next,

but the glass of wine is lovely.

I'm a wee bit gooey.

Mm! That's beautiful.

That's yummy. I was ready for that.

That was really nice.

That is what I'd consider to be multitasking.

Leeks, fennel, and garlic. Yeah.

All the vegetables are brought to the boil

in their brand-new copper pot.

I will never make another Bouillabaisse like this

because this fish selection

and what we're cooking together is a one-off.

With Bruno and his crew watching hungrily,

it's time to strain the stock.

Are you ready? Yep, I'm really ready. There we go.

Add the fillets.

Eel? Need to get that in. Yes. Oh.

And bring it all back to the boil.

Do you know what? What?

That looks like a Bouillabaisse to me. That looks amazing.

Oh, this...

I'm very excited. I'm excited and hungry.

To finish, a slice of toasted baguette topped with rouille,

a garlic and roasted red pepper paste.

Perfect. I'll call service on that one, kid.

Here we are. Wow!

Finally, it's time to serve Bruno and his hungry crew.

Mm! Hm, hm!

Tres bon. Ca marche?

Ca marche. Super.

Oh, ho, ho! Panicking a bit there.

Bruno, thank you.

Your boat is beautiful, your country is beautiful,

your Bouillabaisse is beautiful, you're beautiful. Thank you.

THEY LAUGH

Merci, merci, merci.

Firmly back on dry land,

Dick and Angel are in Marseille's old town, Le Panier,

where the city originated in 600 BC.

This is gorgeous.

They celebrate people's creativity.

Wow!

Today, the area is famous for its street art...

...and vintage shops.

You're not walking past here, are you?

No, I'm not. This is right up my street.

Angel is always on the lookout for the unusual or the unexpected...

Hope they've got writing on the back. Yes!

SHE CHUCKLES

Just capturing that moment, aren't you?

...and is keen to find them a memento of their trip.

I'm finding too many things in here that I like,

but I'd like to find something that is Marseille-y.

Yeah, let's find something from the area.

Hm. And we have to fit it in our car.

Oh, The Ancient Roads of Marseille - that's nice.

I'm sure we've been down that road.

This is fantastic, I love it, I love it.

We're going to definitely have this.

Oh, look at this.

That's nice, Departement Du Var.

Du Var? Yes.

That is... east of us.

We're about here at the minute, in Marseille. Mm-hm.

But... But, but, but, but, it says here, what's that?

The Bois de... What's that letter?

B-O-R... La Foret de la...

I think those are cork forests.

Do you remember we saw the cork in Maison...?

INDISTINCT Yeah.

I think this is the map of where the cork forests are.

Oh, really? Oh, it's actually quite close.

Yeah, cos the idea...

All right, I know Julia Childs headed up into the,

up into the cork forests for a picnic.

Yes, exactly. This is lovely.

I'm loving this because I could possibly map read off that.

I love this and, actually, I'm just picking you out a couple of, er...

Look. Look at that. A little... A little pastis glass

cos I know that's your favourite.

I think our car deserves this map.

SHE LAUGHS

Et merci beaucoup. Ca marche.

Bon journee a vous. Merci. Bonne journee, au revoir.

Bye-bye. OK, merci. Good.

Inspired by their purchases,

Dick and Angel are leaving the city,

firing up their car, Bordeaux Rose, and heading east...

...in search of cork forests to picnic in

and their newly purchased map should lead them right to them.

I know I've got this... OK.

...the right way because there's pictures on it.

SHE LAUGHS

You see, that doesn't bring me any confidence whatsoever.

HE LAUGHS

I have actually found it, Foret de la Mole.

There we go. De la Mole. So any idea which direction?

So we're here... Straight on,

cos it's the only road to go.

On the Provence coast,

the Departement du Var boasts vast swathes of forests.

Many of its cork oaks have been left to grow wild.

But, off the beaten track,

you can still find traditionalists like Philip Villar.

Enchante. Comment ca va?

Angela. Enchantee. Ah, thank you.

Ah, you must be French. Of course.

DICK LAUGHS

Are you harvesting?

Yeah, this is the time of the year when we harvest the cork.

This bark took ten years to grow.

Underneath, there is the mother bark

and this time of year the sap is running between

the mother bark and the secondary bark.

So we're gonna, about to pull this one off the tree.

There you go. So this is the bark that's gonna be used

to make wine plugs, insulation.

Wow!

This bark comes off.

It's not actually affecting the living tree at all, then?

This is like the dead layer of skin on the top. Exactly.

Then how often do you get to harvest?

Ten years.

So, to harvest a tree, it's got to be at least 50 years old.

We were just saying that, actually, coming to Marseille,

we didn't even appreciate where cork was from.

Yeah, and it's been used since the antiquities, centuries.

Since the pyramids, we found cork plugs on amphoras

that were thousands of years old.

Ah, it's just brilliant.

Guess where else it's used.

As insulation, in the nose of the Space Shuttle.

No, no, no, come on! Look it up, it's serious.

Ha-ha! "Look it up." I love it! Yeah.

It's a small miracle of nature.

The decline of the French cork forests is largely due to

new, cheaper alternatives.

Plastic stoppers and screwcaps led some wine producers

to make the switch from the more expensive, hand-harvested product.

Wow! Look at that for a lump.

Whoa!

Oh, that is... Whoa. That's incredible.

However, in a world desperate for eco-friendly,

home-grown alternatives,

traditional cork is having a resurgence.

What is your plan for the forest?

To renovate more surface area.

So, the harvest for this

will pay for renovating another 10-20 hectares.

That's beautiful. What did your dad always say?

"It's a very rich society where men plant trees

"they'll never sit under." Yep.

And the whole mindset of the work you're doing

for the future, well done.

Won't you use this for your picnic?

May we? Yeah, sure, of course. It's been a complete pleasure.

So, leaving Philip to continue his harvesting...

...there's the important business of a Provencal picnic to see to.

Chin-chin! Get a glass, darling girl.

Recognise these? THEY CHUCKLE

I just opened that bottle in a completely different way.

It's local wine, so I'm just hoping it's local cork.

And, in this spectacular setting,

Dick can't resist reading some well chosen words.

"Over the Easter weekend, we drove La Tulipe Noire..."

That's the name of their car. "..way up into the hills,

"off the beaten tourist track.

"There wasn't much traffic and we moseyed along."

Did we mosey along today or what?

THEY LAUGH

We had a picnic lunch in a cork forest.

You are such a romantic.

I think it's really quite special.

SHE LAUGHS

WOMAN VOCALISES

Provence is dotted with picturesque towns

and postcard-perfect villages.

East of Marseille lies one such town,

the world capital of perfume -

Grasse.

The town was made internationally famous by big brands like Chanel

and Christian Dior,

but Dick and Angel are after something more personal,

so they're meeting perfume expert Jessica Buchanan.

Hello! Hello.

Ah, how are you? Good, thank you.

Jessica, this is stunning. It's magical here.

It really is.

It's a sweetie shop of scents.

This exquisite garden looks out over the town

and boasts scents from Provence and beyond.

I tell you what we would love to do today,

is, with your expertise, is create a scent,

cos we've had this wonderful adventure in Marseille,

but we'd like to take a scent to kind of remind us of our adventure.

Sure. Well, let's go.

Right, Jessica, lead us. All right, follow me.

Thank you.

A perfumer's work station is known as an organ.

And here we are.

This is where we are going to compose your fragrance.

Whoa!

The language of perfumery has always loosely followed that of music.

Different scents are referred to as notes,

and, in the same way that musical notes combine

to create a symphony,

scent notes combine to create a fragrance.

I just want to get on there and start playing.

We have done everything,

from cooking Bouillabaisse with sort of herbes de Provence

to drinking mint tea and... Speakeasy.

Speakeasy, where we had this fabulous picon.

So, let's start with mint.

Yes. Yes. Yes? OK.

Tell me what you think.

Does it resemble what your memories are?

Does it take you there a little bit?

I-I love this.

Smelling that just took me back there.

Picon was a drink that we had in a fabulous cocktail

and it's got bitter orange in it.

This is petitgrain. Petitgrain.

So we'll see if this is the note.

Oh, I love that. That is a yes. OK, fantastic. It's a yes from me.

OK, great.

Oh, yeah, get me a cocktail.

Where does sort of the herbes de Provence?

We had it in the Bouillabaisse, so, you know,

where does sage, thyme, kind of...?

Can we weave that into this?

Yeah, we can, absolutely. Brilliant.

Let's smell the thyme.

This... This is a big, BIG yes from me.

OK. One of the things that I'm going to remember most

about Marseille is being at sea.

There's one plant that we do associate with water

and that is celery seed... Ah! ...because it's salt. OK.

This is a hypercritical carbon dioxide extraction.

You are speaking a wonderful language. I don't understand it,

but you are... I'm loving it.

But I'm just smiling because I know it means something.

Got to say, I love that smell.

I think a little hint of this could really sit harmoniously.

Am I using all the right language?

Yep, you are, absolutely.

Do you know what?

We're in Grasse, making a scent together.

I know. This is amazing. It's gorgeous.

Finally, using a floral base,

Jessica will mix all the notes together

to create Dick and Angel's scent.

Do we get the cauldron out now?

Hubble-bubble. No? None of that?

Not quite.

Jessica will weigh each note carefully,

getting the proportions exactly right,

to create a perfectly balanced perfume.

So, are we ready?

Would you like to smell your composition? Yeah!

So we're all smelling this for the first time.

We're all smelling it for the first time.

Oh, my goodness, I just... I can smell it already. I can smell it.

Already. Come on.

I love it. You love it? Yeah.

I love it, too. It's fantastic.

We've come to you with the memories

and we've just... We've just made a bit of, er, music together.

Yeah.

Thank you for giving me this memory in a bottle.

It was a pleasure, really, yeah.

Thank you.

With their provencal odyssey almost at an end,

Dick and Angel can't leave without a visit

to one of the region's most extraordinary landscapes.

Western Europe's largest river delta -

the Camargue.

It boasts beautiful wetlands,

impressive wildlife,

and miles and miles of sunflowers...

...but nothing compares to the pink waters.

Oh, look, all that, this is like crystals.

Everything here, doesn't matter which direction we look,

this is all salt.

This place here, it goes back to the Romans.

I think the children,

at some point, we have to bring them here, cos it's...

It has to be seen, doesn't it?

The way that the sea water is channelled onto the flats

and evaporated is an incredible feat of engineering

that has been virtually unchanged for over 2,000 years.

That looks stunning.

Oh, wow.

We buy sel de Camargue in the little tubs

from our local supermarket and it looks exactly like that.

It's lovely. That is delicious.

Oh, my goodness me! Come on!

Honestly, a decade ago, you could never have convinced me

that I would be excited by this.

THEY LAUGH

Today, 300,000 tonnes of salt are harvested every year.

This is stunning.

Look at that.

All the way as far as the eye can see there.

The highest altitude in the Camargue above sea level

is about four-and-a-half metres. See how low it all is?

We are up here overlooking it cos somebody's made

a man-made mountain of salt. It's phenomenal.

I'm just overwhelmed at the colours, like, the pinks

and purples and the beauty of it.

Why are they pink?

Because I asked them to make them pink for you.

SHE LAUGHS

The colour comes from the algae that lives in salty water

and then the algae's eaten by little shrimps,

little crustations, and they go pink.

Guess what eats them? Flamingos.

That's why flamingos are pink,

because the algae is eaten by the shrimps,

eaten by the flamingos, and we have pink flamingos in the Camargue.

And, for the last stop of the trip,

Dick and Angel are going to get up close and personal

with daughter Dorothy's favourite animal.

And son Arthur would be excited, too,

because today 20,000 of the birds call the Camargue home.

ANGEL CHUCKLES

Oh... Oh, my gosh.

I have never seen flamingos out in the wild.

Look at the colours, look at the colours. Ah...

There's so many things on this trip that are so in our lives,

like flamingos.

Dorothy's room's covered in them,

but I didn't know how beautiful they were when they lifted

their wings up. I mean, look at the colours.

It's amazing, isn't it?

This is France, but it's not like our bit of France.

This is so different.

It's been a trip of unexpected discoveries.

From the fish market,

watching the families coming to sell their fish... Yeah.

Actually making Bouillabaisse after sailing around to an island.

This is stuff we will never forget.

Next time, Gascony...

It's raining juice!

...with incredible food.

Darling, I think this is some of your finest work.

THEY LAUGH

...breathtaking nature...

1.8 million babies went into the wild.

...and hidden secrets.

Ah, this is magic.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media