An aside: telling someone to go to Le Bistrot du Paradou, while visiting Provence, is a little like telling someone in Paris to make a reservation at Le Bistrot Paul Bert. Shortly before the pandemic, a new owner (the Maisons Pariente group, which owns a handful of in-the-know properties, including Hotel Lou Pinet in Saint-Tropez) took over Hôtel Crillon le Brave, and our trip this summer was the first time we had been back since the change. A short drive away, in the centre of the village of Séguret, there’s a café, called Salon de Thé Eglantine, where you can take a slice of quiche to a picturesque clump of folding tables beside the Fontaine des Mascarons, a historic 17th century fountain with three water-spouting, masked faces, who are said to banish bad spirits.