Climbing up and over itself, the warren of old streets is as feisty as a Provencal town should be.

Travel by train to the picturesque Provencal town of Avignon, home to French-born popes for more than a century.

Whereas other villages in Provence have become totally dominated by tourism and so lost authenticity, Rians remains a true Provençal town.

Large oil paintings of sailors and sea scenes dominate two walls, while the names of Provencal towns are inscribed in the wall above the bar.

And this month it was Rameau's more somber "Castor et Pollux" that made critics feel the trip to this medieval Provencal town was worthwhile.

Born in the Provencal town of Grasse, he trained to be a surgeon and was named director of the world's first veterinary school in Lyons.

Many studies in various languages have been dedicated to Witold Gombrowicz since his death in the Provencal town of Vence in 1969.

Of course some features of the Aix festival remain very much rooted in this medieval Provencal town.

But for all its polish, it's still a laid-back Provençal town at heart.

We were taking a walk in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, a particularly beautiful Provençal town, known for its Sunday antiques market.