0:00:04 > 0:00:07I'm embarking on a new railway adventure that will take me
0:00:07 > 0:00:09across the heart of Europe.
0:00:11 > 0:00:12I'll be using this,
0:00:12 > 0:00:15my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide,
0:00:15 > 0:00:20dated 1913, which opened up an exotic world of foreign travel
0:00:20 > 0:00:22for the British tourist.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27It told travellers where to go, what to see, and how to navigate
0:00:27 > 0:00:31the thousands of miles of tracks crisscrossing the continent.
0:00:31 > 0:00:32Now, a century later,
0:00:32 > 0:00:37I'm using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy,
0:00:37 > 0:00:42where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.
0:00:42 > 0:00:47I want to rediscover that lost Europe that, in 1913, couldn't know
0:00:47 > 0:00:52that its way of life would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09I'm continuing my journey through Southern France.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11I began in Lyon, following the mistral wind
0:01:11 > 0:01:14down the Rhone Valley to Avignon.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18I'll visit Arles, a magnet for fin-de-siecle painters.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20I'll then travel towards the coast,
0:01:20 > 0:01:23finishing up at the gateway to the former French Empire.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28I'll find out what inspired artists in Arles...
0:01:28 > 0:01:32The answer is always the light.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37And the reason the light here is so special is because of the wind,
0:01:37 > 0:01:39which is called the mistral.
0:01:39 > 0:01:44..and feel the fervour of France's stirring national anthem.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46# ..marchons
0:01:46 > 0:01:48# Qu'un sang impur
0:01:48 > 0:01:53# Abreuve nos sillons. #
0:01:53 > 0:01:54Bravo, monsieur.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02Historic Avignon opens the way to Provence,
0:02:02 > 0:02:07a region whose rugged landscapes and vivid, sun-drenched colours
0:02:07 > 0:02:09have beguiled tourists before and since the time
0:02:09 > 0:02:11of my Bradshaw's guide.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15I'm heading out into the nearby countryside
0:02:15 > 0:02:19to immerse myself in a quintessentially Provencal
0:02:19 > 0:02:20sensory experience.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26At the time of my guidebook, lavender was beginning to stain
0:02:26 > 0:02:29the landscape, planted by entrepreneurial farmers.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34Lavender grower Philippe Soguel is their heir.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40So, Philippe, I see you're harvesting the lavender today
0:02:40 > 0:02:43on an industrial scale.
0:02:43 > 0:02:44And 100 years ago,
0:02:44 > 0:02:50what was this product going into? What sort of uses did it have?
0:02:50 > 0:02:53At that time, it was really for the perfume.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58And of course, people smell the same perfume than today.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01And I think that...
0:03:01 > 0:03:05lavender is really a great perfume,
0:03:05 > 0:03:09loved by people all around the world.
0:03:13 > 0:03:18Lavender scents were hugely popular in Edwardian Britain,
0:03:18 > 0:03:20and the craze also swept the continent,
0:03:20 > 0:03:24encouraging Provencal farmers to begin to cultivate the plant
0:03:24 > 0:03:26on an industrial scale
0:03:26 > 0:03:30and to use steam power to extract the pungent essence
0:03:30 > 0:03:32from the flowers.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36This distillery was built in 1939.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38The first boiler
0:03:38 > 0:03:40was in fact a locomotive...
0:03:42 > 0:03:44..which was used to produce steam.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48'These days, a gas boiler is used,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51'but otherwise, the process is unchanged.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54'The harvested lavender is placed in a vat above the steamer,
0:03:54 > 0:03:57'ready for the distillation to begin.'
0:03:58 > 0:04:00- So I have to catch this?- Yes.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Whoa! OK.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08And you have to arrange all these branches, OK?
0:04:08 > 0:04:10Yeah, OK.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12- Perfect.- I used to play cricket.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15Allez-y... Merci.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18Do you think you will be free for the next season?
0:04:18 > 0:04:20- LAUGHING:- I'd love to.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23The steam breaks down the flowers,
0:04:23 > 0:04:25carrying with it the scented oil that they contain,
0:04:25 > 0:04:30which rises to the top when the steam is condensed back to water.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34So it's a pure and natural lavandin essential oil,
0:04:34 > 0:04:37a hybrid of lavender.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40And so we will remove,
0:04:40 > 0:04:41I hope...
0:04:42 > 0:04:46..a few couples of kilograms of this essential oil.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Lavender has long been prized for its fragrance
0:04:51 > 0:04:54and for its reputed medicinal properties,
0:04:54 > 0:04:57being used to treat ailments from insomnia to burns.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01Oh! The scent of Haute Provence!
0:05:01 > 0:05:03Yes, absolutely.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23The Avignon popes hugely improved the wine
0:05:23 > 0:05:25grown to the north of the city.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28The Chateauneuf-du-Pape,
0:05:28 > 0:05:30the New Castle of the Pope,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33was actually built by John XXII.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36The grapes may only be grown in soil that's arid enough
0:05:36 > 0:05:39to support lavender and thyme,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42and the wine has a sense of spices,
0:05:42 > 0:05:47and it glows ruby red like a sunset.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11A new day, and my next train awaits,
0:06:11 > 0:06:16as I continue along my 1913 guidebook's recommended route
0:06:16 > 0:06:18through Southern France.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22I shall be leaving this train at Arles.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26Bradshaw's says, "..a very old place on the River Rhone."
0:06:26 > 0:06:28"..the Roman Arelate on the Via Aurelia" -
0:06:28 > 0:06:30the old Roman highway.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33Down the Rhone Valley towards the Mediterranean,
0:06:33 > 0:06:35blows the mistral -
0:06:35 > 0:06:40a very strong wind, which can be maddening when it lasts for days,
0:06:40 > 0:06:44but it takes away the dust, leaving behind clear air
0:06:44 > 0:06:46and blue skies,
0:06:46 > 0:06:48the clarity and the colour
0:06:48 > 0:06:53which have made such an impression on painters and other artists.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07According to my guidebook,
0:07:07 > 0:07:08here in Arles,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11"the interest for the traveller is in the Roman remains,"
0:07:11 > 0:07:15and Bradshaw's ensured that Edwardian readers wasted no time
0:07:15 > 0:07:19in getting stuck in, directing them from the railway station
0:07:19 > 0:07:21straight to the town's famous amphitheatre.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26The amphitheatre, Bradshaw's tells me,
0:07:26 > 0:07:28"is 500 yards in circumference
0:07:28 > 0:07:32"and dates from the beginning of the Christian era.
0:07:32 > 0:07:38"The 43 tiers of seats could accommodate 26,000 spectators."
0:07:40 > 0:07:42Tourists still come here in their droves
0:07:42 > 0:07:44to admire the Roman architecture,
0:07:44 > 0:07:49but the town is also a place of pilgrimage for art lovers.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54In the 1880s, an unknown Dutch artist - Vincent Van Gogh -
0:07:54 > 0:07:57felt the magnetic pull of the Provencal landscape
0:07:57 > 0:07:58and settled in Arles.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02Gallery owner Julia de Bierre
0:08:02 > 0:08:04knows about his turbulent visit.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09Julia, what was it that attracted Van Gogh to Arles?
0:08:09 > 0:08:14Well, of course, the answer is always the light.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18And the reason that the light here is so special
0:08:18 > 0:08:21is because of the wind, which is called the mistral,
0:08:21 > 0:08:23which is like a living thing,
0:08:23 > 0:08:25an animal outside your door,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28which can howl for one day,
0:08:28 > 0:08:32three days, six days or nine days.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34And on the ninth day, you go mad.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37So the mistral produces the light, which is lovely,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40but also it provokes you in some way, does it?
0:08:40 > 0:08:45It does, it creates a sort of a violence, a drama...
0:08:45 > 0:08:51and I think that was very part of...the life that,
0:08:51 > 0:08:53you know, when Van Gogh was living here.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57I think that was part and parcel of his creative life here.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01Van Gogh arrived in Arles in February 1888,
0:09:01 > 0:09:04hoping to establish an artist's colony.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07His first recruit was another avant-garde visionary -
0:09:07 > 0:09:09Paul Gauguin.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12But their dream soon took a darker turn.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14Gauguin arrived in October.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18They shared the little yellow house together.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20They worked together.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23They had many, sort of, artistic discussions.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26And then, on the 23rd of December,
0:09:26 > 0:09:27they had a row.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31At the end of that row, for reasons that are still not clear,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33Van Gogh cut his ear off.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35And Gauguin?
0:09:35 > 0:09:37And Gauguin left for Paris.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41Within 18 months, aged just 37,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44the troubled Van Gogh had died from a gunshot wound,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46thought to have been self-inflicted.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50But despite his premature death, he left a remarkable legacy,
0:09:50 > 0:09:54with Arles having inspired him to new artistic heights.
0:09:54 > 0:10:00In the course of a year, he painted or drew over 300 works.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02So it was absolutely extraordinary.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05And obviously, many of the masterpieces
0:10:05 > 0:10:09that we are so familiar with - the sunflowers in the vases,
0:10:09 > 0:10:14the iris, the...portraits -
0:10:14 > 0:10:16so many of them were done here in Arles.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22In his lifetime,
0:10:22 > 0:10:26Van Gogh's reputation was confined to artistic circles,
0:10:26 > 0:10:29but by the time of my guidebook, his fame was growing.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34The British general public got its first glimpse of his work
0:10:34 > 0:10:38in a 1910 exhibition which was widely derided.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41But this is one instance
0:10:41 > 0:10:45where I can't agree with my Edwardian forebears.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50By an extraordinary piece of luck,
0:10:50 > 0:10:52Van Gogh's picture of the yellow house where he stayed in Arles,
0:10:52 > 0:10:54which normally hangs in Amsterdam,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56is here in town.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00Here's the little restaurant where he used to take his meals...
0:11:00 > 0:11:04and the routine of life is emphasised by the little train
0:11:04 > 0:11:06making its way towards the Rhone.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Here's the guest bedroom where Paul Gauguin stayed,
0:11:09 > 0:11:11with its shutters open to the world,
0:11:11 > 0:11:15and Van Gogh's bedroom, the shutters half closed.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18With the typical vibrancy of Van Gogh's colours,
0:11:18 > 0:11:21we have a feeling of happiness.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24And yet we know that behind these shutters,
0:11:24 > 0:11:26there occurred the most appalling tragedy.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33Ever since Van Gogh's time, Arles has continued to attract artists.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37Today, it's known as the birthplace and hometown
0:11:37 > 0:11:41of one of France's most celebrated photographers - Lucien Clergue.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46Famous for works including striking images of Arles
0:11:46 > 0:11:49and intimate portraits of Pablo Picasso,
0:11:49 > 0:11:53these days, sadly, ill-health limits his work.
0:11:53 > 0:11:58I'm honoured to enjoy a brief audience with this living legend.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Lucien, thank you so much for having us in your lovely house,
0:12:02 > 0:12:06but I'm thinking, Arles has been such an inspiration, it seems,
0:12:06 > 0:12:10to Van Gogh, to Picasso, to you...
0:12:10 > 0:12:11Why?
0:12:11 > 0:12:15Arles is a very old town.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20It's an open book about beauty.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24Then the light is unique.
0:12:24 > 0:12:29Fantastic light because of the...
0:12:29 > 0:12:32of the mistral, the wind.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Many artists had been visiting
0:12:35 > 0:12:39until Vincent Van Gogh
0:12:39 > 0:12:45was, uh...impressed by
0:12:45 > 0:12:47what those people were telling.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51So he wants to go.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54So Van Gogh was a step.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57And 50 years after...
0:12:59 > 0:13:01..Picasso was a second step.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05When a Van Gogh show was on,
0:13:05 > 0:13:09Picasso called the curator and say,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12"When you take off the painting, call me -
0:13:12 > 0:13:15"I want to have them in my hand."
0:13:17 > 0:13:19Could you believe?
0:13:19 > 0:13:21He came especially from Cannes.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26To touch the painting?
0:13:26 > 0:13:27Yeah.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33As a young aspiring photographer, Lucien met the great Picasso,
0:13:33 > 0:13:38striking up a friendship which endured until the painter's death.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45As well as creating an extraordinary body of work,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47Lucien Clergue was one of the founders
0:13:47 > 0:13:50of an annual photographic festival here in Arles
0:13:50 > 0:13:53which showcases new talent from across the world.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58And the town itself is full of attractions
0:13:58 > 0:13:59for amateur photographers.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08Having feasted my eyes on the architecture of Arles,
0:14:08 > 0:14:11it's time to think of my stomach.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20An advertisement in my Bradshaw's guide
0:14:20 > 0:14:24has brought me to spend the night at the Grand Hotel Du Nord-Pinus,
0:14:24 > 0:14:29as it says it is the only hotel contiguous to the Roman forum.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32I've looked around for local products,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35which has bought me to this pastis.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42A liquor which is a little too aniseed flavour for my taste.
0:14:42 > 0:14:48But look at this tapenade made from locally-grown olives.
0:14:50 > 0:14:51Delicious.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09Just south of Arles, the Rhone splits into two
0:15:09 > 0:15:13for its final journey towards the Mediterranean,
0:15:13 > 0:15:17creating Western Europe's largest river delta - the Camargue.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24In this extraordinary wetland habitat of 100,000 hectares,
0:15:24 > 0:15:28flamingos live side by side with semi-wild cattle,
0:15:28 > 0:15:32herded by local cowboys, who ride the indigenous horses.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38Then, to the east of this magical wilderness,
0:15:38 > 0:15:42the marshes give way to one of the most dramatic stretches
0:15:42 > 0:15:44of the Mediterranean coast.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59And my last railway journey in France promises a magnificent view.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06This line was originally built for freight,
0:16:06 > 0:16:08but clipping the inlets and bays of the Mediterranean,
0:16:08 > 0:16:11passengers today know it as the Blue Line.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13I must say, I love this landscape -
0:16:13 > 0:16:17rustic-coloured roofs nestling amongst umbrella pines,
0:16:17 > 0:16:20and then all the various colours of the sea
0:16:20 > 0:16:22under this intense light
0:16:22 > 0:16:26that magnetised Van Gogh and mesmerises the tourist.
0:16:29 > 0:16:34This railway was built in 1915 to provide an alternative route
0:16:34 > 0:16:38to the Paris-Lyon-Marseille mainline.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41And with 23 tunnels and 18 viaducts,
0:16:41 > 0:16:43it was an engineering triumph.
0:16:47 > 0:16:52I'm approaching my last stop, Marseille, which Bradshaw's tells me
0:16:52 > 0:16:54is the principal seaport of France.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59"Trade with Algiers and Tunis, and to the East through the Suez Canal,
0:16:59 > 0:17:03"have given it a wonderful impetus, but the Suez Canal has also brought
0:17:03 > 0:17:07"Trieste and Genoa into prominent competition."
0:17:07 > 0:17:12The French had a lot of colonies - not only Tunisia and Algeria,
0:17:12 > 0:17:14but also Morocco and Vietnam -
0:17:14 > 0:17:19and so Britain's ally was also Britain's imperial rival.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26If the port of Marseille was the maritime gateway
0:17:26 > 0:17:30to the French colonies, the Paris-to-Marseille railway,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33dubbed the Ligne Imperiale, kept the capital
0:17:33 > 0:17:35plugged in to its sprawling empire.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Today, the port's imposing railway terminus,
0:17:41 > 0:17:43which opened in 1848,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46is a key stop on the TGV network.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51Railway travellers can cover the 750km from Paris
0:17:51 > 0:17:55to Gare Saint-Charles in just about three hours.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02Beneath the hustle and bustle of the modern station,
0:18:02 > 0:18:07it's possible to imagine Marseille at the height of the Age of Empire.
0:18:07 > 0:18:12I'm hunting for traces of that past with historian Berny Sebe.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18Berny, this magnificent station at Marseille Saint-Charles,
0:18:18 > 0:18:20what does this tell us about the French Empire?
0:18:20 > 0:18:23It tells us a lot about the ways in which France,
0:18:23 > 0:18:28first of all, was...conceived itself as a major imperial power
0:18:28 > 0:18:32through the reference to "Marseille - gateway to the Orient," because
0:18:32 > 0:18:35many of the French colonies were in the Orient, in the Far East,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38and also through the two statues which refer to the colonies
0:18:38 > 0:18:40of Asia and Africa.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47By the time of my guidebook, the seven-million-square-mile
0:18:47 > 0:18:52French Empire was second only to the 13 million square miles
0:18:52 > 0:18:54controlled by Britain.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58In the 1890s, competition between the Great Powers for influence
0:18:58 > 0:19:01in Africa had led them to the brink of war.
0:19:01 > 0:19:06But the 20th century ushered in a period of mutual cooperation
0:19:06 > 0:19:09in the face of a new rival.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13To a large extent, it's the rise of Germany which brings Britain
0:19:13 > 0:19:17and France closer and which forces them to solve their issues.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20And the Germans realised that if they wanted also to have their
0:19:20 > 0:19:24own place in the sun, they would need to take some territories out
0:19:24 > 0:19:26of existing empires.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30And the threat which the growing also German navy
0:19:30 > 0:19:35posed at the time, the territorial threat which Germany posed to France,
0:19:35 > 0:19:39meant that the two countries actually could see eye to eye.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42And they think, to a large extent, time has come for them to find
0:19:42 > 0:19:45an entente cordiale, which is finally signed in 1904.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50The Entente Cordiale was a pet project of King Edward VII,
0:19:50 > 0:19:52a lifelong Francophile.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55But many of his subjects were more wary
0:19:55 > 0:19:57of their revolutionary neighbour.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01After all, the national anthem of the Third Republic,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04first sung by revolutionary troops from Marseille
0:20:04 > 0:20:06and now known as La Marseillaise,
0:20:06 > 0:20:08rails against tyrants,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12presumably aristocrats and monarchs.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15And it's still sung heartily today.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18# Aux armes, citoyens
0:20:18 > 0:20:22# Formez vos bataillons
0:20:22 > 0:20:26# Marchons, marchons
0:20:26 > 0:20:28# Qu'un sang impur
0:20:28 > 0:20:33# Abreuve nos sillons. #
0:20:33 > 0:20:35Bravo, monsieur, bravo.
0:20:35 > 0:20:36Tres bien fait.
0:20:36 > 0:20:37Guten Morgen. Allemand?
0:20:37 > 0:20:39Non, je suis anglais.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42- On est des freres. - Ah, on est des freres. Tres bien.
0:20:42 > 0:20:43Merci.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48At the time of my guidebook,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51with the Third Republic firmly established,
0:20:51 > 0:20:54the French Empire was reaching its peak.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58Helped by railway lines built across Indochina and North Africa,
0:20:58 > 0:21:02exotic colonial products and raw materials found their way here,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04to the heaving port at Marseille,
0:21:04 > 0:21:08where they crossed paths with French goods bound for foreign markets
0:21:08 > 0:21:11opened up by imperial expansion.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13For the Edwardian railway traveller,
0:21:13 > 0:21:19the first glimpse of the docks must have been awe-inspiring.
0:21:19 > 0:21:20"14 miles of quays,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23"more than seven million tonnes of merchandise annually imported
0:21:23 > 0:21:28"and exported and more than 400,000 travellers landing and embarking.
0:21:28 > 0:21:33"The imports are cereals, oil seeds, coal, sugar, coffee, hides,
0:21:33 > 0:21:35"sheep from Algeria and wool."
0:21:35 > 0:21:39Although Marseille is the largest seaport in France,
0:21:39 > 0:21:41you get the impression that it is
0:21:41 > 0:21:44an international city of the Mediterranean,
0:21:44 > 0:21:46looking out towards North Africa
0:21:46 > 0:21:49more than it does back towards Paris.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56Ever since its foundation 2,500 years ago,
0:21:56 > 0:21:58Marseille has been a cosmopolitan city,
0:21:58 > 0:22:03and today, it remains the melting pot of France.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05After the Second World War,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08as the European empires were dismantled,
0:22:08 > 0:22:10Marseille's prosperity suffered,
0:22:10 > 0:22:12and the waves of immigrants arriving here
0:22:12 > 0:22:16weren't always welcomed with open arms.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20But the 21st century has given the city a fresh lease of life.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24It's recently undergone a £6 billion makeover,
0:22:24 > 0:22:28with new museums and monuments adorning the quays,
0:22:28 > 0:22:31which once thronged with sailors and merchants.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41The docks described in my guidebook
0:22:41 > 0:22:44declined in the second half of the 20th century,
0:22:44 > 0:22:48but Marseille is still a city that depends on the sea for survival.
0:22:51 > 0:22:56Nowadays, a vast, modern port, built just up the coast in the 1960s,
0:22:56 > 0:23:00helps to support over 40,000 jobs.
0:23:00 > 0:23:06I'm climbing the control tower to survey the scene with Jean-Yves Coz.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08- Monsieur le chef de quart. - Hello, how are you?
0:23:08 > 0:23:10How very good to see you.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14I'm getting a very good view from here. This is superb.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16How big is the port of Marseille?
0:23:17 > 0:23:21The port of Marseille is...as big like Paris.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23- As big as Paris?!- Yes.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28Around 80km from each side, between each side.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30That is extraordinary.
0:23:30 > 0:23:35'By the 1960s, the French Empire was no more.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38'The government sought to rebuild Marseille's economy
0:23:38 > 0:23:41'by encouraging the oil and metal industries,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44'luring mega-tankers to the new port,
0:23:44 > 0:23:48'which is built on a dizzying scale.'
0:23:48 > 0:23:52We receive around...between 5,000
0:23:52 > 0:23:56and 6,000 vessels per year.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59This must make it the biggest port in France.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01Yes, it's the biggest port in France.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04- And I suppose one of the biggest in Europe.- One of the biggest, yes.
0:24:04 > 0:24:09- We have a special port for oil here. - Yes.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13Here we have a big iron factory.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16And here we have also a very big
0:24:16 > 0:24:18container terminal.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21We receive a lot of container ships.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Today, we have a big one,
0:24:24 > 0:24:29we have a ship 366 metres long.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33'Managing the arrivals
0:24:33 > 0:24:36'of these enormous ships is a complex task.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40'I'm joining pilot Olivier Tillon to see how it's done.'
0:24:40 > 0:24:41Olivier!
0:24:41 > 0:24:44- Hello.- Bonjour.- Bonjour. Montez.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46- Merci.- Apres vous.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57Pilots like Olivier ensure the safety of the port waters,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00guiding supertankers and vast container ships
0:25:00 > 0:25:02safely to the right berth.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07Which ship are we going to?
0:25:07 > 0:25:14The name is Minerva. It's a tanker, about 100,000 tonnes.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16- Crude oil?- Crude oil, yes.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23Is it complicated to navigate into the port?
0:25:23 > 0:25:28Ah, it's complicated because it's a big ship, very heavy,
0:25:28 > 0:25:32so we have to make...be careful and to go slowly.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37Once the pilot reaches the ship that he's guiding in,
0:25:37 > 0:25:39he boards the vessel and takes control.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43The pilot is in charge because we know the area.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46We have many training for this job.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50- Exciting.- Yes, it's exciting. Very nice for a job, yes.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53Were you nervous when you first did it?
0:25:53 > 0:25:55100,000 tonnes under your control.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59The first time, yes, it's incredible.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03Do you want to steer the pilot boat?
0:26:03 > 0:26:04Oh, yes, please.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07It's not very difficult. You go straight...
0:26:07 > 0:26:09I let you replace.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16I'm heading more or less for the tug at the moment.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20Yeah, we arrive at a good moment where they make fast with tug,
0:26:20 > 0:26:23so we'll see the operation.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27'With the advent of heavy steamships in the 19th century,
0:26:27 > 0:26:29'tugs became essential to help them
0:26:29 > 0:26:32'to manoeuvre within the narrow confines of a harbour,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36'and today's supertankers still depend on them.'
0:26:38 > 0:26:42You refer often enough in conversation to a supertanker,
0:26:42 > 0:26:44how difficult it is to turn them around, but actually,
0:26:44 > 0:26:48you have no idea, until you get really close to one,
0:26:48 > 0:26:50just how enormous they are.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53And then I'm always astonished that these little tug boats
0:26:53 > 0:26:56can be powerful enough
0:26:56 > 0:27:00actually to influence the course of that massive vessel.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03And then this process is going on day after day.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05None of us ever thinks about it,
0:27:05 > 0:27:09but this is the oil coming to Europe that keeps our economy going.
0:27:18 > 0:27:24This port is a crucial link in the 21st-century global supply chain,
0:27:24 > 0:27:25just as railway lines
0:27:25 > 0:27:29were the arteries of Europe's empires at their height.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33My journey towards France's imperial gateway
0:27:33 > 0:27:37has revealed how the modern French nation was created
0:27:37 > 0:27:39during the age of steam.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44100 years ago, at the time of my Bradshaw's guide,
0:27:44 > 0:27:48the United Kingdom was allied with a country which had recently
0:27:48 > 0:27:51settled that it would never be a monarchy again.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54France's Third Republic institutionalised
0:27:54 > 0:27:59a revolutionary national day and a revolutionary national anthem.
0:27:59 > 0:28:04Politics aside, from my rail journey following the mistral wind
0:28:04 > 0:28:06down the Rhone Valley to the Mediterranean,
0:28:06 > 0:28:09I shall long remember the countryside
0:28:09 > 0:28:11with its beautiful horses,
0:28:11 > 0:28:16and the products of the land - red wine, lavender and olive oil -
0:28:16 > 0:28:21as evocative of France as the 14th of July
0:28:21 > 0:28:22and La Marseillaise.