I love as you come into Paris, you've got the Arch de Triomphe and all that crazy traffic. Then I love the drive from Paris down to Antibes and you veer off east in through the Alps and you come into the south of France on the mountain road as opposed to the freeway.
We shot that in all the real places where Van Gogh worked.
Provence is a country to which I am always returning, next week, next year, any day now, as soon as I can get on a train.
I am painting with the same enthusiasm as a Marseillaise eats bouillabaisse ... I am painting big sunflowers.
I like to relax in the South of France. The weather is so good, the food is so good, and it is perfect because we can all speak French.
I'd like to combine melancholy and sunshine... There's a sadness in Provence which no one has expressed... I'd like to put reason in the grass and tears in the sky, like Poussin.
I loved Marseille when I was a boy.
My plat de resistance is potato salad with garlic and olive oil which we press from the olives from my trees in the grounds of my home near St Remy de Provence. I have four hectares and take the olives down to the local community press at Maussane les Alpilles. I don't produce big quantities; it is just for the family and friends.
The air in Provence is impregnated with the aroma of garlic, which makes it very healthful to breathe.
I love France. It's got the sun down at the bottom, the Alps for skiing, and all that wine and food.
Many years ago I also bought a house in Provence for about 70,000 francs. It had no electricity or running water, and no road leading to the house, but gradually we made improvements. It's my escape and I love it.
My favorite destinations include places in south of France, including Cannes.
France is a country you have to drive through to get to Italy. That's all it's there for.
The South of France is one of my favorite places in the world.
