Fox-Amphoux (; ) is a commune in the Var department in the

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in south-eastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. As with many smaller villages off the beaten track and closer to the coast, the village perché of Fox-Amphoux lives a quiet life. The old church tower behind the town square offers a 360°

panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

of the surrounding countryside including a view of Mont Sainte Victoire to the west. The former hotel in the centre of the village offers

bed and breakfast A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. In addition, a B&B sometimes has the hosts living in the house. ''Bed and breakfast'' is also used to ...

('chambres d'hôtes').

Notable residents

Paul Barras Paul François Jean Nicolas, Vicomte de Barras (; 30 June 1755 – 29 January 1829), commonly known as Paul Barras, was a French politician of the French Revolution, and the main executive leader of the Directory regime of 1795–1799. Earl ...

, president of the Directory and a major figure of the French Revolution, was born in Fox-Amphoux in 1755. Christer Strömholm (1918–2002) a Swedish photographer, recipient of the 1997

Hasselblad Award The Hasselblad Award (in full: Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography) is an award granted to "a photographer recognized for major achievements". History First awarded in 1980, the award—and the Hasselblad Foundation—wa ...

, had a house here. The artist René Lacroix (1948–2011) originally from

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Celtis australis ''Celtis australis'', the European nettle tree, European hackberry, Mediterranean hackberry, lote tree, southern nettle tree, or honeyberry, is a deciduous tree native to Southern Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor. The tree was introduced to E ...

'', planted in 1550, stands immediately in front of the church. In front of the nettle tree is an old field elm, ''

Ulmus minor ''Ulmus minor'' Mill., the field elm, is by far the most polymorphic of the European species, although its taxonomy remains a matter of contention. Its natural range is predominantly south European, extending to Asia Minor and Iran; its norther ...

'' (73 cm d.b.h.), which has (<2017) escaped Dutch elm disease. File:Fox Amphoux trees, 1.jpg, Elm (left) and nettle tree in front of the church at Fox-Amphoux File:Fox Amphoux trees, 2.jpg, Nettle tree at Fox-Amphoux File:Fox Amphoux trees, 3.jpg, Elm in centre of Fox-Amphoux

References

Communes of Var (department) {{Var-geo-stub

Notable residents

See also

References