A soak in Salon, home of the infamous 'Savon de Marseille'.
Between trains, we had the chance to get a private visit of one of Salon's only working Savonneries. Welcome to Marius Fabre, crafters of this soap since 1900. Their Savons de Marseille are still made here today in the facility, using age-old traditional methods. We spent an agreeable half hour, thankful to be spared from the baking sun, soaking in this place of artisan tradition and craftsmanship. A few simple ingredients, namely lots and lots of olive oil, mixed, heated, dried, meticulously formed into these cubes of multipurpose goodness. Any French grandmother(or person, at that) can recount several wonders of the Savon de Marseille, but according to our guide (who clearly had no intention of selling them to us), these oily national treasures have heaps of miraculous uses including but not limited to: washing body and face, cleaning dishes, laundry and every household surface imaginable, brushing teeth, pain and inflammation relief, cramp relief, and many more I can't recount, although I'm sure curing CoVid and keeping werewolves at bay probably feature too...
Naturally, following our tour I ran to their shop, purse in hand, and spent my picnic money on a good few of these soaps. Better hungry than dirty I suppose, and to think people still wash with Carex. I'm not like these other poor tourists who will just buy what they've told😉
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