You have taken your decision and will definitely have a ride in Provence and on the French Riviera alone or with a motorcycle tour operator. Now is time to learn a very important piece of knowledge which will help you blend in the local population or at least look like someone who understands real life!

This is about le petit jaune (the little yellow), try to pronounce it “LOW – PETEE – SEAN (like the actor)”. This means you want an aperitif based on Pastis. Even though Pastis is a brand like Ricard it is the most common name used for that very local drink based on Anis.

The proper way to drink it is to have “two fingers” thick of Pastis in the glass and top it with very fresh water. ATTENTION people in the south of France used to drink Pastis may understand that you are holding your two fingers vertically! Which doesn’t leave a lot of room for water.

That was the easy part because when you get to a bar and listen to the orders you may notice words like: Tomate, Perroquet, Mauresque etc… Those aren’t many other brands but ways to prepare the “petit jaune”. Lets get you a list so that you will really look local and have different ways to enjoy the drink: •Tomate: Pastis, Grenadine syrup, water
•Canari: Pastis, Lemon syrup, water
•Feuille Morte: Pastis, Grenadine syrup, Mint syrup, water
•Gargamel: Pastis, Caramel syrup, water
•Jean Louis: Pastis, Suze
•Mauresque: Pastis, Orgeat (barley water) syrup, water
•Perroquet: Pastis, Mint syrup, water
All this is not here to push you to drink alcohol but more a little bit of local culture.