This morning we had an early start at 8:10 as we left Arles and headed to Avignon. Our first destination was Les Baux in the Alpilles mountains. Les Baux was named after the bauxite discovered here by a French geologist. It translates to 'rocky spur' and as you can see from the photos, the area has huge outcroppings of stone. Les Baux is perched on the top with only 400 people still living there.

Our first stop enroute to Les Baux was Moulin Castelas, a family-run olive oil producer . They have 90 acres of trees, and the trees date back 300 years. In 1956 the trees froze but luckily, the root system was fine and they survived.

The olive oil production is governed by the AOP, similar to the french wine AOC so certain regulations have to be conformed to regarding spacing, trimming etc. They have 4500 hectares of land with 250 trees per hectare.

Extra virgin olive oil has no impurities and must have an acidity of less than 0.8%. Virgin olive oil has a higher acidity, some impurities and up to an acidity of 2.0%. Never buy just olive oil.

We had an olive oil tasting and tried several types: lemon, basil and rosemary. I bought some lovely hand cream but no olive oil. Too much to carry!

Today we are experiencing the Mistral winds. These are strong northwesterly winds and the Rhone River acts as a funnel . Today the winds were 45 MPH. They bring cold, clear air. The winds happen most often in winter and Spring and play an important role in this area regarding architecture and culture. The houses are built with sloped roofs and only tiny windows on the north side.

Next stop was a bauxite quarry that has been converted into a light show which changes every year. It is called Les Carrieres de Lumieres. This year was the artist Klimt, but I have no information on him. We enjoyed the light show, and accompanying music...it was very dramatic. The walls of the quarry (more like a cave) must have been 50 feet high and the pictures were projected on all 4 sides, floor and ceiling. Really cool.

Les Baux is on the top of a peak and the Mistral winds were horrendous. We visited the Santon Museum. Santons, or "little saint" are small hand-painted terracotta nativity scene figurines produced in this area. There are many figures representing various characters from Provençal village life such as the scissors grinder, the fishwife, the blind man, and the baker .

The first clay santons were created during the French Revolution when churches were closed and their large nativity scenes prohibited. Small Santons were created for keeping in homes.

On to St Remy. In this town is the asylum where Vincent Van Gogh stayed for a year. He painted "The Iris" here as well as 200 other paintings. There are still 50 patients here. Nostradamus was also born here.

We wandered around the town and had fun doing some shopping. Stopped for a delicious pizza.

Next we went to Chateauneuf du Pape (summer house of the Pope). In 1308 Pope Clement became the first French Pope and he was from Avignon. He loved wine so he improved the winemaking process here and it became known as Vin du Pape (wine of the Pope).

Chateauneuf du Pape became France's first AOC wine, which is the industry's regional quality control . Certain rules apply eg can only be hand picked. We had a lovely wine tasting with the sommelier who gave us instruction on how to taste properly. He also had us eat chocolate and swirl the wine in our mouths at the same time. Wonderful experience, especially with the lavender chocolate and white wine. Didn't know that CndP produced white wines, and the one we had was delicious. The red also.

We arrived in Avignon and checked into the Hotel Palais des Papes, which is right in the square of the Palais. Many Popes 'ruled' from France instead of Rome but I don't know the details. I will have to come back here as we the Cathedral was closed for renos and we didn't have time to go into the Palais.

The hotel is charming, another quirky hotel with no 2 rooms alike. The central staircase which we climbed to the third floor was all stone block and looked like it was in an old castles. Our room had large stone squares for flooring as well as the walls and 2 large french windows. We looked right out onto the square. We are here 3 nights.

We had a lovely group dinner in the hotel. We are really getting to know everyone and they are all really nice.

Crazy windy but sunny and 24C.