Chapter 4 Off to Provence!

Thursday, September 13, 2018
Les Baux-de-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
FRANCE  Chapter 4 Provence
After a nice breakfast we bid farewell to Carcassonne and this great hotel.  Todd is a careful and patient driver; Greg is an expert navigator so Pam and Warren could relax all the way to Arles.  It is about 2 1/2 hour drive east and north, past Nimes to Arles.  We will spend most of today exploring the town before continuing to our Hotel in Les Baux.
Greg and Todd found a nice little restaurant in a garden very near the wall of the old city.  What a lovely lunch: Greg had a beautiful salad with grilled tuna on top, Pam and Warren both had grilled duck breast, and Todd had fresh sardines.  The owner kindly let us store our bags in the restaurant so we could leave our car parked on the street without worries about security of our belongings.  
Just a few blocks walk and we entered the old city where the Medieval wall ruins are still apparent. Arles began as a Celto-Ligurian settlement on the banks of the Rhone river and was an important trade route as early as the 6th Century BC.  It later became the Roman capital of Provence.  Van Gogh created many paintings when he lived here in 1888-89.  The City has set up many “easels” around town, with poster size pictures of the paintings in places where Van Gogh painted them. We caught a few of them but not all.  The real cafe in the square looks just like it does in the painting, yellow awning still intact.  The Yellow House is no longer standing, but the building right behind it is still here, making it easy to imagine the scene as Van Gogh saw it.  
We walked many narrow winding streets getting a sense of life in this working town. We entered the Roman amphitheater built in the 1st Century AD.  It was a massive engineering and construction project to move so many very large stones into place.  It is still being used for festivals and events, including bull fights where matadors capture ribbons from between the bull’s horns (no more killing).  We visited the church of Saint Trophime and its adjacent Cloister.
We made our way back to the City walls, stopped for refreshment before our drive, and set out for our next destination Les Baux en Provence.
Our hotel in Les Baux is Mas d’Aigret, built of stone right against the massive limestone hill.  Some of the rooms have walls carved into the cliff face, called Troglodyte Rooms.  Troglodytes were ancient people who lived in the rock hills by carving cave homes directly into the cliffs. We settled in just in time for dinner on the patio with a view of the sunset on the castle on top of the cliff, 650 feet above the valley floor.  This will be our “digs” for four nights as we explore Provence through day trips to nearby towns.  
The next morning we hiked up the hill to the town of Les Baux and the Chateau des Baux (Castle).  The town area is very small, with restaurants and shops, but less touristy and crowded and with nicer shops than in Carcassonne.  The Castle is comprised of the ruins of the Medieval stone fortress that protected residents for many centuries. In the Eleventh Century the Lords of Baux controlled about 80 surrounding towns.  In the 13th Century it was incorporated into France but continued to argue with the King.  In the 17th Century it became a stronghold of Protestantism so the castle was demolished by Louis XIII, who then taxed the residents for the demolition expenses!  The views from the top of the cliff are amazing. There are remnants of stairways to the towers, and cooking areas below ground. There were examples of trebuchet and catapults like warriors used to breach such fortresses.  
Leaving the Castle we walked to the Carrieres de Lumieres (Quarries of Light) where large scale images of famous paintings are projected onto the massive stone walls of an old quarry.  The show was the art of Picasso and Spanish masters, with huge images moving across the walls set to classical music. In case you wanted something more modern there was also a show right out of the flower power era (Beatles from Yellow Submarine, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix to name a few). It was quite an unusual spectacle.
This evening we dined at l’Ousteau de Baumaniere, another Michelin star restaurant.  The restaurant is part of a lovely resort; we dined on a beautiful patio under the stars with a crescent moon above. They sure have great food here!  They started with amuse-bouche, then the great dishes we ordered (Greg and Pam had the leg of lamb for 2, hand carved at our table), then dessert, and they even sent home with us a small lemon cake for breakfast. 
It’s Saturday and we are headed to Aix-en-Provence, the birthplace of Cezanne. We wandered the flower market in Place de Hotel de Ville (City Hall), and vegetable market in adjacent squares. Aix is known for its fountains, and we enjoyed seeing many of them in squares throughout this sophisticated, beautiful town of narrow streets, interesting doorways and nice shops.  Cezanne’s studio was a fascinating spot, with his pottery, bowls, tools etc. that he used for models, his easel, and some of his letters on display.  The building is surrounded by trees and has a huge north window, just right for the artist’s painting.  Todd and Greg did a masterful job of Driver and Navigator on this trip as well, maneuvering into a tiny parking place in a very crowded parking structure and getting us back out of town unscathed at the end of a very fine day.  We had dinner at our hotel, sitting on the patio watching a glorious sunset above the Castle ruins.
It’s now Sunday and our last day in Les Baux!  After breakfast we headed toward St. Remy, another lovely small town only about 20 minutes drive from Les Baux.  Our first stop was at  Glanum. This site has been a key location since 600 BC due to its natural spring and being a pass through the Apilles mountains. Three waves occupied this area: First were the Gallic (600 to 200 BC), then the Gallo/Greek period who were allied with the Greeks who had established a base in what we know as Marseille today, followed by the Romans. The area was destroyed by Germanic tribes who left most of the three settlements in ruins. It was then used as a stone quarry by dismantling the ruins and the narrow canyon eventually was silted over. The site was largely unexplored until the early 20th century.  The Arch and Mausoleum remained since they were last built by the Romans and were located well outside the main town.  In the first half of the 20th century the archeology and restoration really began. Today you can start at the top of this narrow canyon and follow the centuries of history down the canyon seeing each period. Very impressive to see how sophisticated they were in their time (running water, sewer systems, storm drains, dams, aqueducts, etc.)
Next we visited St. Paul de Masole, the asylum where Van Gogh spent a year recovering in serenity and receiving mental care.  It was a very prolific period for his art, having produced about 150 of his finest paintings during this time.  The sanatorium is still in operation, but the room where he stayed and the gardens he loved are open to the public.   
We proceeded into the small town of St. Remy for lunch and exploration.  This was the birthplace of Nostradamus and he is remembered by a bust over an ancient fountain in the town square. Typical of small Provencal towns, it has narrow winding streets lined with stone buildings and many small squares where townspeople and visitors gather in cafes or to sit among the large trees and listen to musicians entertain.  We came upon a large, plain stone building we assumed to be an administrative building, but found it was the town church.  We entered to find a treasure trove of decoration, a huge organ and an amazing altar to Mary atop a very rough stone outcropping. The town is carefully restoring the building and its artwork.
We returned to our hotel in Les Baux for refreshment and rest before dinner. 
The time has gone by so quickly, and we will be sad to part ways with Greg and Todd tomorrow.  We completed this part of our adventure with another superb meal, this time at Cabro D’Or.  We dined on the patio overlooking a formal garden and a pond with swans, accompanied by a black cat (Louis) who made a beeline for Greg and Todd as we were seated. Louis was rewarded by a few tidbits to sample our dinner. Every dish was outstanding from shrimp appetizer and beef carpaccio to pork and steak, to delectable desserts.  The light from the half moon night made a fine finale to this part of our wonderful travel adventure.

Comments

Rob
2018-09-20

Another wonderful set of photos.

CeCe
2018-09-21

Wonderful photos, especially the market photos. So very colorful.

Sue
2018-09-21

Thoroughly enjoyed the photos.

Shelley
2018-09-23

Beautiful photos & wonderful reporting. Can hardly wait for the next installment. Bon voyage! Love to all

2025-02-11

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