Day 6 - Provence

We had arranged to meet in our room at 10am for breakfast of panetone and jam (from the Nice market). Brett and I woke early though, so after he had checked his emails etc we went off in the van to see if we could find some fresh fruit to add to the breakfast menu. Sure enough, we found one of the plentiful fruit and vege shops open and got some oranges, nectarines, strawberries, pears and apples – all fresh and summer ripe, yum! When we got back, we found Chris and Al in the garden having coffee, so we had our sumptuous breakfast and set off on our tripping around Provence.

First stop was at Les Baux de Provence – one of “France’s Most Beautiful Villages” and a listing in our book of 1001 Places to Visit Before You Die. It was gorgeous! Like Eze, it was originally a fortress town on top of a piece of rock and is centuries old. At the top there is a ruined parapet and grounds where they have re-enactments of medieval tournaments and other events. Today, they were having catapult displays, but unfortunately we weren’t there at the right time to see that. No worries though, the views alone are worth the visit and the streets and buildings which house artisan shops are really lovely. We definitely recommend a visit there if you are in the region.

After spending a couple of hours at Les Baux, we were off again – up the road a ways to Remoulins to visit the Pont du Gard. This is part of an ancient Roman Aquaduct – built around 19BC – that was put together entirely without mortar, but by cutting the stones (some weighing up to 6 tons each) into interlocking pieces like a jigsaw. It is hard to imagine how they did it, it would be hard enough today with cranes and precision cutting tools.

Another gobsmacking thing we saw there was an olive tree that was over 1000 years old - no I haven’t added a zero accidentally, it was planted in 908. I bet that the person who planted it would have had no idea that we would be hugging his tree over 1000 years later, he was probably just hoping for a good tapenade.

After having a cheese board and cold drinks under the shade (ordered from another waitress who spoke no English, we’re getting pretty slick on it now) it was time to head off again. It was around 4pm and still in the 30s so thank goodness for the air conditioned van. Our intention was to go to Avignon and have a bit of a wander, and to see the Pont d’Avignon. Unfortunately, we arrived at rush hour and Avignon is a very big and busy city. The old city is walled and we did manage o find our way to the inside of the walls, but finding a park was just not going to happen. Nor could we find any signs which pointed to the bridge, so we decided that we were better off to just be happy with the quick look we got while driving around and call it quits rather than finishing our day with hassle.

So we headed back to St-Remy for a shower and then into town to find a place for dinner. We found a great wee pizzeria in a little stone building. This time the waiter was keen to impress us with his English and he was a hoot, often translating back to the other waiter whatever it was that was funny. After things got quiet, the chef came out too, so I guess the staff were enjoying the banter as much as we were. It was a really great day ending in a fun night. We wish we were able to stay in this amazing part of France a bit longer, but we have more exploring to do and will be off further south-west tomorrow. Stay tuned!

P.S. Krissy, I will definitely try to wangle a recipe for creme brulee while we are here – there must be a French secret because they are even better than at home.

P.P.S.  If you hover your mouse over any of the blog photos, the file name should come up in the bottom of you screen.  The last little bit will tell you what the photo is of.  If you double-click a photo, you can enlarge it.

P.P.P.S We didn’t see any maseratis at Monaco, but we have some photos of a delicious Bentley convertible, a mean looking trike and a Ferrari rental car – yeah baby!