Day 1 - We drove directly from the airport to Aix-en-Provence. We did a guided walking tour, a little
shopping (there was a market on the main street) & then had lunch (a quick
gelato). It’s a quaint place – with fountains
& outdoor cafes. Cezanne was born in
Aix – there was a statue of him in the center of town. Next we headed to Arles; we stayed at the
Jules Cesar Hotel. At one time it was a convent;
our room was located in the cloister.
The rooms were clean & it’s in a good location. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant – it was
okay, they didn’t have mint tea L
Day 2 - We started with a tour of Arles – stopped at the Coliseum
(which is still used today for bull fights); an old Roman theatre (which they
still use); Eglise St Trophim – 1st we toured the old cloister, which
was really cool - the pillars told a story.
Then we toured the church, which was a little creepy & dark. They had an actual skull & bones and they
also had lots of carved skull & bones.
We stopped by L’ Espace - the hospital Van Gogh was taken to after he
cut off his ear (this is where he painted the courtyard of the hospital). We also stopped by Café Van Gogh (where he
painted the yellow café). Then we drove
to Les Baux – a dramatic fortress site (one of the 3 wise men, King Balthazar
is claimed to have come from here). I
love Les Baux & would have liked to have spent more time here – I would
definitely go back. We toured the castle
ruins – which are amazing! They had a catapult demonstration (with water
balloons) – which was fun. The views
were breathtaking. There were lots of shops;
I found some really great pottery. We
had gelato again for lunch! From here we
stopped at St. Remy where we toured the psychiatric hospital that Van Gogh
spent some time in. We saw his room
(very small & ugly with bars on the windows. A disturbing & dark portrait of himself hung
on his wall – he was a very disturbed person).
You could see the poppies he painted out his window. The gardens were beautiful! After a long day, we went back to Arles just
in time for our 8:00 pm dinner reservation at La Fee Gourmande. The restaurant is small
& decorated with fairies but the food was very good! My friend got a big bull steak – I tried it but
wasn’t impressed.
Day 3 – We spent a little time at the farmers market outside
our hotel. Then we drive to Nimes – to visit
another Coliseum (which they still use for bull fights) & Maison Carree
(one of the best preserved Roman Temples in the region). From there we drove to Pont Du Gard (an
ancient Roman aqueduct bridge). This is
beautiful & worth the stop – we hiked to the top for some great
pictures! Off again, we drove to Avignon
to see Pont St Benezet (a famous bridge that people used to sing & dance
under). We sang – cheesy I know but we
did. We also toured the Palais du Papes (a
medieval gothic palace the Popes used to live in). Normally it’s empty but they were having a
flower show while we were there – so there were roses everywhere & crazy
dresses made of roses. We had lunch
(pizza) at a little outdoor café where it was warm & sunny. After another long day we headed back to
Arles to make our 8:00 pm dinner reservations at Chez Caro – the restaurant is
small, the service & food are good.
Day 4 – We are supposed to drive to Cassis (a small
picturesque fishing port) & take a boat cruise but the weather wasn’t
cooperating – so instead we stopped at E Bodin winery (outside of Cassis) &
did a wine tasting. We met the owner
& tasted lots of different wines. I
don’t love wine but it was fun to taste them & then spit it into a
bucket! Finally, we drove down to Cassis
– did a quick walking tour & grabbed a sandwich before heading to the
airport. Cassis is very small but beautiful
– it could be a set from a movie. 
No comments:
Post a Comment