France, Part 3, Provence - first part of the week

We took the TGV from Paris to Avignon, which was an adventure in and of itself.  Getting all the luggage on the train was exciting, but the ride and scenery were great.  We rented a car in Avignon and drove about 30 minutes to Cabrieres d'Avignon, a small village where we were renting a house for the week.  And the house had a name: La Vie en Rose.  Which makes it all the better!

The house was charming and there was a small store where we could pick up a few groceries as well as a boulangerie/patisserie just down the street.  Oh, and not the kind of streets that you think of.... streets so narrow that only one car can drive on it.

 This is the entrance to the courtyard in front of our house.

After passing through the gate, this is the courtyard.  There are steps to the left that go up to the second floor and a little balcony (as shown in the next two pictures.)

 Steps leading to the second floor and balcony.

The balcony.

 The living room.

The kitchen and dining area.

 Our bedroom on the third floor.

The view from our bedroom window.  And down that little street straight ahead, you make a left and there is the boulangerie where we got baguettes and all sorts of delicious pastries every morning!

Farmer's Market, Roussillon, Pont Julien
Our first day in Provence, we drove a few minutes into the little town of Castoulet to the farmers' market.  One stop we made was at a stand with all kinds of jam.  Several were open and you could try the jams.  After tasting the strawberry jam, I remarked to Dawn that it was REALLY good.  The shop keeper, in English but with a delightful French accent said, "But of course!  I made it myself!"  Dawn bought the strawberry jam and the blackberry jam, which we enjoyed on our baguettes the rest of the trip!

 "But of course!  I made it myself!"

 We also bought some strawberries.  They were small, but oh so flavorful.  I haven't had such delicious strawberries in a long, long time.  Probably since the time when we used to grow a few in our garden.

Despite eating bread and ice cream everyday, Mark & I didn't gain weight... I'm sure all the walking helped, but I think it is magic bread and magic glace (ice cream)!

Next we drove up from the plains into the hills through the town of Gordes......

 Morrie & Dawn with Gordes in the background.

Please excuse my awkward pose... for some reason I thought I might be blocking out the town!

..... and on to the Abbey Notre-Dame de Senanque.  It is one of the most photographed spots in France when the lavender is in bloom.  You'll just have to imagine the lavender:

The abbey was built in 1148 and is a Cistercian abbey.  It was a back to basics abbey unlike the excesses of the Benedictine abbeys.

A cool tree near the abbey

There are a lot of hill towns in the Luberon area of Provence.  We visited Roussillon, another hill town, with it's brightly painted buildings, shutters, and doors.

 Rooftops and the cemetery.

The town square.

Our last stop of the day was Pont Julien.  This Roman bridge was built in 3 BC and was on the Via Domitia, an important Roman road which connected Italy with France.  The openings in the columns are for allowing floodwater to pass through.  It was used for car traffic until 2005.  After 2,000 years of uninterrupted use, they closed it to preserve it from wear and tear.

This is a close up of the bridge construction.

Pont du Gard & Nimes
Our second day in Provence we drove to one of my favorite places, the Pont du Gard.  We had been there about 15 years ago, but Morrie and Dawn had never been, so we were excited to go back.

The Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge that crosses the Gardon River.  The aqueduct was built to carry water from a spring at Uzes to Nimes 31 miles away.  The whole aqueduct descends in height by only 56 feet over those 31 miles.... just a little less than 2 feet per mile.  Pretty amazing!  The water traveled in a notch along the top deck.  We were able to walk along the lowest deck.

 Pont du Gard

 Mark & I

Morrie & Dawn

From there we went to Nimes.  (pronounced Neems)  Since the Middle Ages, Nimes has exported a famous fabric.  The name "denim" comes from here "de Nimes."   

 Central Nimes

The city's emblem is a crocodile tied to a palm tree.  Nimes was a favorite retirement home for Roman officers who conquered Egypt.  The crocodile represents Egypt and the palm tree represents victory.  The above fountain still has just the crocodile remaining.  We ate our lunch nearby.

Mark & Morrie at lunch.

Other spots we visited in Nimes were the Jardin de la Fontaine (Fountain Garden):

with its beautiful gates at the entrance:

The center medallion has the crocodile & palm tree.

There was also a building in the Garden that they think was used as a library in Roman times:

We visited the Maison Carree (Square House - named before they had the word for "rectangle."):

Ceiling of the front porch of the Maison Carree.

 The arena at Nimes

The water from the aqueduct arrived in Nimes at this point (photo below), the Castellum.  It was a water distribution tank.  The lower channel served the city with their normal water needs.  The higher holes were used when water was plentiful and rose to that height.  These channels routed water to the wealthy households and to public baths.

The Castellum.

Aix-en-Provence & Cassis

The next day we visited Aix-en-Provence.  It was market day and plenty of things to photograph!  We seemed to always hit the towns on their market day.

 Palace of Justice

It was fun to wander among the stalls and see the things for sale.  Mark bought several flavors of cured sausage (saucisson).

 This little guy looked pretty cozy as his master sold goods at the Farmers' Market.

 City Hall

The flower market.

 St. Saveur or Aix Cathedral

I always love stained glass windows!

Beautiful wood doors of the church.

In the afternoon, we drove to Cassis, a lovely seaside town on the Mediterranean.  

 I took this picture for our son, Jeff!

 I like the idea that we were supposed to be well-dressed.  I'm not sure we were terribly stylish, especially by French standards!

 Fortress over looking Cassis.

 We had lunch along this dock area.

Mark and I went on a boat tour of the calanques.  A calanque is a narrow inlet that is sort of like a fiord, but the steep walls are limestone or dolomite.  The sky was threatening rain and the sea was a little rough at times, but inside the calanques it wasn't too bad. 

After a brief rainstorm at the end of our boat tour (and the obligatory gelato or "glace" in French), we drove up to the top of the cliffs overlooking Cassis.  Morrie wanted Dawn to take his picture out on this ledge.  She refused and couldn't even look at him out there.  My stomach felt sick, but I thought if I hurried and took his picture he would get off faster, so I did.

 The wildflowers were beautiful as we drove along.

Arles, Les Baux, Glanum

Arles was a port city on the Rhone River and important to trade during Roman times.  The museum of antiquities had some interesting exhibits.  One of the exhibits was a 102 ft long river boat used for trade that was discovered in 2011 at the bottom of the Rhone River along with much of its cargo. It was used to transport goods between Arles and other cities in the Mediterranean area.  Through a video we learned of the painstaking methods used to raise the boat from the bottom and reassemble it in the museum.  It has been on display since 2013.

 The trading vessel.

 Some of the cargo retrieved and reassembled.

There were also other Roman artifacts at the museum.  I particularly liked this one.  It looks like she is horrified by having a bad hair day!

 I always love the tile floors of the Romans.  It reminds me of quilts.

There were plenty of sarcophagi.

After a visit to the museum, we went into town to the Place de la Republique.

 Hotel de Ville.

 St. Trophime.

 Closer look at the portico over the door of St. Trophime.  Christ sits in the center with the symbols of the four evangelists:  Matthew (winged man), Mark (winged lion), Luke (ox), and John (eagle).

 Below the portico are depictions of other apostles and saints.

Peter is the apostle on the right, with the keys in his hand.

We visited the Roman arena at Arles.  Mark and I just love Roman ruins.

 View of Arles and the Rhone River from the top of the arena.

 The arena.

 Beautiful arches surround the top of the area.

There is also a theater in Arles.

Roman theater.

We ate lunch at the Place du Forum or Forum Square.  The Roman Forum was the political and religious center of Arles.  The square is now surrounded by restaurants and hotels.  There are just two columns remaining of the old forum and they are built into the side of the Grand Hotel Nord-Pinus, a favorite of Pablo Picasso.

 We ate lunch at the Cafe la Nuit, a subject of one of Vincent van Gogh's most famous works in Arles.

 My lunch was delicious!

 Plaque displaying Van Gogh's painting.  Here is a closer look at the painting, Le Cafe de Nuit:

Van Gogh spent some time in a hospital in Arles.  He was being treated for blood loss (from cutting off his ear), hallucinations and depression.  He painted the "Garden of the Hospital in Arles."  The hospital is now the Van Gogh cultural center.

On the drive home from Arles, we stopped briefly at the Roman Aqueduct of Barbegal.  It isn't an "attraction" like the Pont du Gard, just a crumbling ruin of an aqueduct with no one around and off the beaten path, which makes it feel like you are the first one to discover it.

 Crossing the road, I ran down the path next to the aqueduct to see how far it went.  It took me down to this point:

Standing at the end of the aqueduct, there was quite a drop off and a huge plain expanded below.  Rick Steves' guidebook says the water "...goes straight to the bluff and over, where it once sent water cascading down to power eight grinding mills.  Romans grew wheat on the vast fields you see from here..."

Back in the car, we drove past Les Baux, stopping only for a quick photo op and then on to...

.....Glanum near St. Remy de Provence.  Glanum was a Roman market town, now in ruins.  We were too late to visit the ruins, but near the entrance was this tower memorial to the grandsons of Emperor Augustus Caesar.

Whew!  Have you fallen asleep yet?  More of Provence to come.....