Y2W40 - Provence and Languedoc-Roussillon

We just returned today from a fantastic trip to the Southern Regions of France. From our home base of Avignon, where we rented a house, we did a lot of driving whilst visiting ancient cities, mountainous regions, and the French coast. Our spirits were further buoyed by sunny skies and warmer temperatures (mid to high 50’s).

A quick shout out to the girls (and Lleyton) as they were enduring travelers both by plane and car. Due to either earlier flight schedules or ambitious day trip plans, they were asked numerous times to change bed/wakeup times -- they were always game.

Secondly, for those of you who are interested in how we pick different sites once in a region, here are a few ideas from our experience. First principles - I’m a big proponent of thorough trip research prior to departure. While I try and leave the day to day decisions of what venue we will actually visit to a bit of flexibility (weather and kid permitting), we definitely leave with a plan.

The first place we consult is our collection of Eyewitness Travel books. I like them for their presentation. The pictures and diagrams you get in the books are first rate. We’ve also had good luck with their lodging recommendations. The house we rented in Avignon was found off of a website recommended in the travel book (Gites-de-France).

Recently, we’ve been taking a look at Rick Steves' website. His recommendations highlighted a few ‘out of the way’ places that are typically included in your travel book but not highlighted like the more popular sites. As his ideas appear to all be driven by his personal favorites and experiences, not a team of travelers and investigators, he doesn’t cover every nook and cranny of Europe, but typically has more depth about the places he does recommend.

Lastly, always look for advice from friends and family who might have previously been to your place destination. So far, it has worked well for us. I often float ideas by colleagues at work to get an endorsement.

In the case of Southern France, I was the family member who had been there before, and as a result had a few sites in mind that were ‘musts’ for El and the girls (Lleyton doesn’t venture an opinion at 5 months… neither does Bryn for that matter, but Bailey and Avery certainly like to voice their ideas).

Here are the highlights of the trip…

Aix-en-Provence – city of fountains and home of Paul Cézanne. We strolled the large boulevards and narrow shopping districts. The kids enjoyed riding the old merry-go-round near the grand fountain on the Cours Mirabeau. They also enjoyed visiting Paul Cézanne’s studio located north of town and his garden. His studio is preserved with the original furniture and design. While we tried to emphasize the art history, Avery refers to the experience as the ‘garden exploring place‘.

Luberon – Rural area east of Avignon along the Montagne du Luberon. We visited the town’s of Isle-de-la-Sorgue, Gordes, and Rousillon. The market at Isle-de-la-Sorgue was crowded even for a chilly February morning. We bought an expensive/giant hunk of cheese and enjoyed seeing the 19th century waterwheels that have powered industry in the town for over a hundred years. Gordes is most impressive viewed from afar as it rests on the top of the rocky hill. We stopped for a longer visit in Rousillon. The home of one of the largest ocher deposits in the world. The red, orange, yellow, even purple sand was used throughout history to make an array of colorful dies/paints. The houses and structures bear the results. We hiked through the canyons amazed by the views. A real favorite of mine for the trip, but not for Bailey as she came up with a strange yet minor eye swelling issue that was with her for about 24 hours.

Arles – City of Roman-Gaul and Vincent Van Gogh (also movie ‘Ronin‘ – JR). The sites of Arles are well chronicled – Roman Amphitheatre and Arena, Saint Trophimus Church and Cloister, and Van Gogh sites including Café la Nuit. While I think that Ellyn did actually view all the sights, every time I turned around, she was standing still, her head tilted back, eyes closed, facing the sun. Its been a bit cloudy in Germany lately. Lunch at a quaint French café provided a excellent break and an authentic meal.

Cassis – Mediterreanen sea port city surrounded by high cliffs. In Cassis, we ran/walked on the beach, ate ice cream in the sun, looked at the boats in the port, and drove in the mountains along the Route des Crête. While El and I didn’t get ice cream for ourselves, we did plenty of “let me clean that up for you Avery/Bryn, it looks uneven... type of licking“.

Carcasonne – Medieval Cathar castle city. One of our longer days of travel, this Cathar Castle resides in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. After frequenting so many castles, you’d think that we would have had enough, but this place has been restored several times throughout history. Once again, Bailey got fired up at Ellyn and me because we skipped 4 or 5 stops on the 25 point-of-interest audio tour. She absolutely believes that we do ourselves and the historical site a disservice when we miss any portion of the tour (this is not the first occurrence and surely won’t be the last).

Pont-du-Gard – Grandest/Largest/Greatest Roman Aqueduct. The Pont-du-Gard can’t fully be appreciated until it is seen in person. It spans a large gorge standing 160 ft high as part of a 31 mile long water delivery system that operated for approximately 500 years. It was constructed 2,000 years ago.

Avignon – Palais du Papes. The highlight of this town is definitely the Palace of the Popes. In the early 14th century pope Clement V decided to move the papal court to Avignon and for the next 100 years the Church leadership resided in France. The palace/fortress still stands on the banks of the Rhône river. The Palais Musee and the 12th century bridge – Pont St-Bénézet (popularize by the song Sur le Pont D’Avignon – apparently known to all Montessori Music Teachers) were visit highlights. While some might try to hype you up on the more hip/modern Avignon, we’ll stick with the 12th to 14th century version (maybe it had to do with the fact that it was Wednesday morning in late February).

St-Remy-de-Provence. Our last stop on the five day adventure. We skipped the Roman archeological site and went to the St. Paul-de-Mausole hospital were Vincent Van Gogh spent the last year of his life. Despite 4 major mental breakdowns/seizures, he completed 150 paintings while a patient at the hospital including Bailey’s favorite: Starry Night . The pictures here are a bit poor in quality (you have to hate it when your camera battery dies at the end of your trip and you're forced to rely on your cell phone camera).