As a sign of things beginning to return to normal and now that restrictions on travel within France have been lifted we are keen on having a trip to Provence to view the lavender fields and also go via Carcassonne on the way.
I am aware that obviously we will need to be sensible with respect to covid-19.
This would be our first trip away since moving to France which in itself will seem a little odd as it will feel like having a holiday from a holiday.
Does anyone have any recommendations of places to visit in Provence and a place to stay for a couple of nights? (in doing this trip we will hopefully be able to offer a little support for the tourism industry in the area).
My wife and had three nights in a very nice Chambres de Hôte Just outside St Remy-de-Provence, but I can’t recall the details.
It was, however, very well situated in the truly beautiful Parc Naturel Alpilles, the place where Vincent Van Gogh cut off his ear, and painted most of his glorious Provençale pictures.
A half hour drive to the lovely town of Arles, with its Roman amphitheatre. An easy day-trip to Marseille and/or the wild coastal Camargue too, so I think an ideal destination. St Remy is very pretty with lots of excellent restaurants.
PG: Contrary to popular myth, van Gogh hacked away at his ear lobe, rather than actually cutting off his ear.
If you’re interested in art in Provence, Cezanne’s large studio in Aix is an absolute must. After his death in1906, it and its contents remained undisturbed for forty years until it was re-discovered by an American graduate student, who eventually persuaded the government that it was worthy of preservation. From the top the hill that the studio’s on you can see Mont Sainte-Victoire. There’s also a hiking trail that connects many of the places from where he painted the mountain.
Despite the closed info on the website, I imagine it’ll be open from tomorrow.
I’d also recommend the spectacular Roman theatre at Orange.
Crillon-le-Brave, Grignan, Grillon? Crillon le Brave has a beautiful, if somewhat pricy, bastide-style hotel perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the plains under the Mont Ventoux, and smack bang in the Cotes du RhĂ´ne appellation.
I stayed a couple of nights in 2007 at Villa Saint Louis, the old relais de poste in Lourmarin. An lovely big house, with interesting decor, a garden, a small car parking area and a simple unfussy welcome, room and breakfast. It was the old days when one had a Gîtes de France book and phoned the owner the day before to see if they had a room available. The price was perfectly reasonable. They have their own website https://www.villasaintlouis.com/. No prices on there but you can contact them.
It’s a relief to learn that he only nibbled at the lobe. The thought of cutting off the whole pinna was too grisly to contemplate, the blood loss would have been huge…
We went up the Ventoux 2 years ago in June, it was f…reezing, but great views over the surrounding area. My OH doesn’t like precipices either, interesting drive up where she crouched in the well of the front seat to avoid looking out the windows as we rounded the bends !
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