Ah oui. The time has come to say “au revoir” to the South of France. But why? Do we really have to go home? Why can’t we just stay here? I could get a job in a vineyard or a bakery. We could eat freshly-baked bread each morning and wash down lunch with rose. But then there would be no more travel letters. Non. C’est l’heure de partir.
This has been a great trip. We stayed in Nice first, then moved on to Aix-en-Provence. Nice and Aix each made an ideal home base for setting out on day-trips to explore Provence and beyond.
Home Base #1: Nice
We usually prefer to stay in cities that are on the small side, but Nice is an exception. We hang out near Cours Saleya and La Promenade des Anglais, (shown at the photo above), and it’s all good. Moules-frites, (mussels and French fries), is the meal of choice on Cours Saleya. Mmmm.
We rented a car in Nice and took a day-trip, driving south along the beautiful coastline. It is “Le Côte d’Azur,” after all. We stopped in the fairy-tale village of Eze. It’s beautiful and fun to visit, but in truth, there isn’t much there. You might say “it Eze what it Eze.” (If you were in a punny mood, maybe).
From Eze, we drove a little further south to Monaco. Whoa. Monaco is another world. I felt like I hadn’t dressed appropriately to be in Monaco’s rarified, regal atmosphere. That is, until we got on the little tourist train with the rest of the tourists. Then I felt slightly over-dressed.
The tourist train is, well, a tourist train, but it’s an easy way to see Monaco and Monte Carlo. And Monte Carlo is something to see. It’s hard to fathom the vast amount of money that must be circulating around. There’s the marina full of yachts, the high-rise apartments circling the harbor. And you know… they say the ghost of James Bond still roams the floor of the famous casino late at night. Not sure about that, though.
On another day, we made the short drive from Nice to Saint Paul de Vence. Famous artists and celebrities discovered this beautiful little village long ago. But somehow Saint Paul de Vence maintains the charm of a village as it must have been back in the day. A charming village, but with quite a few high-end art galleries.
Home Base #2: Aix-en-Provence
From Nice, we drove a couple of hours to our next home base, Aix-en-Provence. Getting there was easy. Finding our hotel was the opposite of easy. We ultimately had to park the car and search for the hotel on foot. But it all worked out OK. We just started happy hour earlier than usual that day.
Aix-en-Provence is the perfect home base from which to explore Provence. And market day in Aix is something to behold. The entire centre-ville is flooded with vendors selling everything from spices to underwear.
The food vendors are my favorite. (Of course). There’s the saucisse guy. The fish monger. The cheese sellers. The guys cooking paella in gigantic paella pans. It’s a scene.
Day Trip to Arles
On our first day-trip out of Aix, we drove to Arles. We stopped to see Daudet’s Windmill along the way. Maybe it’s not at the top of most peoples’ must-visit list, but if you’ve come across Daudet in your French excursions, it’s a fun visit.
Then it was on to Arles, and of course, Vincent van Gogh. Arles was where Vincent, despite struggling with internal demons, came into his own. You can stand along side the Rhone river in Arles in the same place where Vincent painted those starry nights.
On the way back to Aix, we stopped at the ruins of the medieval fortress at Les Baux. There isn’t much left of it, but it’s still neat to see. Especially if you’re intrigued by things medieval.
That was a big day, so the next day we stayed in Aix and took it easy. It was market day, so there was no shortage of things to see, smell, and taste.
After the vendors had packed up and left town, we sat at an outdoor café in Place de l’Hotel and took in the fall colors. I pretended I was French and took in a pastis or two.
Avignon and Chateauneuf du Pape
We’d drive to Avignon the next day, but first we had some history to cover. That brought us to Queen Joanna of Naples and the amazing story of how she came to sell the city of Avignon to the pope, who resided there at the time.
While in Avignon, we toured the Palace of the Popes. The palace has been through a lot, but even 600 years later, it still exudes power.
While in Avignon, we learned about the wine called chateauneuf du pape. It’s produced in vineyards surrounding the town of the same name, and it’s not far from Avignon. We had to go check it out.
Check it out we did, and we returned years later to visit Chateauneuf du Pape once more. Our return visit included a memorable wine tasting in a cellar in town. It was a good day!
So now it’s time to say “au revoir” to this special part of the world. Reality calls. But I have a feeling we’ll be back one day.
To be continued…
