TOUJOURS PROVENCE

VAISON-LA-ROMAINE - MAY 2005

Vaison-la-Romaine was the last stop of our 2005 trip in Provence. Vaison is one of the prettiest villages in Provence, and has the largest archaeological site of Gallo-Roman relics in France, with remarkable ruins, as well as the churches of Saint-Quénin and Notre Dame de Nazareth. The excavations began in 1907, and received a boost when a Swiss merchant named Burrus, intrigued by the fact that in 37AD, "Sextius Afranius Burrus", Emperor Nero's private tutor was born in Vaison-la-Romaine, put forward some money for the works. I don't have pictures neither from the ruins, nor from the churches; only videos! But it's the flavour of Provence, the best we keep from it...



"THE ROMAN BRIDGE is one of the very few ancient bridges still in use today, and probably one of the most resistant. The bridge played a strategic role - it was the only means of crossing the Ouvèze river (a main means of communication in Roman times, usually peaceful but impossible to bypass), and in the time of the Comte de Toulouse it was used as a toll bridge. During World War II, the Germans tried to bomb it, in vain. Along the centuries, the parapet was often taken away by violent floods, but the unique arch, solidly anchored in the slopes of the cliffs, has always resisted. However on September 22, 1992, after hours of torrential rains, a giant mudslide descended upon the city, reaching 17 meter high. It carried off the parapet as well as the facades of many neighbouring houses. A part of the city, including the archaeological site, was flooded, and 43 lives were lost on that day"




"L'EVÊCHÉ - A wonderful place to be the basis for your discovery of Vaison, the Pays Voconce, and the Chateauneuf-du-Pape wines..."


"DOWNTOWN, quite close to the ruins entrance. There is a market on Tuesday mornings that has been held since 1532, when having a market was a lordly right and having it on Tuesday a pontifical choice"

***

The first version of this post saw the light on September 28, 2005. It was then the only one dedicated to Provence. It has been redone to serve as closing post for the 2005 trip to Provence. GOODBYE PROVENCE!

La Provence? C'est mythique et magnifique, on l'a vu! Il semble qu’elle l'était déjà au temps des romains. Les paysages, la gastronomie, les gens, les monuments, l'histoire, les pierres, le Luberon, le pastis, le foie gras, les vins, le Châteauneuf du Pape, le Gigondas, Aix, Arles, Avignon...
On y retournera un jour, c'est sûr!

BY THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

CASSIS - MAY 2005

On the first version of this post, Cassis was not getting the attention it actually deserves. So, having read the comment from Peter, I decided to re-arrange it!

Cassis, an ancient fishing port rebuilt in the 18th century, is a quite interesting small town. Its name was first recorded as «Carsicis Portus», and later as «Castrum Cassitis». Frédéric Mistral, a French poet who shared the Nobel Prize in 1904, wrote: «Qu'a vist Paris, se noun a vist Cassis, pou dire: n'ai rèn vist» (Who saw Paris, but not Cassis, may say: I saw nothing).
Located some 22km east of Marseille, Cassis is famous for its cliffs, calanques, stone, as well as for its wines. The calanques are geologic formations in the form of a deep valley, typically of limestone, in part submerged by the sea; somehow the Mediterranean fjords. With regard to wines, Cassis, once famous for its Muscat, is now recognised for its white wines, mostly produced with Clairette and Marsanne grapes, and also with Ugni Blanc as well as Sauvignon Blanc (not to be confused with the liqueur flavoured with blackcurrants responsible for the «Cassis de Dijon» case at the European Court of Justice). Its 180 hectares of vineyards were the first in Provence to profit from appellation d'origine contrôlée (A.O.C.) - «Vins de Cassis» - established by the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine in 1936"


"MOULES ET FRITES at La Vôute, the only restaurant at the port still serving lunch at 14:45. This should have been accompanied with a white wine of Cassis, usually pretty dry and light, and perfect to go with seafood; however, the heat, thirst and the need to still drive a long way, recommended a more Belgian version of the meal, with beer..."


"CASSIS OLD PORT, with buildings painted with the colourful pastels of Provence, is the point of departure for the visit to the Calanques"


"CHATEAU - The old 1381 Chateaux de la Maison des Baux dominates the harbor, but it's privately owned and closed to the public. Cassis is also famous for its cliffs and for the Stone of Cassis. Actually, the first stone quarry of the white Cassis stone was opened in 1753 in the Calanques, and the masonry for some Mediterranean ports (Alexandria, Algiers, Piraeus, Marseille, Port Said) came from Cassis. It is disputed, however, whether the base of the Statue of Liberty also came from here"


"MEDITERRANEAN SEA - Cassis has a fine sandy beach just outside the port, which was a bit cold those days..."


"BLUE VIEW"

ON THE STEPS OF CEZANNE

AIX-EN-PROVENCE - MAY 2005

Aquae Sextiae was founded in 122 B.C. by the Roman consul Sextius Calvinus. Named Ais de Provenco in Occitan Provencal, it arrived to our days as Aix-en-Provence.



"CEZANNE - Paul Cézanne was born on January 19, 1839 in Aix-en-Provence, and died on October 22, 1906 of pneumonia; he was buried at the old cemetery also in Aix-en-Provence!
Mount Sainte-Victoire is a symbol of Provence, like Mount Ventoux, the major landmark of the Aix area, and a favourite motif of Cézanne: I found twenty different paintings named Mont Sainte-Victoire. At the foot of the Sainte-Victoire we find the village of Vauvenargues. Its castle was bought in 1958 by Picasso, who was buried on its grounds"


"FOUR DOLPHINS FOUNTAIN - Aix is referred to as the city of a thousand fountains. Among the more notable are the Fontaine des Quatre Dauphins, created in 1667 in the heart of the pedestrian zone. Surrounding an obelisk with mysterious inscriptions, the dolphins point each one a cardinal direction..."


"THE CHURCH OF ST. JEAN DE MALTE was once property of the Order of Malta. Constructed in the early thirteenth century is the earliest Gothic building in Aix"


"ESCARGOTS AT LES DEUX GARÇONS (Guerini and Guidoni) - The building dates from 1660, so Les Deux G is on the way towards its fourth century. After Cezanne and Zola in the 19th century, Les 2 Garçons saw many celebrities arrive after 1950: Churchill, René Cassin, Picasso, Darius Milhaud, Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet, James Brown, Marcel Pagnol, Blaise Cendrars, Jean Cocteau, Albert Camus... and Guida!"


"MIRABEAU - Inside the Law Courts Building, the statue of Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Marquis & Count of Mirabeau. A writer, popular orator and statesman"


"OLD TOWN STREETS"


"ALBERTAS' FOUNTAIN - It was not until the 19th century that the square was used as a setting for a fountain"


"PLACE RICHELME (MARKET PLACE) - The oldest square in Aix-en-Provence"


"THE CLOCK TOWER - Former belfry of the town and symbol of local government power, the tower spans the street on Roman foundations. Erected in 1505, it houses an astronomic clock built in 1661"


"HOTEL DE VILLE - From 1655 to 1670 Pierre Pavillon and Jean-Claude Rambot, sculptors and architects, established this building"

LUBERON - PART TWO

LACOSTE - OPPÈDE LE VIEUX - MAY 2005



After Roussillon, we continued travelling in the Luberon. We saw Apt (the capital of the region), Saignon (with a fabulous view of the plains and the Luberon mountain range, as well as a beautiful 12th century roman church), and Lourmarin (where L'Etranger Nobel Prize Winner Albert Camus, who died in a car crash while en route from Lourmarin to Paris on January 4, 1960, at the age of 46, is buried). We visited Bonnieux (and its Boulangerie Museum), Lacoste (with the famous château belonging to the Marquis de Sade, and now owned by Pierre Cardin), Ménerbes (one of the finest villages in France), Oppède le Vieux, and many other villages. A few pictures remain!

***


"LACOSTE - The site offers an exceptional panorama of Mount Ventoux, Luberon, the Mounts of Vaucluse and the perched villages"

***



"OPPÈDE LE VIEUX - Preparing to go up the hill, after leaving the car in the lower parking"




"VIEWS - Anywhere you go, terrific views!


"TOP OF THE HILL - A 12th century church which dominates the village"

LUBERON - PART ONE

GORDES & ROUSSILLON - MAY 2005

The Luberon is probably one of the most spectacular parts of Provence, and you know already how fantastic Provence is. The Luberon is home to vineyards and orchards with fascinating hill-top perched villages, lighted by the glorious luminosity that fascinated van Gogh and Cezanne. On this post we'll deal with Gordes and Roussillon!

After Fontaine de Vaucluse, we headed to L'Isle sur la Sorgue, a small town located where the Sorgue River splits into two streams. The Venice of Provence, as it is often named, owes its nickname to the crystal-clear, emerald water that flows through it at 13 degrees Celsius, the temperature it springs out of the source at the nearby Fontaine de Vaucluse. L'Isle sur la Sorgue is better known, however, for its antiques; actually, for the last decades it has become famous as the antiques capital of France, with the exception of Paris. But we left all the antiques for Isabella, who made L'Isle sur la Sorgue the base for her adventures in Provence... Regrettably, I've no photos of L'Isle, so let's go to Gordes!

***

GORDES


"GORDES was built on the foothills of the Monts of Vaucluse, facing the Luberon, and is one of the most famous hilltop villages in the region. This happens because its privileged situation, exceptional charm and typical architecture made it one of the Most Beautiful Villages in France (official); and also because of the important contribution that Chagall, Vasarely, and other artists - who spent some time there - made to its fame"


"COUPLE - One of the few photos we have together; an American couple, to whom we showed the view, took it"



"CLOSE-UP - Gordes, 38 Km east of Avignon and with circa 2100 inhabitants, is somehow the capital of the Luberon. It seems that the local was originally inhabited (since the Neolithic) by the Vordeuses, who named it Vorda, the root to get to Gordes. The castle, the Bories village, the Abbey of Sénanque founded in 1148, and the St. Firmin church of 1704 are to be visited"

***

ROUSSILLON


"OLD OCHRE QUARRY - Situated in the heart of one of the most important ochre deposits of the world, Roussillon owes its celebrity to its magnificent ochre cliffs and to its impressive careers of ochre, in contrast with the green pine forests"


"ROUSSILLON, with 1200 inhabitants, has seventeen shades of ochre painted across its houses, drawn from the palette of the old ochre quarry next door"


"TECHNICOLOR - The flamboyant reds, yellows, oranges and pinks merge one into the other for the glory of Roussillon"

ENCORE PROVENCE

LES BAUX DE PROVENCE - MAY 2005

This post pays tribute to Peter Mayle, an enthusiast for Provence, whose books – A Year in Provence, Encore Provence and Toujours Provence - I read after coming back home, and recommend to anyone intending to visit the region. You’ll find there many good reasons to make the trip! Here you'll find pictures of two beautiful villages in Provence: Les Baux and Fontaine de Vaucluse.

***

LES BAUX DE PROVENCE is surely one of the most beautiful places in Provence; I would say in the world. These pictures don't show such beauty, but you may have a look at the official site of Les Baux and make the virtual visit! Les Baux is famous in different ways: Dante visited France between 1308 and 1310 and gives details of the Alyscamps cemetery in Arles (see last post), as well as of Les Baux; Van Gogh painted at Les Baux; Bauxite derives its name from Les Baux, as it was from samples from Les Baux de Provence that double aluminium chloride was made...



"VIEW from the La Calade Street"


"ON THE WAY TO THE CASTLE. A castle at Les Baux is mentioned in documents from the second half of the 10th century. When we got to its entrance, the ticket office of the castle was already closed: we were taking these pictures and were three minutes late! Nice pretext for a next visit!"


"ARTS AND CRAFTS. Shopping is also possible at Les Baux"

***

FONTAINE DE VAUCLUSE (The Fountain of Vaucluse), located at the foot of an abrupt cliff of 230 meters, is the largest source in France. It is also classified fifth in the world, with an annual water flow of 630 million cubic meters. At Fontaine we were on the way to the Luberon, one of the most beautiful areas in Provence!




"The emerald green calm summer waters become spectacular in the wet seasons: 90 cubic metres of water per second spill into the bed of the River Sorgue"

PROVENCE, PEINTRES & ÉCRIVAINS

LES BAUX DE PROVENCE - MAY 2005

This post pays tribute to Peter Mayle, an enthusiast for Provence, whose books – A Year in Provence, Encore Provence and Toujours Provence - I read after coming back home, and recommend to anyone intending to visit the region. You’ll find there many good reasons to make the trip! Here you'll find pictures of two beautiful villages in Provence: Les Baux and Fontaine de Vaucluse.

***

LES BAUX DE PROVENCE is surely one of the most beautiful places in Provence; I would say in the world. These pictures don't show such beauty, but you may have a look at the official site of Les Baux and make the virtual visit! Les Baux is famous in different ways: Dante visited France between 1308 and 1310 and gives details of the Alyscamps cemetery in Arles (see last post), as well as of Les Baux; Van Gogh painted at Les Baux; Bauxite derives its name from Les Baux, as it was from samples from Les Baux de Provence that double aluminium chloride was made...



"VIEW from the La Calade Street"


"ON THE WAY TO THE CASTLE. A castle at Les Baux is mentioned in documents from the second half of the 10th century. When we got to its entrance, the ticket office of the castle was already closed: we were taking these pictures and were three minutes late! Nice pretext for a next visit!"


"ARTS AND CRAFTS. Shopping is also possible at Les Baux"

***

FONTAINE DE VAUCLUSE (The Fountain of Vaucluse), located at the foot of an abrupt cliff of 230 meters, is the largest source in France. It is also classified fifth in the world, with an annual water flow of 630 million cubic meters. At Fontaine we were on the way to the Luberon, one of the most beautiful areas in Provence!




"The emerald green calm summer waters become spectacular in the wet seasons: 90 cubic metres of water per second spill into the bed of the River Sorgue"