Provence: Heartbreak, Headaches, and a

Yikes! What made this appear three times? I will keep my replies to this one. Hopefully the others will disappear. And the title was supposed to finish with "and a Wonderful Trip".

Great start. So sorry about your sister

I wouldn't worry about posting triplicate threads - gremlins happen. But you might want to e-mail katie at forums@fodors.com and ask her to delete the other two threads. Otherwise some folks are bound to post replies on them and you'll have 3 trip parallel reports running.

It's good to know that the trip ended wonderfully. I too am sorry to hear about your sister's passing.

Can you post some links to both of the hotels in Aix in your next installment.

I love this report so far Kansas. I was in tears about your sister (OMG how sad!) and then a couple paragraphs later I was laughing out loud at your Seinfeld quote (one of my favorite episodes.) What a rollercoaster! Can't wait for more!

Aix-en-Provence has a very special place in my heart.
I can tell your trip report is going to be a good one...

rollarcoaster is right!
Sad to hear about your sister.
Happy to know there's a happy ending.

kansas, I am already enjoying your trip report and have that sinking feeling that there may be more trouble ahead with the luggage -- I hope I'm proven wrong!

I'm so sorry to hear about your sister. It must have been bittersweet to take the trip but I'm sure you are correct that she would have wanted you to go. Sudden deaths are so hard to adjust to -- my condolences.

My sister and I are very close. My heart jumped right into my throat reading the beginning of your report. Please accept my condolences. How awful to lose her.

I am glad you and you son decided to make the journey to Provence. And I have done the navette to Aix from Marseille airport hop before. I remember taking a taxi from the bus stop to my hotel, dog-tired as you say. I can't imagine arriving after all that to find no room at the inn! You are made of strong stuff.

Looking forward to more.

Thanks for the comments. Just a quick note before I go off to babysit for my grandchildren. Here are the links to the two places to stay in Aix, both of which I would highly recommend - two different price points.

www.latorse.com for the Pavillion de la Torse. There are a lot more pictures on TripAdvisor. We loved the people, the house, the cocktail hour (it is always fun to visit with other travelers), the free international phone, and the free internet available.

www.hotelmozart.fr for Le Mozart. Marie told us this hotel is popular with visitors from Great Britain. For the money, it is a sure winner. Elevator, A/C, and electirc blinds that block out the sun. Perfect for a nap for the jet-lagged. We also had a small terrace. The breakfast room also looked quite nice.

More later on Wednesday's fiasco!

Hi Kansas,

I was so so sorry to read about ure sister, how hearbreaking for you and your son to go on the trip knowing that she should have been there but you were right to do it, im sure she was watching over you.

Enjoying the trip report, look forward to the rest!

so sorry to hear of the death of you sister. Wishing the best.Check my trip report Ah Provence-rough start great cities food poisoning, broken ankle, hospitalization, permanent discomfort but still love france and Provence. Enjoy the lavender.
I missed the festival in Ferrasierres-I was operated on that day in Cavaillon.

I too send my regrets about your sister's passing but I am sure she was with you in spirit for this trip!! Your son sounds so great with the Seinfeld impression..thanks for giving him a voice! Looking forward to hearing more.

Sorry about your sister. What a wonderful experience to have with your delightful and humorous son, one you both will cherish and never forget.

I, too, am so sorry about the loss of your sister but I am eagerly awaiting the rest of your report. I like your style and sense of humor (and your son's).

Add me to the list of those who were saddened to read of your sister's untimely passing, but awaiting more of your trip report ...

Wednesday, June 17th

Dan and I get up and check out of Le Mozart. We toted our meager belongings down to La Torse. If Marie and Francois think this is a five minute walk, they sure walk alot faster than we do!

We have breakfast in the beautiful dining room. Marie made pancakes for me, and eggs and potatoes for my gf son.

Then off to explore Aix some more, and the Cours Mirabeau.
Then it is time to pick up our rental car from Europcar right in Aix on the Boulevard de la Republique. We have no trouble finding the place. The woman at Europcar took our drivers' licenses, re-ran our credit card, and then just happened to mention that they had NO automatic cars. I had ordered a compact automatic car and PAID for it in February. I told her we HAD to have an automatic car. Being most unpleasant, she informed me that there was NOT ONE automatic car in all of France at the moment.

She then took us outside to show us a nice little car. Now, we have reservations all over Provence. We HAVE to have a car. Dan has driven a standard car before, but it has been many years. He is looking at the traffic in Aix, and knows for a fact that he will certainly stall the car, and we most certainly will be rear-ended.

So, we go back inside, and I tell her that if we take the car, she has to take the second driver off the rental agreement. I cannot drive this car. She must have gotten some vibe from looking at my son's face, because all of a sudden she says, "Well, I do have one automatic. It is the one right out in front." I turned around and there is this HUGE, GIGANTIC mini bus sitting there. I said "No Way!" My son immediately pipes up and says, "We'll take it!" That is how nervous he was about the standard transmission car...he was willing to drive a tour bus around Provence.

So, I make sure that Europcar notes all the previous damage on this ridiculous vehicle. They are none too pleased with me at this point, nor I with them. Dan is still looking rather green.

The plan was to go to Cassis and La Ciotat and drive the Route des Cretes. Unfortunately, I left the cord for the GPS back at La Torse. We cannot even manage to find our way back to La Torse. We cannot seem to find the ring road. How can you not find this??? I think Dan was too nervous by this time to be thinking straight. You know how those arrows pointing to Centre Ville point more to the road, and less to the direction? That was our undoing. Anyway, I finally convinced Dan to forget the GPS. I had good maps, let's just get going.

We actually did quite well. We even managed to park our bus on the street in La Ciotat. We were savvy enough to know how to get the ticket to lay on the dashboard to pay for the parking.

Whoops. That posted before I was done...

We then found the Route des Cretes - a gorgeous drive. Then we came back to Cassis. We loved this little fishing village. It was so colorful. Again, our luck has turned around. We found a good parking space. The only open spot in the parking lot and Dan is actually able to manuever our bus into the spot! We could not find any place to pay for parking. We can hardly believe that this is a free lot, but decide if we get a ticket, we will deal with that later. (As it turned out, this was a free parking lot!) We walked down to the port and our timing was perfect. A boat was just getting ready to leave for the Calanques. This was the trip to see 3 Calanques - a great boat trip, gorgeous scenery.

After the boat trip, we knew we better start heading back to La Torse. Marie was making a special gf appetizer for Dan. We needed to be back about 6:30. We left about 5:15 for a "30 minute" drive. On the D41 we are stopped dead. It was probably the longest lasting traffic tie up I have ever seen. Cars going the other way were motioning the cars going our direction to turn around. Some people were even shouting that we would never get where we are going. Lots of cars start giving up and turn around. No way can our "bus" be turned around We were stuck for about 2 hours. For some reason, the autoroute A50 to Marseille was completely closed. All traffic was being diverted to the A52 to Aix, etc.

We finally made it back to La Torse about 7:45 pm. We started to tell our story of the car to everyone at the Happy Hour. Francois says, "That's not a Mercedes out there, is it?" ("Out there" being the parking area way down toward the middle of the long drive.) Yes, it is a Mercedes. He told us that car had been to the house before, and the previous "lucky" drivers called Hertz and got a smaller car. Then they brought this one back to Europcar. Francois told us that we COULD NOT take this car to where we were going. It would not work. Francois said we HAD to call AutoEurope and get them to correct the situation.

Thank goodness for the free international phones at La Torse. 8:30pm in Provence was 2:30pm in Maine, the home office for AutoEurope. It took some doing, but there was, in fact, an automatic in France! We just had to bring the 9 passenger vehicle back to the Marseille airport and Europcar would have a Ford Fiesta waiting for us.

By now it is around 9:30 at night. We still have not had dinner. So, we walked up the street and ended up eating at the same place we had the night before.

And for some more good news: while we were out to dinner, our long lost bags were delivered! Tomorrow we wear clean clothes!! We were so thankful that Francois pushed us to get the car situation solved. And he also made numerous calls to the airlines about our bags. He explained to them that if our bags did not reach us by Wednesday night, they would never be able to catch up with us. Even thought Marie and Francois had made a mistake with our reservations, they truly were amazingly helpful and they are wonderful hosts.

The saga of the bus made me laugh out loud. Eagerly awaiting the next installment ...

Oh, please come back and tell us more!

My heart just fell when I read about your sister. My sister was my best friend and we traveled Europe together many times. She, too, passed suddenly. It's so hard to deal with that I'm glad you had the distraction of the trip.

Anyway...

on to your story, which seems to be getting happier and happier!

I am also really sorry to hear about your sister. I am very close to my sister and I thought Oh no!

I am loving the report, how could one family have so much bad luck? I am laughing I have to say at your misfortunes interspersed with groans of I don't believe it! Crazy stuff so far, but as MelJ says it sounds like it is getting happier and better as it goes along. Was the mini bus green? That was the image I had in my mind, seeing you driving around Aix (where I spent four days last time - so I had a good visual happening!!)

Keep going (in your clean clothes)

Schnauzer

Hi, Schnauzer! Our Mercedes Touring Bus was silver! When we opened the back of it up to put in our bags before heading to the airport, we saw that there was probably enough room to put in another row of seats!

Thursday, June18th

Oh, how good it feels to be wearing something else than our travelling outfits! And I have to admit I really, really needed my own hair products! Thankfully, my daughter had given me a cute hat to wear. I had that thing plastered on my head for the last two days!

We are lamenting the fact that we already "played" the Seinfeld episdoe. Who knew we should have saved it for OUR OWN rental car reservation fiasco...I have my folder full of our reservation confirmations. Since we landed in France, I am 0 for 2. Remember, I am the one who took such pride in her trip planning abilities! From this point on, every time we approach one of our B and B's/Hotels to stay at, I am filled with trepidation. But, I need not have worried.

The plan for the day was to visit the market in Aix before heading to our next destination. We walked up the street to the market. We did not stay long at all. I was desperate to get back to the Marseille airport early. I did not want them to give our promised Ford Fiesta to someone else.

Francois had given us easy directions to get back to the airport. We found the Europcar place. We had to stand in line for about 45 minutes. As I got closer to the front of the line, I could hear them renting out automatic cars. I truly thought by the time they got to me, they would be out of automatic cars! I was also fearing that they would have no idea what I was talking about...

But, luckily, the paperwork was ready for us and we get our cute little silver Fiesta.

Off we go - We set the GPS for Greoux-Les-Bains, and then Valensole. We are looking for lavender. Marie and Francois had told us it was blooming. We followed Stu's Valensole drive. We saw very little lavender. I think most of the fields had been replanted with wheat. Someone we met thought that we saw lavender that was not blooming yet. But, hey, I am from Kansas; my son is from Kansas. We know what wheat looks like! We are KU fans. KU fans "Wave the Wheat!"

We also drove throught Riez, and walked around a bit. Then we decided we better head for Esparron de Verdon, our stop for the next two nights. GPS Man either did not want us to find it, or else decided he would play with our minds and make us go through Aix to get there. HMMM. I just happened to see a tiny sign that said Esparron de Verdon 15 km. So, we turned off the GPS, turned the car around and took the D15. We rarely saw another car on the road.

I finally spotted the castle with a flag flying from the tower. I pointed it out to Dan, and said, "That is were we are staying." I do not think he believed me at first. It is quite an imposing sight from afar.

I have to thank Underhill for mentioning Chateau d'Esparron. It was an amazing place to stay! Luckily Count Bernard and Countess Charlotte Ann had sent directions how to approach the chateau. We ring the huge bell by pulling on a chain and then open the iron gates. We are greeted by Bernard, Charlotte Ann and their young son, and 2 dogs and a cat.

We had also been warned that there are many steps to the rooms, so to pack what we need in an overnight bag. Good advice! (Dan later counted the stairs from our car to our room. 70 stairs!)

Bernard gives us a quick tour before he brings us to our room. We are the only guests in the chateau for the two nights we are there. We have the Rose Room. We settle in, then walk to the village for a bite to eat. After dinner, we explored the tiny village. The castle REALLY IS an impressive sight.

Bernard asks us about what time we want breakfast. He wants to go to the bakery in the morning beforehand. I explain that Dan cannot eat gluten, so as long as their is some fruit, cheese, yogurt, or whatever, we will be fine.

Off to bed, sleeping in a castle!

Wonderful report! Keep writing.

Holiday or no, get back here and continue this report--it's a winner!!

What a sad story, so sorry about the loss of your sister. But also how hysterically funny about the bus. I'm still laughing out loud.

I can't even imagine how much you spent on gas. As for not having an automatic, one of my best friends went through that in Paris. He's been going to Paris regularly, for decades and even lived there for 2 years, but always took public transportation. However, on one trip, he needed a rental car to get to Provence. He and a friend had reserved an automatic, but when they got to Paris, it had already been checked out and only stick shifts were available. I've heard this saga a lot from friends. I always tell them to take some stick shift driving lessons before going overseas. I've even offered them lessons.

So, my friend hadn't driven a stick shift since he lived in Africa back in his Peace Corps days. Thank goodness the friend with him could drive one and they took the stick shift and off to Provence they went. The friend, however, was stuck driving the whole time. They were housesitting, for French friends who live here in L.A.

When my friend got home, it was my time to tease him. He always teases me in that since I was 16 , when I got my first car, all the cars that I've owned have been stick shifts. I'm early 50s now. Even my new 2008 is a stick shift. I always explained to him that I needed to be able to drive anywhere in the world if I had to. I've never rented a car overseas though in 30 some years, but am ready if I have to. Smiles.

Looking forward to the rest of your wonderful and hilarious trip report. Happy Travels!

Great report, kansas, please continue!
So sorry about your sister but what a wonderful way to honor her memory.

Great report - hoping for more soon!

(As an aside, the adventure with the rental car agency is one of the reasons I consider being able to drive a manual transmission car high on the list of basic life skills.)

Lovely report Kansas, sadness regarding your dear sister but if I had been your sister I would have wanted you to continue with your France trip plans. My deapest sympathies on your loss.

And your son sounds like a fun fellow! Room not available, oooops, no luggage, oooops, a huge van, another oooops. I think your son got your sense of humour and love for life from you!

What wonderful comments! Thank you, to all of you. We did miss my sister very much on this trip. It still does not seem possible that she is not here. She lived about 3 hours away. I still expect to see an e-mail from her when I check my mail each day. Sad, sad, sad.

On to a happier note. Jumping ahead for a minute: In
Saint Remy, Dan had some creme brulee ice cream. He thought it was one of the best flavors he had ever had. So for our family get-together later this day, I am going to surprise him with some that I made. Of course, I had to make sure it was good! And it is fabulous! If anyone is interested, here is the recipe I used:

By the way, you may have noticed I have never been able to figure out how to get the accents on the French words...

Creme Brulee Ice Cream

Custard:

1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract (I used William Sonoma's vanilla bean paste. I think this may be part of the reason this is sooo good!)
6 egg yolks
2/3 cup + 1 T. sugar

Brulee Bits:

1 cup sugar

To make the custard, place the milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat until it just comes to a boil. Place the yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until well combined. Gradually add the milk mixture, whisking to combine. Return to the saucepan and stir over low heat for 8-10 minutes or until custard is thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Strain custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl, set aside to cool, then refrigerate for at least 5 hours.

To make the brulee bits, place half the sugar into a large pan over low heat. Do not stir, but shake the pan every once in a while. When it starts to melt and just starts to carmelize, add the remaining sugar to keep the caramel from burning. Now, you can stir it every so often. When it's completely melted and golden, pour over a piece of foil and set aside to cool. When it is completely set, use a rolling pin to break the brittle into small bits. Set aside.

Pour the custard into ice cream maker. Just before it is done, add the brittle bits and let it mix in well. Put it into a container and freeze until firm.

Yum!

Now I have to go buy some bomb pops or some such thing. I am not wasting this on the little kids!!

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

What about Abbaye de Senaque and Ferrassier for lavender?

Yes, french wow, we did see lavender, thank goodness! We may have been a week or so before the peak, but we did see some gorgeous purple rows of lavender in fields.

If anyone was interested in that recipe for the ice cream...after eating a bowl full, I have come to the conclusion that the brulee part should/could be cut in half. The rest of the crowd was unsufe, but, I think half the crunch would have been perhaps a tad better....still, it was mighty good!

Friday, June 19th

We woke up to the big dog barking in the dowstairs hall. His bark echoed all the way up the very curved stone steps.

We went down to breakfast. Count Bernard had not only gone to the bakery for me, but had also baked a loaf of gluten-free bread for Dan! It was made with chickpea flour and potatoes! If any of you are familiar with gf breads, you know they usually look like a brick, feel like a brick and taste like a brick. Charlotte Ann whispered to Dan and laughingly said, "You do not have to be polite It really doesnt look too good!" Of course, Dan was polite and pronounced it delicious! He was very touched that anyone would go to so much trouble for him.

We then headed for Moustiers-Ste-Marie. What's not to love! It was market day, too. We walked around a bit, then decided we had to walk up the hill to the chapel Notre Dame de Beauvoir. I had read it is a 20 minute walk up the hill. Just looking at it, we wondered if the 20 minute walk was like Francois'"5 minute walk". But, it really only took about 20 minutes. We were quite proud of ourselves for going up to the top. We also lit a candle and said a prayer for only good things for our trip from here on out. (Yes, the prayers were answered!).

We had lunch in Moustiers, then headed off to see Lac St. Croix - the most glorious shade of blue water I have ever seen. We continued on to drive the Corniche Sublime - the southern rim of the Gorge de Verdon. We would have been fools to attempt this in the giant car. The views are beautiful, but a very long, long drive. We went as far as Trigance, then were able to get to the other side of the gorge and return to Moustiers. In retrospect, I think we should have just stayed near Lac St. Croix and enjoyed some water activity - swimming, boating, or just lounging. The drive was pretty, but there is so much beauty in Provence, it seemed like way too much driving to me. Yes, I should have listened to Stu Dudley! Dan is glad we went to the gorge, though, but I felt bad for him doing all the driving. I offered to drive, but I think he thought the drive was so awful, he did not want me to have to do it.

I must mention that Dan is a very cautious driver, and not knowing how big a car is coming around the next curve and not knowing how much of our lane the oncoming car would be in was unnerving to him. By the end of the day, I assured Dan that if Princess Grace had been in a car with him driving, she would be alive and kicking today!

Finally, back to Moustiers for a cold drink, back to Riez for dinner, and then back to the chateau for bed. We knew we had to get back before dark. The D15 road is so narrow, with no painted lines and no lights, we would have been in trouble.

Tomorrow we head for the Luberon.

Sorry to hear about yiou Sister, but I admire you for making your trip in her memory. Totally enjoying your trip report! I'm from western Kansas - KU 1958 - keep it coming!

Glad things have taken a turn for the better in this adventure. And thanks for the ice cream recipe--sounds delicious.

kansas, You arrive in France and literally see your names in lights. You were greeted in the fashion of movie stars, what a fantasy come true! (No need, when relating this story in the future, to include the details of the baggage claim debacle....)

On a serious note, I was most sorry to hear about your sister.

Kansas, I'm so very sorry to hear about your sister. But I admire your wonderful attitude - after being 0 for 2 on reservations AND dealing with lost bags, I would have been freaking out! Good for you for keeping your cool. I'm really enjoying your trip report and sincerely hope your bad luck has ended!

Saturday, June 20th

We woke up to a cool, cool day. It felt quite pleasant for awhile. But it became windier and windier. For some reason, I thought the Mistral was a winter wind. I did not realize it can come any time of the year. We had four days of very windy weather. But the skies were always blue, and it did keep the temperatures feeling quite comfortable.

We had breakfast and visited with Bernard at the chateau for a bit, then headed out. We quickly gave up on GPS man. I think the words Dan hated to hear from him the most, and believe me, we heard them plenty was "RECALCULATING". GPS guy had some ridiculous idea of sending us down a gravel road. We decided to travel the old-fashioned way - we used paper road maps.

We were using some of the drives from the Provence Byways book. We started in Ansouis which is classified as "One of the Most Beautiful Villages in France." It is a picture perfect village. We had lunch at a cute terraced restaurant. Then we toured the chateau. The tour is in French, and there are currently no English handouts as there had been in the past (according to our book). I was able to pick up bits and pieces of what the guide said. It was interesting, nevertheless.

Then off to Cucuron. And then Vaugines. The book mentioned the "tranquility" of Vaugines. We saw no tranquility. They were getting ready for an early summer solstice music fest. The traffic was incredible, and trying to make it through the streets was a feat. We were being flagged on by some man. There was a truck stopped and it was our only escape. Dan had to pull the mirrors in on the car, and we both held our breaths praying we did not scrape the sides of the car. There could not have been half an inch on either side to spare.

At this point we decided we had better get a move on to Le Mas Perreal, our home for the next two nights. We got turned around in Apt. I know you need to know the name of the next village or town to find the right road, but none of the names sounded right. The third time around the round-about, Dan said, "Look, kids, it's Big Ben!". Does everyone say that when they need more than one trip around? (Chevy Chase - National Lampoon European Vacation). We needed this phrase quite a few times! We stopped and I got out and walked back to a service station. The French I had been working on so diligently for the past 9 months actually paid off. We should have taken the road to Avignon. I knew we needed to go north, and Avignon seemed to be west of where I wanted to go. But that was the road we needed.

We finally got to Le Mas Perreal about 6:30pm and met Kevin and Elisabeth. Our room was truly beautiful, as is the house and grounds. We got settled in and then went into St. Saturnin-les-Apt for dinner. We ate at L'Estrade. We sat outside on the terrace - the dinner was good, but it was almost too cold and windy to be eating outside.

Then back to the beautiful Mas Perreal for bed.

Hi kansas, I'm enjoying your report! I'm so sorry about your sister and all that heartbreak; plus the headaches! Yikes, no room @ the hotel, no car @ the rental, no luggage... But I'm glad things seem to be looking up at this point of your trip.

Sunday, June 21st

I know the market at L'Isle-Sur-la-Sorge is THE place to go on Sunday. But, we decided to skip it. Frankly, the idea of all the traffic was the deal-breaker. We were not finding the driving to be all that easy, so it was an easy decision for us. Also, my son is a total non-shopper, so that made the decision even easier.

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at Mas Perreal, then headed out for the day. We started at Menerbes, then went to Gordes. What a view from afar! Then we saw the Abbeye de Senanque with the lavender fields.

Our next stop was Joucas, and then on to Roussillon. We had brought some old shoes so we could walk through the ochre quarries. It was still extremely windy, so the walk made us feel very "gritty," but it was certainly worth doing.

This made for a very full day. We made our way back to St. Saturnin-les-Apt, and then had dinner again at L'Estrade. This was our only option for a gf dinner. We both thought that this night's dinner was better than the previous night. We also got there early enough so that we could eat inside.

Tomorrow: Stu's Lavender Drive

kansas, thank you for you ongoing report, please keep going!

I am so accustomed to Fodor's abbreviations that every time I see "gf" in your report I think girlfriend...and I stop and wonder what the heck you're talking about.

Please continue.

Your response made me laugh, Leely2! I am so used to having gf written over recipes in all my books, it is second nature to me now. My husband, daughter and one son all have celiac disease.

Monday, June 22nd

Breakfast at Le Mas Perreal was outside on the patio. The wind was still blowing like crazy, however. We had to check out of this Mas because we were only able to reserve the Chambre Sur le Toit for 2 nights. We changed B & B /Hotels more than one would probably want, but I certainly don't think that it took much time out of our day to do so. After breakfast and saying good-bye to Kevin and Elisabeth, we began Stu's Lavender Field Route. We headed north from St. Saturnin-les-Apt and headed to Simiane La Rotunde, where we stopped to have a drink, and explore a little. Then we headed towards Sault. We did have lunch at the place Stu mentions in his itinerary: right near a park, and with a gorgeous view of the valley below with lavender fields galore. There were lots and lots of bikers having lunch here as well. We had a table on the huge patio right near the wall, so we had a magnificent view while we ate. We did have to hold on to our hats, the wind was still howling! Stu's directions for this drive were absolutely right on. We thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Heading back south, we decided to stop at Bonnieux. This was our second attempt to visit Bonnieux, but could not find a parking place this time either, so gave up and headed to Pernes-Les-Fontaines, where we stayed for one night. Our hotel here was L'Hotel Hermitage. GPS Man finally earned his keep. We would probably still be looking for this place if he had not helped us out! The hotel was lovely, and our room was very spacious. The pool here was the most inviting we had seen, but the weather seemed very cool due to the Mistral. But, the Hotel Herrmitage is still a hotel, and there is lots to be said for the more personal side of staying at a B & B.

Tomorrow: Venasque, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and St. Remy

Dear Kansas,
I'm so sorry to hear about your sister. Yes, she would have loved to watercolor some of those beautiful scenes. I was in Aix-en-Provence just a week after you. Wanted to book that B&B but they were full. I ended up with a charming room.

I'm sorry your luggage was not on board; that is so completely frustrating; and the lodging mix-up! I always fear that will happen to me.

This is a very enjoyable trip report and I'm looking forward to more. I'm so sorry about your sister.

hi kansas,

I've just read this all through in one go and I'm really looking forward to more...it puts my recent travails in a rather wet austria in the shade.

how lovely to be able to commemorate your sister in this way -i do admire your positive attitude. I think that had I been you, when I found out that the luggage was missing, I'd have just turned tail and gone home. how lucky you are made of sterner stuff.

regards, ann

Kansas, I am really enjoying your trip report - made me cry and made me laugh. So sorry about your sister.

Tuesday, June 23rd

We checked out of Hotel L'Hermitage and headed to Venasque. We did let the GPS help us again. It had a few weird ideas, but we got to Venasque, another beautiful perched village. We strolled around a bit, then visited the Baptistry that dates back to the 4th century. It was very interesting.

Then off to L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. Again, we got lucky finding a parking spot. We really enjoyed this town. We were looking for a place for lunch. I was so focused on finding a menu with something for Dan besides entrecote and frites or omelette and frites, that I jumped at the chance when I saw the words "riz and boeuf". It was a cute little place along the river. As we sat down, Dan said, "I am so surprised that you picked a Chinese place to eat". WHAT!! Only I could manage to pick a Chinese restaurant in France without realizing it! It did not even register with me that the young man who seated us was Chinese. It turned out to be a great meal! Everything was delicious, and the waiter understood the dietary concerns.

After our late lunch, we headed to Saint Remy. Our hotel was Hotel Sous Les Figuiers. GPS insisted there were "No Matches Found" when we tried to put in the address. But, there were plenty of signs in town directing us to the hotel. We loved this place - the location, the grounds, our terrace, free use of computer with internet (always nice to be able to check in with those at home) and Juanito, the man who greeted us upon arrival.

After settling into our room, we went to explore St. Remy. We did love St. Remy! We were able to walk to dinner each night, which was nice. We also found Joel Durand Chocolatier and bought some of the alphabet chocolates.

At dinner, we made plans for the next day. After studying the map, Dan decided that we will give the "Fiesta a Siesta!" We are NOT going to move the car for a whole day!

Tomorrow: Market Day, Les Antiquities and Glanum

Kansas- wonderful report. So very sorry to hear about your sister. How devastating.

Glad your son and you decided to go anyway. I'm sure your sistr was there with you in spirit!

Sometimes it's so relaxing to spend a day or two not driving on vacation. I'm looking forward to reading how you spent the day. I hope it involved sleeping late...

A nondriving day while on a driving trip is sure a nice way to relax and it can be such a relief. Just caught up with more of your trip report kansas and have enjoyed it so much!

Kansas,
I am so sorry to hear about your sister. I am glad you were able to take your trip and enjoy beautiful Provence. As someone above said, I'm sure your sister was there with you in spirit!

We toured Provence last summer and had some similar experiences - I am having run reading your report and remembering our wonderful trip.

I especially loved your reference to waving the wheat : ) Rock Chalk!

Thanks again for all the nice responses! It is such fun to relive this trip I took with my son. I must admit, I did periodically think that if there had been three of us travelling in the Fiesta, whoever was in the backseat would surely have strangled one of the people in the front seat...
We loved the size of the Fiesta for the roads, and it was a very comfortable car for two of us....but the backseat would have been misery.

Okay, on to the day without moving the CAR!

Wednesday, June 24th

We had breakfast at the Hotel. This always works best for us. Then we were off to the St. Remy market. We thoroughly enjoyed walking around the market. We often wondered during our trip if we were the only two people who were not travelling with their dog! So many people and so many dogs! And no one seemed the least bit worried about their little dog getting stepped on!

After the market we went back to the hotel and had a picnic on our terrace. Then we headed off - on foot - to St. Paul-de-Mausole. It was a beautiful day and the walk was pleasant. We enjoyed seeing the beautiful cloisters and the gardens, and the room that has been furnished as Van Gogh's might have been at that time. We also enjoyed seeing some of the spots where Van Gogh did some of his paintings - particularly the fields of olive trees.

Then, across the street to Les Antiques. Lots of school children were just leaving as we arrived, so our timing was good. We sat on a bench and marveled at these monuments. They are in remarkably wonderful condition.

Now, back across the street to Glanum. We strolled the streets of this ancient town, and were amazed by it all. There were just a handful of people around and again, we found it fascinating.

We then followed the guided walk (via signs with reproductions of Van Gogh's works done in the area) back to St. Remy. We stopped for some well-deserved ice cream as soon as we hit town! This is when Dan tasted the creme brulee ice cream!

Then back to Hotel Sous Les Figuiers. We decided to go for a swim, but the water was absolutely freezing. But it did feel good to dangle our feet and legs in the ice cold water after all the walking we did.

We had a good dinner at Bistro Decouverte, and made our plans for the next day...a very full day it will be.

Tomorrow: Pont du Gard, Uzes and Les Baux

kansas,
I have really enjoyed your report. As I read of your driving adventures, I'm sort of glad I decided not to rent a car this trip. I didn't walk through the ochre quarries in Roussillon. I could have, but it would have meant skipping a village that day. It sounds like you had an enjoyable walk there.

That view from Bonnieux is just stunning, isn't it? (I only stopped there for a picture). Honestly, one could spend weeks in the region and not take it all in. I'm planning to rent an apt. in Loumarin next time I go. I experienced such tranquility there.

Looking forward to reading more....

Thursday, June 25th

After breakfast at the hotel, we were off to see the Pont du Gard. It was actually very easy getting out of St. Remy and getting to the Pont. I had not realized we would have a decision to make - left bank or right bank. I do not remember which one we chose - I believe it must have been left bank. Whatever, it was the side furthest away from the museum. However, we think it was the most impressive view as we walked from the car lot to the Pont. We crossed over the bridge, and headed to the museum. We purchased tickets for the movie and the museum. We were told an English movie was just about to start. What great timing...we thought!! We waited down by the theater. Some meeting was going on inside. Hmmmm... it is getting past the time for the movie to start. The meeting finally ended, and we entered with two other people also waiting to see the movie. We now found out that there would be no movies shown today. Some company had rented out the facility for meetings all day. So, we headed to the musem. The museum is quite beautiful , however, I think we would have understood more of it if we had been able to see the movie first!

After some more time marvelling at the Pont, we headed to Uzes. We had lunch there and then followed the walk from the map we got at the Tourist Information office. We went into the Cathedrale St. Theodorit. A man was inside who was very happy to be able to show us the shutters that cover the front of the organ. He turned on some lights to highlight the shutters. He was telling us (in French, of course) some details about the organist. Unfortunately, I didn't get the whole thing, but evidently, the organist has been playing this organ for a VERY long time and is quite elderly!

Now, we set off for Les Baux. We followed the excellent advice from this forum and arrived late in the day "after the crowds had left." We arrived about 5:30pm. There were very few people at the ruins of the chateau. At 6:00, a catapult launching display began. There were so few people, I was needed to help with one of the "launchings!" In fact, they needed 6 women, and that was the total number of women watching the demonstration. Dan and I really walked all over the ruins - if we saw stairs, they needed to be climbed!

By the time we finished looking at the ruins, most of the village was closed up. One more reason we need to go back to Provence!

We had an easy drive back to St. Remy, then off to dinner. We chose Cafe des Varietes. And we made our plans for tomorrow, our last day in Provence. I had thought we would choose either Avignon, Arles, or Nimes. I had notes on all of these places. Instead, we decided to check into the Best Western at Marseille airport early (noon check-in time), then return the car and take the navette to Marseille for the remaining part of the day.

Tomorrow: Marseille

I am also enjoying your report. We have had so many similar experiences. My condolences to you. My sister died much too early and I wasn't ready for that. I'm sure she is happy that you carried on as you did.

I laughed out loud at the "tour bus" report. Your son is quite a trooper. We can drive a stick but one time in Nice we were given a huge sedan that didn't fit through the streets. We took it back the next day, but what a day it was.

We also had our luggage lost 2 years ago and spent 3 weeks in France with just a carry on. Thank God for apartments with washers in them. But it did teach us that we really didn't need all that "stuff" and we now travel with just a carry on.

And the dogs made me laugh and remember a lady at an outdoor cafe eating ice cream form a dish with her small dog on her lap. One spoon for her & one spoon for the dog---all off the same spoon.

Provence is beautiful and I thank you for taking me along with you. Someday we will return to Provence and I have made many notes of the places you visited that we missed.

Reading about your trip, and others on this forum, make all of us relive our own journeys and also plan for the future.

Looking forward to the rest of your journey.

Sounds like another great day, Kansas. I visited Pont du Gard in '05, but didn't see the movie or museum, which I'm sure would have helped. Still, it's such a marvel in architectural technology, considering it's 2,000 years old.... and so well preserved! It's just such a beautiful structure

I haven't been to Les Baux, and so enjoyed your description of the ruins. I decided to skip Marseilles for sight-seeing and spend my last day in Aix (went to the airport hotel early evening). So I'm looking forward to reading about your experiences there.

I had to watch our hometown man try to win the British Open before continuing my report. Tom Watson gave us all quite a thrill - it would have been such fun if he could have taken home the prize! He is a beloved Kansas Citian.

Friday, June 26th

We woke up to our last full day in St. Remy and in Provence. At breakfast, a lady told us that Michael Jackson has died.

So, after discussing Michael Jackson for a while, we had a leisurely breakfast before heading to the Marseille airport. Dan had looked at the map, and we had scoped out an easy way to leave St. Remy. All went very smoothly at first...

We did take 3 spins around one round-about looking for the D7N, and of course, Dan had to say, "look, kids, there's Big Ben!" Continuing on the D7N to the A7, we take our ticket at the toll booth - knowing we will pay somewhere up ahead.

Sure enough - here come the signs for the toll plaza. We carefully took note of the situation and ascertain we need to keep to the right to use a lane that is manned by a real person. Now, if I told you the whole story, you would probably think, "no wonder...these people are idiots!" So, I will skip ahead here...

After some fancy manuevering, backing out of a long, long toll lane, etc. we gave another car the opportunity to let us cut in front of them. Now, we are ready to put euros into this UNMANNED booth. Nope, only credit cards accepted. My Capital One card had failed on a previous attempt early on this trip. I told Dan to "just try it again!!" After he had inserted my card, I saw that we now had the words "MERCI" looking back at us...Dan had no confidence in the card, and hadn't realized yet the gate had started to go up...Anyway, we did get through the toll booth, without any damage, just some badly frayed nerves. I do think someone ought to supply rental cards with "Cheat Sheets" covering some of these issues!! I have since seen some good advice on this forum from "Just Retired" about driving in France. I had been to Normandy 2 years ago, and thought I had the whole thing figured out. Guess not....!

We then made it easily to our Best Western Marseille Airport Hotel. We put our things in our room, and then headed to buy some gas for the car and return it. We had taken no pictures of the Fiesta up to this point. Dan was afraid of "jinxing it!" After it was parked in the Europcar lot, he let me take a picture of him with the car. We were *%#* glad to get that car back in one piece!

We then went and took the navette from the airport to Marseille. We got to the Gare St. Charles, then bought metro tickets to get to the Vieux Port.

When we came up from the metro to street level, we were astounded at the number of people and the amount of traffic! We had thought about taking the hop-on hop-off bus, but saw that the "Petit Train" was getting ready to leave. So, we bought tickets for that instead. We did this so hurriedly, that we did not notice there were two different routes. We happened to be on the route going to Notre Dame de la Garde.

Notre Dame de la Garde is absolutely the most beautiful church I have ever seen! The colors are glorious, and the church filled me with awe. It was built in the mid 19th century, so it is of a much different era than the gothic churches I have been to in France. But, the trip to Marseille was worth it for seeing the interior of this church alone. The marble, mosaics, mobiles and paintings are a wonder to behold. And the view from the terrace is truly spectacular!

We enjoyed this trip on the Petit Train so much, we decided to try the other route which went to Le Panier district. We did see the Centre de la Vieille Charite - but other than that, we could not understand what we were supposed to be enjoying. It all seemed rather scary, and we basically sat on a wall and waited for the Petit Train to return and take us back to the Vieux Port.

My guidebooks all say to not miss the vieux port, le panier distric, etc. They do not mention Notre Dame de la Garde as something not to be missed. Take my advice, if you are in Marseille, DO NOT miss this most beautiful church. This church truly made my heart soar. We did have a chuckle, however, as we were sitting in a pew, trying to take it all in. A little black and white French bull dog (who evidently could not read the sign that said "Chiens" with a big red X over the word) came sauntering down the side aisle! Dan tried to get a picture of him, but he turned away just at that moment...

By the time we got back to the Port, we were starving. So we found a nice place just off the Rue Canabiere - the most famous street in Marseille. Dan and I had a good meal and a final glass of rose wine to toast the end of a wonderful trip.

Back to the metro, back to the bus station, back to the airport...we saw big dark threatening looking clouds in the distance as we were getting closer to the airport. After we got off the bus, and while we were waiting for the free shuttle back to the BW Hotel, the skies opened up with torrential rain and some hail. We had gorgeous weather the whole trip, up until now. We felt very fortunate that we had sunny days for almost two weeks.

The Best Western Marseille was a great place for our last night. Our flight the next morning left Marseille at 8:00 am. We were back to KS by 5:30pm on Saturday.

It was a wonderful trip. And I thank everyone on this board for their help in my planning this trip, everyone for reading my report, and especially my family - Dan, for thinking it would be fun to travel with his mother; my husband who said I deserved this trip; and my daughter and her husband for making it possible.

I'm glad to read about Marseille. I'm planning a daytrip there in October and wouldn't have known that the church was not to be missed. Thanks for your entire report.

Your report is bringing back memories of our Provence trip last year and the year before. I must say you guys have covered a LOT of territory! We usually base ourselves in one place and take day trips - not sure I would like checking in and out of accomodations as frequently as you have.

We used GPS last year and it made all the difference. My husband is usually the navigator and I the driver...before using the GPS there were many instances where we were not on the best of terms to say the least! We will never travel again without a GPS. And yes, hearing the "recalculating" does get annoying after awhile!!!

Toll booths...I totally agree that there should be more "info" out there to help foreign travelers. I would go into anxiety/panic mode every time one approached. We'd think we had it figured out and then something would go wrong with a line of cars stacked up behind us honking. So stressful. But it always worked out somehow.

You sound like the detailed planner that I am. My husband makes fun of how I micromanage the planning process. But he is always grateful for it once we are there and I'm prepared with all my documentations, etc. Despite the precise planning - there will ALWAYS be glitches...and thank goodness or what would we have to laugh about later!

Love your report!