This past September, my husband and I took a three-week trip through northeastern Spain and Provence, France, spending the bulk of the time in Provence. We flew into Barcelona in time to catch the first few days of La Merce festival, the largest Catalunyan festival in Barcelona. After four days in Barcelona, we rented a car and drove up the Costa Brava into France. In Provence, we spent a week in St. Remy, the perfect base to explore the Roman ruins in Nimes and Arles, as well as the papal palace in Avignon and the wine village of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. We rented a small cottage and ate most of our breakfasts and some of our dinners on the patio with a view of the Alpilles. It was lovely. Having the cottage also enabled us to really take advantage of the great markets in the area. After a week in St. Remy, we headed east through the scenic hill towns and up the region’s largest mountain, Mont Ventoux, which was featured in last year's Tour de France. Continuing down the other side of the mountain, we headed to Vaison la Romaine where we stayed for three days. Being avid wine-drinkers, we spent one of those days tasting and buying the bounties of this southern Cotes du Rhone region. Vaison also has a great Tuesday market, so we walked around the booths that morning before hiking to a nearby hilltown that afternoon. We were fortunate to have great weather the entire three weeks and driving through Provence was a real pleasure – small lanes canopied by sycamore trees, rolling vineyards and picturesque hilltop villages. We put together an online album of our trip at:
http://web.me.com/jjadventures/Site_2/Welcome.html
I hope you enjoy the photos. I should warn you, though, it's pretty heavy on food pictures because .... well, we like food.

Vegas -

Nice photos. Got me in the mood for an upcoming trip to Barcelona.

By the way, the father in the photo in Roussillon getting kissed by the bride is my next door neighbor !

-Kevin

Wow, that's a coincidence! It looked like a beautiful wedding ... in a beautiful setting.

Great photos! I too love the food in Spain! Can't wait for more grilled octopus cause no one prepares it like the Spaniards!

The world is getting smaller every minute. Thank you for sharing your photos.

Wonderful photos. I enjoyed your visual report!
Paule