BeNeFrance - A Detailed Journey from the North Sea to the Mediterranean
Nov 27th, 2010, 03:54 AM
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<b>DAY 9 – Wednesday: ST. REMY, ST. ETIENNE DU GRES, FONTVIELLE, ARLES</b>
I awoke with the beginnings of a congested head, so I was glad Roger had some of the French Actifed left over from his bout with a cold. Wednesday is <b>Market Day</b> in <b>St. Remy</b>, so we spent our morning strolling through the streets, leaving our tourist Euros with many of the local vendors in exchange for breakfast, souvenirs, a tablecloth, and my obligatory piece of travel art, from the artist, <b>Franck</b>; a watercolor of Les Baux.
We took our final walk from town back to our hotel, finished packing, and checked out. Overall, the <b>Hotel du Soleil</b> was a nice place to stay. The hotel complex, which is made up of several buildings, is secured behind a gate which closes in the evening. They offered free off-street parking and, had the Mistral Winds not invaded our visit, we could have enjoyed the pool in the courtyard. Just off of the reception area was a comfortably decorated sitting room with free internet connection. Our hotel room was nothing exceptional, however the windows were well sealed and blocked out the sound of the Winds.
We drove 1-2 km. south to <b>Les Antiques</b>. Our plans were to spend the morning exploring Glanum and St. Paul’s Monastery, but the 10-15 minutes we spent looking at Les Antiques left us giddy and laughing from the blowing wind. We now realize what drove Vincent van Gogh crazy! It was the Mistral Winds!! (I’m sure the absinthe didn’t help any.)
Totally windswept, we again found solace in our C-Max, and drove back for one final loop around St. Remy, and then west to St. Etienne du Gres. We’ve taken this route, the D-99, several times, in both directions, during our four day stay in Provence. There are huge, leaning sycamore trees lining the road, creating a canopy that you drive through. We now understand why and how all these magnificent trees are growing with a definite lean to the south; it’s from years of the Mistral Winds blowing!
We arrived in <b>St. Etienne du Gres</b>, and followed the posted signs to <b>Olivades</b>, a provencal fabric outlet which dates to 1818, and uses the traditional methods of fabric printing which were established in 1648 in Marseille. I make quilts, so when I learned through the Fodor’s Forum that Olivades was close to St. Remy, I knew I had to squeeze it into our plans. The boys patiently waited while I perused their store filled with the colors of Provence. The front room had bolts of fabric that were lovely to look at, but I couldn’t afford. The back room had discounted bolts of material, but nothing that screamed out for me to take home. When the clerk realized I was looking for quilting material, she led me to prepackaged sets of 5 swatches, but I wasn’t thrilled with their selected color schemes. Finally, she opened a drawer filled with pre-cut and folded swatches and I was able to pick out 6 different fabrics at €7,00 each. I was thrilled with my acquirement, although I must confess the swatches still sit in my studio, waiting to be made into something.
From Olivades, we continued south to <b>Fontvielle</b>, for a hike up the hill and a quick look at <b>Daudet’s windmill</b>. Afterwards, we stopped for a photo-op at the <b>Abbey du Montmajour</b>, before heading into <b>Arles</b>. It was Market Day in town, but we arrived just as they were shutting down for the day, which created a lot of traffic and caused us to miss our turn. We ended up driving all over the city, until we could get our bearings and finally found the <b>Hotel Le Regence</b> (5 rue Marius Jouveau), which is located across the street from the Rhone River. We conveniently snagged a parking spot directly across from the hotel.
We were too early to check in, so we left our luggage with the clerk and went in search of lunch. Our hotel recommended <b>Restaurant Le Don Camillo</b>, which was a short walk north of the hotel. B.J. & Roger had the lunch special which was a burger in a pastry shell with fried potato cubes smothered in a delicious gravy. I had a ham, mushroom and cheese pizza for one, which was large enough to feed a small army (or feed me twice). With my left over pizza in hand, we were more than sated when we waddled out of Don Camillo’s and over to the train station, to purchase our tickets for tomorrow’s trip. We walked back to the hotel, retrieved our car, and then drove across town to the Eurocar rental agency, where we had to bid adieu to our trusty C-Max.
From there we meandered through the blustery streets of Arles, stopping to view the <b>Roman Arenes</b> and the <b>Roman Theatre</b>, just from the outside. We reached the <b>Place de la Republique</b> just as a funeral was ending at the <b>Eglise St-Trophime</b> and the mourners were swarming out of the church. So there was still a strong odor of incense lingering in the air as we entered this wonderful Romanesque and Gothic bastion of religious art. My favorite were all the reliquaries, including Sts. Anne, Martha, Gene, Virgile, Hilarie, Antoine, Roche, and Desire, among many more un-named lost souls.
It was now 16:00, so we decided to make our way back to the Hotel Regence, by way of the <b>Hotel de Ville</b>, the <b>Place du Forum</b>, and several sightings of <b>van Gogh’s ghost</b>. We checked into Room #3, which had two double beds with fancy wrought-iron backboards and furniture, and was nicely decorated in the Provence colors of yellow, green and maroon. Even though our room was on the side of the hotel, we had a small view of the Rhone where we could watch the river traffic.
I took another one of Roger’s pills, and laid down for a nap. B.J. woke me at 18:00 so we could go out for dinner, but I was too tired and achy to get up and join the boys. So I sent them off in search of food, while I took another nap. I really wanted to go out and walk about, and enjoy the “Starry Night” of Arles, but I would have to suffice with my little sliver of the Rhone from our hotel window.
The boys returned around 21:00, empty handed. Apparently Arles was completely shut down. They couldn’t find any grocery stores or restaurants (except for a few high priced ones), not even a McDonald’s that was open. They finally found a pizza joint, which is what they settled on for dinner, and I resorted to eating my left over army-size pizza from lunch. The three of us spent the rest of the evening sharing a bottle of Rhone Valley wine we bought at the grocery store in St. Remy, eating fresh strawberries and blackberries we bought at the morning market, and watching a football (soccer) match on TV between Italy and Cypress.
http://franckaquarelwatercolor.free-h.net/
http://www.lesolivades.fr/
http://www.fontvieille-provence.com/
http://montmajour.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/
http://www.restaurant-doncamillo.com/
http://www.tourisme.ville-arles.fr/us/index_us.php
Robyn
I awoke with the beginnings of a congested head, so I was glad Roger had some of the French Actifed left over from his bout with a cold. Wednesday is <b>Market Day</b> in <b>St. Remy</b>, so we spent our morning strolling through the streets, leaving our tourist Euros with many of the local vendors in exchange for breakfast, souvenirs, a tablecloth, and my obligatory piece of travel art, from the artist, <b>Franck</b>; a watercolor of Les Baux.
We took our final walk from town back to our hotel, finished packing, and checked out. Overall, the <b>Hotel du Soleil</b> was a nice place to stay. The hotel complex, which is made up of several buildings, is secured behind a gate which closes in the evening. They offered free off-street parking and, had the Mistral Winds not invaded our visit, we could have enjoyed the pool in the courtyard. Just off of the reception area was a comfortably decorated sitting room with free internet connection. Our hotel room was nothing exceptional, however the windows were well sealed and blocked out the sound of the Winds.
We drove 1-2 km. south to <b>Les Antiques</b>. Our plans were to spend the morning exploring Glanum and St. Paul’s Monastery, but the 10-15 minutes we spent looking at Les Antiques left us giddy and laughing from the blowing wind. We now realize what drove Vincent van Gogh crazy! It was the Mistral Winds!! (I’m sure the absinthe didn’t help any.)
Totally windswept, we again found solace in our C-Max, and drove back for one final loop around St. Remy, and then west to St. Etienne du Gres. We’ve taken this route, the D-99, several times, in both directions, during our four day stay in Provence. There are huge, leaning sycamore trees lining the road, creating a canopy that you drive through. We now understand why and how all these magnificent trees are growing with a definite lean to the south; it’s from years of the Mistral Winds blowing!
We arrived in <b>St. Etienne du Gres</b>, and followed the posted signs to <b>Olivades</b>, a provencal fabric outlet which dates to 1818, and uses the traditional methods of fabric printing which were established in 1648 in Marseille. I make quilts, so when I learned through the Fodor’s Forum that Olivades was close to St. Remy, I knew I had to squeeze it into our plans. The boys patiently waited while I perused their store filled with the colors of Provence. The front room had bolts of fabric that were lovely to look at, but I couldn’t afford. The back room had discounted bolts of material, but nothing that screamed out for me to take home. When the clerk realized I was looking for quilting material, she led me to prepackaged sets of 5 swatches, but I wasn’t thrilled with their selected color schemes. Finally, she opened a drawer filled with pre-cut and folded swatches and I was able to pick out 6 different fabrics at €7,00 each. I was thrilled with my acquirement, although I must confess the swatches still sit in my studio, waiting to be made into something.
From Olivades, we continued south to <b>Fontvielle</b>, for a hike up the hill and a quick look at <b>Daudet’s windmill</b>. Afterwards, we stopped for a photo-op at the <b>Abbey du Montmajour</b>, before heading into <b>Arles</b>. It was Market Day in town, but we arrived just as they were shutting down for the day, which created a lot of traffic and caused us to miss our turn. We ended up driving all over the city, until we could get our bearings and finally found the <b>Hotel Le Regence</b> (5 rue Marius Jouveau), which is located across the street from the Rhone River. We conveniently snagged a parking spot directly across from the hotel.
We were too early to check in, so we left our luggage with the clerk and went in search of lunch. Our hotel recommended <b>Restaurant Le Don Camillo</b>, which was a short walk north of the hotel. B.J. & Roger had the lunch special which was a burger in a pastry shell with fried potato cubes smothered in a delicious gravy. I had a ham, mushroom and cheese pizza for one, which was large enough to feed a small army (or feed me twice). With my left over pizza in hand, we were more than sated when we waddled out of Don Camillo’s and over to the train station, to purchase our tickets for tomorrow’s trip. We walked back to the hotel, retrieved our car, and then drove across town to the Eurocar rental agency, where we had to bid adieu to our trusty C-Max.
From there we meandered through the blustery streets of Arles, stopping to view the <b>Roman Arenes</b> and the <b>Roman Theatre</b>, just from the outside. We reached the <b>Place de la Republique</b> just as a funeral was ending at the <b>Eglise St-Trophime</b> and the mourners were swarming out of the church. So there was still a strong odor of incense lingering in the air as we entered this wonderful Romanesque and Gothic bastion of religious art. My favorite were all the reliquaries, including Sts. Anne, Martha, Gene, Virgile, Hilarie, Antoine, Roche, and Desire, among many more un-named lost souls.
It was now 16:00, so we decided to make our way back to the Hotel Regence, by way of the <b>Hotel de Ville</b>, the <b>Place du Forum</b>, and several sightings of <b>van Gogh’s ghost</b>. We checked into Room #3, which had two double beds with fancy wrought-iron backboards and furniture, and was nicely decorated in the Provence colors of yellow, green and maroon. Even though our room was on the side of the hotel, we had a small view of the Rhone where we could watch the river traffic.
I took another one of Roger’s pills, and laid down for a nap. B.J. woke me at 18:00 so we could go out for dinner, but I was too tired and achy to get up and join the boys. So I sent them off in search of food, while I took another nap. I really wanted to go out and walk about, and enjoy the “Starry Night” of Arles, but I would have to suffice with my little sliver of the Rhone from our hotel window.
The boys returned around 21:00, empty handed. Apparently Arles was completely shut down. They couldn’t find any grocery stores or restaurants (except for a few high priced ones), not even a McDonald’s that was open. They finally found a pizza joint, which is what they settled on for dinner, and I resorted to eating my left over army-size pizza from lunch. The three of us spent the rest of the evening sharing a bottle of Rhone Valley wine we bought at the grocery store in St. Remy, eating fresh strawberries and blackberries we bought at the morning market, and watching a football (soccer) match on TV between Italy and Cypress.
http://franckaquarelwatercolor.free-h.net/
http://www.lesolivades.fr/
http://www.fontvieille-provence.com/
http://montmajour.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/
http://www.restaurant-doncamillo.com/
http://www.tourisme.ville-arles.fr/us/index_us.php
Robyn
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