4totravel

Love pottery too - what are some of the shops you did buy at?
In Beaucaire Nord au Sud has fabulous Moules et Frites - really a great place for lunch - that is basically all they serve (maybe a lunch special) but GREAT moules - great memory PBProvence. Thanks.

dln

We started down the D570 from Arles n the direction of Saintes Maries-de-la-Mer. Marcy, friend and fellow Fodorite, had raved about the Camargue and we were looking forward to seeing it. On first glance you might think it nothing more than a big swampy bog, but it's so much more than that. There are little heaths and heathers growing in tufts and in a very understated, calm way, it's beautiful. I had my eyes peeled for wild bulls and white ponies. Saw lots of the latter, one of the former, and I was thrilled! We stopped the car to go for a bit of a hike at a nature center, which was unfortunately closed. Or maybe <i>fortunately</i> closed! You know, we'd been warned about the man-eating mosquitos of the Camargue, the stealth bombers of the marshland, which attack with the ferocity of the wild bulls. We poo-pooed it all, thinking that we were travelling in the off-season. How wrong we were! There is no off-season in mosquito land, not when there is sweet blood of Deirdre to be feasted upon. I am nothing if not a mosquito magnet. Rob and I beat a hasty retreat to the car and damned if a dozen of those little vultures didn't follow us in. I smacked and smushed for miles and the interior of the car looked like a miniature chain saw massacre.

Oh to see the Mediterranean! Sts. Maries is a regular litle beach town. It's funny how beach towns all over the world have that same sleepy honky-tonk beachy flavor, and this one was no different. We got out of the car at the edge of the town where the parking was free and walked to the beach and tested the waters. Freezing and much too breezy as well but oh what beautiful blue! We walked around a bit and I took a photo of Rob standing under a sign warning of bull infestation. Only in France. And then we were off to glorious Aigues-Mortes.

Scarlett

&quot;miniature chain saw massacre.&quot;
Oh, I am laughing and enjoying this!
Next!

starspinners

I returned here to see if you'd posted another chapter.
When I read that you'd gone to Aigues-Mortes it made me smile. I was there on October 15.
Our French friend from Montpellier had taken us sightseeing; one of the places was Aigues-Mortes ..only when she first mentioned that was where we were going, I thought she was calling it &quot; Egg- Moe&quot;.
There's a small cafe just to the left of the statue of St. Louis, it was there I had my Turkish toilet moment. I didn't end up with wet ankles, but I did have a fit of giggling as I maneuvered and hovered over the hole in the floor.

indytravel

Good for you dln making the best of a so-so hotel. I refuse to waste vacation time trying to deal with one. I'd much rather be out and about.

Are you sure you weren't in an automatic bidet? One that didn't need to stock toilet paper?

emtravel

When we were driving in France, roundabouts were not a problem, it was much worse driving in cities like in Nice, we kept driving wrong way, or getting into pedestrian areas. But cops and people were very nice and patient. We found out a long ago instead of looking direction - east/west etc, destination place is used on the roads and it is destination, not the exit.

Funny episode - everywhere we drove we saw &quot;rappell&quot; did not know what is it, could not find in our books . Asked a french person when came back - she said &quot;Pay attention!&quot; - so .. we did not pay attention since we did not know what it means!
Also, sans plomb - unleaded - thought no bathrooms - no plumbing. Finally asked.
Still, great adventure and experience.

Anyway, where is this kiss????

Just wondering - could not you just leave that B&amp;B you hated and go somewhere else. Sometimes you need to cut losses and move on instead of suffering.
Enjoying your report.

dln

Funny how mentioning driving difficulties brings out everyone's stories! And I didn't even mention about having five gears to shift, rather than automatic. Kevin Widrow told us that he's heard many of his guests rave about an on-board navigating system that some cars have--I guess like the Northstar feature than Cadillacs have (or maybe it's one in the same). You all can guess that Rob and I will be seeking <i>that</i> upgrade when we return to France. I will say, though, the stick shift was a-ok. Rob stalled it a few times because second was so close to fifth, but the car had this heavenly button that re-started the engine immediately! No clutch in, turn the key nonsense. One push and we were in business again.

indytravel

That's wonderful you had a stick shift like that dln.

I drive a stick at home so I'm extremely comfortable with one. In Greece a few weeks ago I stalled the car on a small hill.

I had the clutch in and tried to start the car. Nothing. I set the parking break, had the clutch in and still nothing.

I had to turn the car completely off, remove the key then restart it.

I'd have been more embarrassed but I do know how to drive a stick!

dln

I'll cut you some slack, David, since you were on a hill. b-(

Kate2

This is one of the most charming trip reports that I have read on these forums.
Thank you for the enjoyable read. Now about that kiss!

dln

Kate2, is was <i>Rob and I</i> who were charmed by France. Completely bowled over.

The approach to Aigues-Mortes is magnificent because of the trees. I wished I had asked Rob to stop the car so I could photograph these trees. Not plane trees, but some other stately large tree with very dark green foliage. We never saw another stand of these trees that we found on the D58, but I won't forget soon the majesty of them. They reminded me of an Old National Geographic magazine I'd read as a child, featuring the Cedars of Lebanon. They were that magnificent.

We took a liking to Aigues-Mortes straight away. The town's name means &quot;dead waters,&quot; as it was once lapped by the waves of the Mediterranean. It now sits far inland, left high and dry. It is rather peculiar in a sense ecause it really does just &quot;sit&quot; there in the middle of flat, open land. But wait until you get inside the walls of this wonderful town! It instantly became one of our favorite places. Aigues-Mortes is surrounded by high fortress walls so no matter what street you walk, you will see these walls and their gates and towers. It's like slipping back in time. There's a lively little town square with plane trees making for dappled shade.

And the shops! Beautiful things in all the shops, with a high concentration of locally-made and artisan-made goods of all types. Not ticky-tacky tourist junk. We had a wonderful time filing our tote with goodies upon goodies. I bought silver jewelry and beads from one artist, handmade pottery that somehow managed to be modern in its design, yet inspired by traditional Provencal patterns, rice grown in the Camargue, wine produced only in that region, lavender sachets...I think we managed to buy something from someone on every street. I especially liked the pottery shops because as I've mentioned, I'm a pottery fiend. My dear sweet husband is a fiend of all good cooking so anything that is even remotely connected to the kitchen appeals to him (Look dear, a carafe for our dinner wine!). Rob was a really good sport about being dragged into one shop after another.

Five hours flew by, the sun set, and we turned our focus from shopping to dining. It had been such a perfectly wonderful day of exploring that we wanted to find the perfect restaurant to cap it off. We settled on a colorful little place called La Pignata di Pinnocchi on 2 Rue Victor Hugo. We opted to sit outside as the night was still mild. The tables were very prettily set with Provencal linens and a lightly quilted paper tablecovering in a contrasting color. From our seats we could see the town ramparts on the one side and the square with its impressive statue on the other. We might have had a trying introduction to the South of France, but sitting in this restaurant in Aigues-Mortes wiped it all away. Such happiness to be seated across the table from the man you love in a beautiful foreign place!

Ronda

Such a sweet thought! How wonderful to be so in love. We must be getting closer to the

Such a wonderful report! How on earth do you remember so many details? Do you journal or take lots of pictures?

firstson

Deirdre, how did you get all of your loot home, esp. the breakables? Did you bring an empty piece of luggage just for that purpose or have it shipped back?

And by the way it's almost sunrise here on the East coast so make yourself a pot of coffee and get back to the keyboard, woman! How can you lay abed when the Fodor's Nation is waiting for the rest of this delightful report??!

letour

I guess we're allowed a few continued diversions from our shared destination: the kiss! So, I want to weigh in on the aforementioned comments about roundabouts. Please count me in as a huge fan of roundabouts. I have a terrible sense of direction and in the northeast, one can get on a major highway and the large, green destination sign can give you the broadest possible indication of where you're headed--I remember one down in Westchester county that merely indicated that if you took a certain highway, the destination was: &quot;New England.&quot; I'm afraid with my weak cartographic skills, that kind of sign doesn't quite afford me the kind of specifity that I require to get where I need to go! Roundabouts were built for people like me--you just keep going around til' you find the proper direction that you're headed, and you're set! No getting off the highway and mistakenly getting off on a whole new highway headed for God-Knows-Where! My anxiety on small French back roads, aside from their narrowness in mountain settings, is nil compared to circumnavigating my own country.

Thanks too for the note on the ponies by the sea! I loved breathing in the salty mediterranean air along that drive last summer. I even passed a place that doubled as a horse-back riding stable and a disco! My nine year-old loved the image of the dancin' mustangs!

PBProvence

I'm enjoying reading your report and YOUR enjoyment of our area. Aigues Mortes is also one of our favorite Sunday afternoon visits... just strolling around and checking out the shops is such fun.

This made my laugh....&lt;&lt;We walked around a bit and I took a photo of Rob standing under a sign warning of bull infestation. &gt;&gt;
The signs are for bull &quot;manifestations&quot;.. to warn people when they run the bulls through the streets during festivals. These signs are in almost every village that does an &quot;abbrivado&quot;, after the death of two tourists several years ago.
Your interpretation was great, though, and I can just picture it !

Patricia

ita

when we started our trip from Nice everytime we came to a &quot;rond-point&quot; we cringed and indeed went round and round and round. If you hesitated for a millisecond a line of cars would be tooting. But by the end of our trip-in the Vaucluse- we looked forward to the rond-points. They are a very efficient means of moving traffic. We also weren't getting lost, although I must admitted we never returned to our home base by the same route we had taken, even though we wanted to. If I had the trip to do over again, I would start in the Vaucluse where the drivers are a bit saner (but not much) and end up on the Cote d'Azur by which time we would have been more acclimatized to the traffic.

dln

I'm so glad you're all still reading and enjoying the south of France with me! So, Patricia, it's not an &quot;infestation&quot; of bulls? We actually were scratching our heads about that one, because we didn't see so many bulls that we thought it would be a problem. It seemed like a bit of exaggeration on their part, but now I see it was a misinterpretation on <i>our</i> part!

I love the idea of calling all my shopping goodies &quot;loot.&quot; That's the way I think of it, too. Loot. I feel that when I'm buying such fabulous things at ridiculously low prices compared to what we pay at home, it's nearly akin to stealing! That's why we hand carry everything home. If we had to pay for shipping, the bargain would be negated by the delivery charges, and that would most definitely detract from the fun of the find. We had two totes with us, both sturdy black nylon fabric. One was a Baggalini that I found out about last summer on this forum (where else). It was advertised to carry &quot;one bottle of wine with ease.&quot; Heheh, we slipped in <i>several</i> bottles with ease, and Baggalini's none the wiser! The other tote is my one pre-trip splurge, a Prada messenger bag that holds all but the kitchen sink. By the time we left France both these bags were packed to the gunnels. I, fortunately, had done serious weight training before embarking on our trip (seriously!).

AGM_Cape_Cod

We didn't have any problems with the roundabouts on our trip to Provence in March. It might have something to do with all the rotaries I go through to get to work each day. What I did love and made my husband get out of the car to photography is the sign that says 'Vous n'avez pas la priorite'. I hung it in my office because so many people come in asking for things ASAP. I know the translation isn't correct but it makes me think that these people don't have priority over all my other obligations. Can't wait to get back to Provence next March. Thanks for a great report and a nice thread.

dln

Since we are talking signs, Rob took a picture of me under one that said:

PROPIETE PRIVEE
ACCES INTERDIT
LE CHATEAU N'EST PAS A VISITER
LE MUSEE EST A PARIS
N'INSISTEZ PAS MERCI

Caps, of course because the sign fairly shouted &quot;Go away! The museums are in Paris! Don't bother us!&quot; &gt;

Not a direct translation but that's what it meant. We were tickled pink. It was so funny~!

ira

Hi dln,
&gt;PROPIETE PRIVEE&lt;

Is your spelling correct?