TR Provence, Israel, Switzerland, Italy..April 16 a day of AA infamy
May 19th, 2013, 05:07 AM
#21
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To continue: Finally arriving at l'Amendiere, we were struck by how nice a place it is. Our room was a nice size on the ground floor with an outdoor sitting area, the bath was of the type with separate shower and toilet and the shower room was quite nice. This time it was white glove clean. The public areas are attractive and as we were to find out, the breakfast was excellent. Parking is ample and gates are locked at night - you get a code to get in when locked. The free wi-fi worked. When I get through my pictures, I will post of the hotel and of St Remy. We cleaned up and walked into town. Although advertised as a ten minute walk, it took us at least 50% longer, but then our stride and leg turnover has gone down over the years. The walk itself is not interesting and for the most part, bereft of shade. The estimated time is to the edge of town, not the center.
Arriving in St Remy we had some mixed feelings. It looked as if it could be a very nice place, but when we were there, there was quite a bit of construction work at nearly every turn or so it seemed. Not heavy duty construction, but more like side walk and street repairs so there was a constant background noise of saws going through concrete and the such, especially in the center of the town around the fountain area. I guess they were getting ready for the tourist season and fixing things up.
The day was quite warm and a good lunch was high on the agenda. We found what looked like a creperie near the square and found that the menu was more extensive than crepes and ordered some very nice salads that hit the spot. From there it was over to chez Nosterdamus, his boyhood home which was nearby our lunch place. According to the informational plaque, his grandfather was named St Remy and I assume the town took its name from that. Or not.
Strolling around we found a number of quieter oases and interesting shops and ended up leaving the walled area to visit the TI office where we signed up for a walking tour for the next morning, although our plan for the next day included a visit to Arles. If you are there, there are some interesting shops near the TI office, one specializes in crystallized fruit - IMO having invested in some - when you see the prices you will know what I mean -they all taste about the same except for the passion fruit which is distinguished with numerous hard pits. There is also an olive place in the same courtyard and also the garden entrance of the restaurant where we had dinner. Returning into the town itself within the walls we sought out the quiet areas and browsed the shops until dinner time. At the restaurant we sat in the garden which was quite pretty. Service was VG and the food was good, but I would not say outstanding. We had the restaurant arrange for a taxi back to the hotel since our waitress said taxis would be hard to get on our own when we would need one. The taxi was not cheap, but by that time very welcome. He had some trouble finding the hotel as well, but did not charge for his search.
Next: Tour? Arles? Both?
Arriving in St Remy we had some mixed feelings. It looked as if it could be a very nice place, but when we were there, there was quite a bit of construction work at nearly every turn or so it seemed. Not heavy duty construction, but more like side walk and street repairs so there was a constant background noise of saws going through concrete and the such, especially in the center of the town around the fountain area. I guess they were getting ready for the tourist season and fixing things up.
The day was quite warm and a good lunch was high on the agenda. We found what looked like a creperie near the square and found that the menu was more extensive than crepes and ordered some very nice salads that hit the spot. From there it was over to chez Nosterdamus, his boyhood home which was nearby our lunch place. According to the informational plaque, his grandfather was named St Remy and I assume the town took its name from that. Or not.
Strolling around we found a number of quieter oases and interesting shops and ended up leaving the walled area to visit the TI office where we signed up for a walking tour for the next morning, although our plan for the next day included a visit to Arles. If you are there, there are some interesting shops near the TI office, one specializes in crystallized fruit - IMO having invested in some - when you see the prices you will know what I mean -they all taste about the same except for the passion fruit which is distinguished with numerous hard pits. There is also an olive place in the same courtyard and also the garden entrance of the restaurant where we had dinner. Returning into the town itself within the walls we sought out the quiet areas and browsed the shops until dinner time. At the restaurant we sat in the garden which was quite pretty. Service was VG and the food was good, but I would not say outstanding. We had the restaurant arrange for a taxi back to the hotel since our waitress said taxis would be hard to get on our own when we would need one. The taxi was not cheap, but by that time very welcome. He had some trouble finding the hotel as well, but did not charge for his search.
Next: Tour? Arles? Both?
May 19th, 2013, 01:30 PM
#25
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Basingstoke2 - thanks for the Tom Tom tip. You helped me avert a crisis as I don't hear well to begin with. Today I found the "link volume to car speed" box and disabled it per your suggestion. Also, thank you for the additional comments re l'Amandiere. I feel better about choosing it. I had read as well that it's more than the stated 10 minute walk and not through an attractive area. As I'm likely to have a glass of wine (or two) with dinner, I'll sure to follow your example and take a cab back.
Looking forward to the next installment.
Looking forward to the next installment.
May 19th, 2013, 05:49 PM
#26
Original Poster
Glad to be of help Dee_Dee. Once we switched off the ridiculous link of volume to car speed, the Tom Tom was the one we used.
Stu - the roughest part is yet to come, but not for awhile and not in France.
Moving on, the next morning came and it was cold - too cold to eat out on the patio but the breakfast room at l'Amendiere is lovely so that was fine. As mentioned, the breakfast is excellent. The TI called about the walking tour and since there was not the requisite 10 people signed up - we were the only ones - it was cancelled so we decided to spend the entire day in Arles and were glad that we did. It was a very pleasant ride between St Remy and Arles and arriving at Arles we saw a bus Parking sign. Figuring regular parking would also be nearby we went toward that but did not see any. We parked along the street and asked a passerby where parking might be and were told we could park right all day where we were for free. That seemed too good to be true so I asked a few others and true it was. Walking through the gate in the wall we passed into a different world and a few minutes walk took us to the Roman Arena which we visited. It was a cold and windy day with occasional showers early on but those did not put a damper on the day. We spent the day wandering, seeing the requisite sites including some of those associated with Van Gogh - a cottage industry there, looking in shops and buying a few lavender products that are ubiquitous in the region. A good lunch in one of cafes lining the boulevard near the TI office added to the day. At the TI office we arranged for a private walking tour of the city. I do not recall the exact price but it was reasonable and that is from the perspective of this cheap s.o.b. The guide took us to areas of Arles that we would not have thought of visiting on our own and was well worth the cost. Along the way she showed us a couple of restaurants that she frequented herself, but after she left, we were not able to find them again being naturally directionally challenged. As night fell, we passed a restaurant that seemed ok and it was pretty good, so that ended a good although cold blustery day in Arles. We like Arles and would consider staying there as a base as we did St Remy. It is larger than St Remy with lots to see and do.
Next: DW does a great Mary Poppins imitation and the Chimneys of King Rene.
Stu - the roughest part is yet to come, but not for awhile and not in France.
Moving on, the next morning came and it was cold - too cold to eat out on the patio but the breakfast room at l'Amendiere is lovely so that was fine. As mentioned, the breakfast is excellent. The TI called about the walking tour and since there was not the requisite 10 people signed up - we were the only ones - it was cancelled so we decided to spend the entire day in Arles and were glad that we did. It was a very pleasant ride between St Remy and Arles and arriving at Arles we saw a bus Parking sign. Figuring regular parking would also be nearby we went toward that but did not see any. We parked along the street and asked a passerby where parking might be and were told we could park right all day where we were for free. That seemed too good to be true so I asked a few others and true it was. Walking through the gate in the wall we passed into a different world and a few minutes walk took us to the Roman Arena which we visited. It was a cold and windy day with occasional showers early on but those did not put a damper on the day. We spent the day wandering, seeing the requisite sites including some of those associated with Van Gogh - a cottage industry there, looking in shops and buying a few lavender products that are ubiquitous in the region. A good lunch in one of cafes lining the boulevard near the TI office added to the day. At the TI office we arranged for a private walking tour of the city. I do not recall the exact price but it was reasonable and that is from the perspective of this cheap s.o.b. The guide took us to areas of Arles that we would not have thought of visiting on our own and was well worth the cost. Along the way she showed us a couple of restaurants that she frequented herself, but after she left, we were not able to find them again being naturally directionally challenged. As night fell, we passed a restaurant that seemed ok and it was pretty good, so that ended a good although cold blustery day in Arles. We like Arles and would consider staying there as a base as we did St Remy. It is larger than St Remy with lots to see and do.
Next: DW does a great Mary Poppins imitation and the Chimneys of King Rene.
May 20th, 2013, 07:38 AM
#27
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I am eagerly reading your trip report because we leave for France on Thursday. Our daughter is getting married in France; then we will spend 5 days sighstseeing around the Provence region; We will stay in Aix with our daughter,who has to work, but we have rented a car & will take day trips from Aix. We plan to go to Avignon, St. Remy, Arles, Cassis & a few other places. is this your first trip to provence? What was your favorite town/city?
May 20th, 2013, 08:21 AM
#28
Loved the title
In Carry on Cleo, Kenneth Williams came out with the line
"Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me"
Well he was plating Jules Caesar. (pronounced Jewels)
English people of a certain age would be giggling by now
In Carry on Cleo, Kenneth Williams came out with the line
"Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me"
Well he was plating Jules Caesar. (pronounced Jewels)
English people of a certain age would be giggling by now
May 20th, 2013, 10:24 AM
#29
Original Poster
Congratulations Kwoo! We did like St Remy but the construction detracted from the experience. As mentioned, Arles was interesting and fun. We did not go to Avignon other than to pick up the car and did not go to Aix. We did visit Gordes and Rousillon and very much liked both, particularly Rousillon. We spent two nights in Vence which was great and also visited St Paul de Vence which is nearby. Between the two, Vence was more to our tastes. It is a market town where St Paul de Vence seemed more geared to tourists, but both are worth a visit. And yes, it was our first trip to Provence. While in St Remy, you may want to take a side trip to Les Baux de Provence which is a segue into the next part of this TR.
The next morning we awoke to rain, cold and wind. Our plan for the day was to visit Les Baux, a tourist oriented town very near St Remy but one that every one we met on this trip said not to miss. The drive up there, and the key word is "up" was beautiful despite the rain. We parked in one of the lower paid lots and walked up to town. It really is a striking place complete with castle ruins at the peak. Outside of the castle there are demonstrations of old seige weapons, jousting and such. The strong winds, cold and rain did not stop a fair crowd from watching and the kids in the group seemed to have fun. We watched briefly - btw, entrance to the castle ruins is by ticket and there is an informative audio guide available. If you go, spring for it. The castle ruins are detailed in the audio guide and IMO are worth the visit.
Do you remember the scene in Mary Poppins where she is flying through the air holding an umbrella? DW did her best to emulate that scene. During our brief look at the demonstration, a particularly strong gust caught her umbrella, and not being one to easily give up something of value, she was nearly lifted off of her feet, knocked off balance and landed on her bum on a low stone fence. It was a good laugh. On my part.
Les Baux has lots of artsy shops, restaurants and such and I can understand its popularity. We found a nice tea shop for a light lunch and sat watching the windows fog up. Shortly after entering Les Baux on its main drag, you will see a scenic overlook on your right. Walking to that spot you will see a few shops on a short street. One is the tea shop and I recommend it. It was warm, cozy and the light lunch was good. Les Baux has fabulous views.
Let us go back some years. Many years. To be precise, to 1959. At that time, I was playing French Horn in a woodwind quintet and we had the opportunity to play on New York's WNYC, then, a classical station. The music that we chose was "La Chimenee du Roi Rene" aka the Chimney of King Rene by Darius Milhaud. It is a charming number. Here is a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeG7xgRkbwA
King Rene piqued my interest and I had done some reading about the good king. When I learned that one of his castles was nearby in a town called Tarascon, I had to go visit the chimneys myself. So that is how we spent our last afternoon in the St Remy area. The rains had cleared and the 15th century castle was everything I could have wished for. It is largely intact or restored and takes several hours to explore and appreciate. There is some especially interesting nautical graffiti etched into some cell walls by seafaring prisoners. The views from the top makes the long climb up worthwhile. It is a site that I recommend. Don't expect furnishings or decor, this castle is bare stone rooms - lots of them and no two the same. After visiting the castle, there is an interesting old cathedral dedicated to St Martha and containing relics across the way. We returned to St Remy after dark and the town had a very different character with hardly anyone on the streets and silence to match. We found a very nice and well priced restaurant with a Van Gogh theme down one of the alleys - I will try to find the name in looking through my photos or at least directions to find it.
Next: On the road----to Vence.
The next morning we awoke to rain, cold and wind. Our plan for the day was to visit Les Baux, a tourist oriented town very near St Remy but one that every one we met on this trip said not to miss. The drive up there, and the key word is "up" was beautiful despite the rain. We parked in one of the lower paid lots and walked up to town. It really is a striking place complete with castle ruins at the peak. Outside of the castle there are demonstrations of old seige weapons, jousting and such. The strong winds, cold and rain did not stop a fair crowd from watching and the kids in the group seemed to have fun. We watched briefly - btw, entrance to the castle ruins is by ticket and there is an informative audio guide available. If you go, spring for it. The castle ruins are detailed in the audio guide and IMO are worth the visit.
Do you remember the scene in Mary Poppins where she is flying through the air holding an umbrella? DW did her best to emulate that scene. During our brief look at the demonstration, a particularly strong gust caught her umbrella, and not being one to easily give up something of value, she was nearly lifted off of her feet, knocked off balance and landed on her bum on a low stone fence. It was a good laugh. On my part.
Les Baux has lots of artsy shops, restaurants and such and I can understand its popularity. We found a nice tea shop for a light lunch and sat watching the windows fog up. Shortly after entering Les Baux on its main drag, you will see a scenic overlook on your right. Walking to that spot you will see a few shops on a short street. One is the tea shop and I recommend it. It was warm, cozy and the light lunch was good. Les Baux has fabulous views.
Let us go back some years. Many years. To be precise, to 1959. At that time, I was playing French Horn in a woodwind quintet and we had the opportunity to play on New York's WNYC, then, a classical station. The music that we chose was "La Chimenee du Roi Rene" aka the Chimney of King Rene by Darius Milhaud. It is a charming number. Here is a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeG7xgRkbwA
King Rene piqued my interest and I had done some reading about the good king. When I learned that one of his castles was nearby in a town called Tarascon, I had to go visit the chimneys myself. So that is how we spent our last afternoon in the St Remy area. The rains had cleared and the 15th century castle was everything I could have wished for. It is largely intact or restored and takes several hours to explore and appreciate. There is some especially interesting nautical graffiti etched into some cell walls by seafaring prisoners. The views from the top makes the long climb up worthwhile. It is a site that I recommend. Don't expect furnishings or decor, this castle is bare stone rooms - lots of them and no two the same. After visiting the castle, there is an interesting old cathedral dedicated to St Martha and containing relics across the way. We returned to St Remy after dark and the town had a very different character with hardly anyone on the streets and silence to match. We found a very nice and well priced restaurant with a Van Gogh theme down one of the alleys - I will try to find the name in looking through my photos or at least directions to find it.
Next: On the road----to Vence.
May 20th, 2013, 11:34 AM
#30
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Really enjoying this, basie! I've mentioned in other threads that JR and I sat at a cafe with a view of the one Van G painted at night. Great town. We based in Montpellier for our side of Arles.
The GTG was at Al Dente at 3201 New Mexico Ave NW
The GTG was at Al Dente at 3201 New Mexico Ave NW
May 20th, 2013, 07:51 PM
#32
Original Poster
Re-reading my 2:24 post I am struck that the Mary Poppins part sounds a bit mean spirited. Please know that DW was not hurt at all, just surprised - the Mary Poppins analogy is hers.
May 20th, 2013, 09:14 PM
#34
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Thanks for posting the report. Do you have any photos to post?
We'll be staying in St Remy in early July, I hope the construction is over by then.
I'm glad you liked Tarascon, it's on my "if I have time" list despite most people saying it's not 'worth it'. Based on your comments I'll try to get there.
We'll be staying in St Remy in early July, I hope the construction is over by then.
I'm glad you liked Tarascon, it's on my "if I have time" list despite most people saying it's not 'worth it'. Based on your comments I'll try to get there.
May 21st, 2013, 06:29 PM
#37
Original Poster
Our next two nights were to be in Vence where we would stay at the Auberge des Seigneurs d'Or. The weather cleared up for a perfect day and for the first time we saw Provence in the light it is famous for. Our plan was to drive to Vence with stops at Gordes and Roussillon. The drive to Gordes was scenic and the town makes a wonderful impression with its golden buildings bathed in the morning sun and beautiful views of the valley below and steep streets. After about an hour's visit we headed out to Roussillon and it was also a very scenic drive. Entering Roussillon we saw public parking immediately but a look at the map showed we still had to drive up the hill to the town center where the public parking was beginning to fill up, but we quickly found a place. Roussillon is striking with its Ochre colored hills and buildings and appeared to be a more popular tourist destination than Gordes, but that did not detract in the least from the ambiance of the place. The views were beautiful there as well, accented by the ochre and yellow coloration of the surrounding cliffs. Eye candy would be a good description. There were plenty of restaurants there, some with great views but we settled on some ice cream to fortify us for our drive to Vence.
The drive there started out promising from a scenic point of view, but then went through some nondescript towns before we reached the highway, which was a pleasant enough drive although we found that our Andrews chip card did not work at the tolls but cash did. To reach Vence our GPS had us leaving the highway at Nice and driving through a bit of the city and then up into the hills. We reached Vence easily enough but the GPS was stumped as far as getting us to our hotel, or to be more precise to the parking lot that the hotel recommended and that we had programmed into the gadget. We did a fair amount of driving about, being led onto a street or two where a car does not belong from a room to pass through point of view. We finally stopped in a lot outside the walls with the thought of asking directions and struck gold right away stopping an elderly lady walking her dog who offered to walk us to the hotel. It turned out we were not too far from the hotel but may never have found it without her help, so a big thank you to her.
The hotel is family run and our kind of place. The building forms part of the city wall and we had great views from our window in a huge, nicely furnished room. There was some street construction going on just outside our window, but it was not a bother and in fact somewhat interesting to watch the workmen laying the stones for the street. The family running the hotel are a couple and their daughter. All speak English, particularly the husband Charley who is an American originally from California. He walked with me to where we parked our car and we drove together to the designated public parking lot where the hotel provides a ticket that takes 10 Euro off of the day's parking making it free or nearly so. Vence is a delightful market town and we explored for the rest of the afternoon and made dinner reservations at a place that Charley recommended. As dinner time came around the rain started again, but what really rained on our plans was a skype conversation that DW had with a cousin in Israel. Our plan was to fly out of Nice in two days for Tel Aviv but we learned there was a strike at Ben Gurion Airport planned for our day of arrival and it was anticipated that no flights would be going in our out of Israel on that day. We breathed a big sigh of relief late the next day when the strike was settled at the last moment, that is the afternoon before we were to fly.
Next: Tourist town vs Market town and goodbye to Provence
The drive there started out promising from a scenic point of view, but then went through some nondescript towns before we reached the highway, which was a pleasant enough drive although we found that our Andrews chip card did not work at the tolls but cash did. To reach Vence our GPS had us leaving the highway at Nice and driving through a bit of the city and then up into the hills. We reached Vence easily enough but the GPS was stumped as far as getting us to our hotel, or to be more precise to the parking lot that the hotel recommended and that we had programmed into the gadget. We did a fair amount of driving about, being led onto a street or two where a car does not belong from a room to pass through point of view. We finally stopped in a lot outside the walls with the thought of asking directions and struck gold right away stopping an elderly lady walking her dog who offered to walk us to the hotel. It turned out we were not too far from the hotel but may never have found it without her help, so a big thank you to her.
The hotel is family run and our kind of place. The building forms part of the city wall and we had great views from our window in a huge, nicely furnished room. There was some street construction going on just outside our window, but it was not a bother and in fact somewhat interesting to watch the workmen laying the stones for the street. The family running the hotel are a couple and their daughter. All speak English, particularly the husband Charley who is an American originally from California. He walked with me to where we parked our car and we drove together to the designated public parking lot where the hotel provides a ticket that takes 10 Euro off of the day's parking making it free or nearly so. Vence is a delightful market town and we explored for the rest of the afternoon and made dinner reservations at a place that Charley recommended. As dinner time came around the rain started again, but what really rained on our plans was a skype conversation that DW had with a cousin in Israel. Our plan was to fly out of Nice in two days for Tel Aviv but we learned there was a strike at Ben Gurion Airport planned for our day of arrival and it was anticipated that no flights would be going in our out of Israel on that day. We breathed a big sigh of relief late the next day when the strike was settled at the last moment, that is the afternoon before we were to fly.
Next: Tourist town vs Market town and goodbye to Provence
May 21st, 2013, 07:09 PM
#38
Original Poster
