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Day 12

The new day was raining. The storm had blown itself out and settled into low clouds with a constant drizzle that would have made it difficult to enjoy the outdoors of the cinque terre. At least that’s what we told ourselves as we packed our backpacks again and prepared to set off. After meeting our host and paying for our room, we stopped by Il Pirata for the last time for breakfast to say goodbye to our Sicilian friends. We made our way to the train platform and reluctantly boarded.
When I was making train reservations before we left, I could not get tickets all the way into Nice, across the French border. I tried both the Trenitalia and the SNCF sites and for some reason could not get it to work. I ended up getting tickets from Genoa, where we had to change trains anyway, to Nice from a local travel agent. I’m not sure why this was, maybe someone else knows.

It was still raining in Genoa as we boarded the second train where we were seated in a compartment with another gentleman from Switzerland. We visited for some time; he was a music instructor and was meeting his fiancée and family in the south of France for a vacation. As we moved further west the weather started to clear and the train ride was nice, but I’d expected the tracks to hug the coastline more than they did. However, we did get periodic views that were great. When we crossed the French border, we stopped. We were stationary for quite some time, and then a perky SNCF stewardess in a sharp blue outfit with a little blue cap poked her head in to check tickets again. This was surprising, as we were still on a Trenitalia train. We asked about it and she said that crews must change at the border – they must want to limit the number of Italian drivers in France.

We rolled through the extravagant marble station at Monte Carlo, and on into Nice. Coming out of the station, we decided to take a cab to the hotel to get the lay of the land a little since the hotel was a ways away. I tried to put a little of my rusty French to use as our cabbie didn’t speak English, and was able to get the essentials across. We stayed at the Hotel Vendome in Nice, about midway between the trains station and Old Nice. The hotel was very nice, clean, and had a launderette right below it, which we needed desperately by this time. We checked in and got set up in our room, which was up on the 4th or 5th floor with our own little balcony – quite nice.

We had been given some recommendations on this forum to stay somewhere besides Nice, and that may have been valid. However, about a month before we left, my parents decided to join us in Nice and travel Provence with us and into Switzerland. I work with my dad, and he would attend the conference as well. So, we decided to just hang out in Nice until they arrived, which would be the next day, and then “head for the hills”, so to speak.

After getting situated, we headed out to get a late lunch. We walked down to the Cours Saleya to find a place to eat in Old Nice. As we arrived, they were just breaking down the antique market that had been set up there for the day; we were disappointed to have missed it. We found a sidewalk café to eat and I figured I’d try a French margherita pizza – not bad - I was not gastronomically out of luck yet anyway. From there we started an ambling walk through Old Nice, browsing. We hit the quay at about sunset and had a slow and beautiful walk along the Quai des Etats-Unis and the Promenade des Anglais. The shoreline consists of larger washed rock in this area, not the sand that I have in my mind’s eye thinking of the French Riviera. It does provide a pretty site though. We walked along the busy boulevard with people running, biking, walking their dogs, sitting on benches visiting, rollerblading, and other states of general activity. It was an active area, and fun to stroll and people watch. We ended up at the Hotel Negresco. We were dressed respectably, so we wandered in to view the dome, and the inside - very nice, especially the salon. We wandered back to our hotel pausing to witness the activity around Rue Massena and to have the first of many wonderful French Crepes. By the time we made it back to the hotel, it was quite late, so we retired for our first night in France.

Day 13

The hotel breakfast was similar to what we had encountered in Italy, consisting of dry cereals, croissants, café au lait, bagels, yogurts, and fresh fruits. After eating and showering we started laundry. My parents were supposed to arrive in Nice around 10:30 in the morning, so we expected them at the hotel around noon. We wanted to have our wash done before then. When noon came and went, then 1:00, we called NorthWest airlines to see if the plane was on time. It was, but they weren’t on it – as it turns out they were late into AMS as well and had to catch a later flight into Nice. While waiting, we decided to go grab lunch as the laundry was done.

We walked up past the Etoile (like a large mall) and found a delicious smelling boulangerie to have some lunch. After ordering we sat outside visiting and eating. After a while, I caught on that there was someone at the table behind us talking to us. When it’s in French you tend to zone it out and I hadn’t realized they were trying to get our attention. So we turned around, and it was an older, seemingly respectful looking French lady pointing to my wife’s plate and asking if she could have her “gateau” – a little cake that came with her lunch. We were somewhat flabbergasted at her audacity, but she wasn’t going to eat it anyway so we gave it to her and left.

We browsed in the Etoile for a little while, and then went back to the hotel to await the folk’s arrival. They finally came about 5 o’clock, looking a little tired. Neither had traveled in Europe much, except Scandinavia, and mom was excited to see France. The hotel was gracious to give them a wonderful room on the second floor with high ceilings and private balcony over the front entry. Now we had a private balcony, but we could barely squeeze on it together – this was a grand stone balcony with outdoor table seating and copious amounts of space. It was the first of what was to become a trend along the way, I guess age does command some respect, and I was happy that they were treated well.

After allowing them to take a little nap, they freshened up and we went back down to the Cours Saleya to have some dinner. A side note – we had more difficulty locating open or serving restaurants in France at unconventional eating times than we did in Italy. If it wasn’t the lunch or dinner hour, many times the eating places were closed, or would only serve drinks and not food. This was somewhat challenging at times as while touring meal breaks did not always occur at conventional meal times. Anyway, we had a great dinner – we had a lively and entertaining waiter – and then mom wanted to see the Mediterranean. She said she wanted to dip her toe in and then charge people 25 cents at home to touch it. So we walked down to the water and obliged, by this time it was just getting to be dusk and the castle hill was lit up as well as the boulevard. It was a good preview for them and they enjoyed it. We then walked back into Old Nice again, got some ice cream and sat in a square nearby listening to some street performers and watching people. They were getting tired at this point, so we headed back to the hotel. I had rented a car for the next day and we planned to start our tour of Provence – we wanted everyone to be as rested as possible.

Day 14

After 2 weeks, croissants for breakfast do lose some of their originality. However, with the other items available, we were able to cobble together enough to eat the following morning. After clearing up the bill and checking out, my wife and I ran up to the train station to pick up the car and drove it back to the hotel to pack everything in. We’d rented a Citroen diesel wagon – a fine car. We headed out and as we were passing Frejus, decided to detour to take a look at St. Tropez as you hear so much about it. The drive along the coast allowed us to take in our final vistas of the Mediterranean as we picked our way along the coast along with all the other traffic. We arrived in St. Tropez in time for lunch, parked and made our way over to the harbor and the sidewalk galleries and shops that reside there.

We found a little café and sat in the sun, enjoying watching the rich, both vieux and nouveau, as they paraded in with their yachts and made the scene. The day was sunny, with a little breeze that had a superfluity of sailboats out dotting the bay many with their large gray sails stretching into the wind. After eating, we browsed and made our way past the lighthouse and spent some time along the waters edge in the Baie de Canebiers – a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

We left in the late afternoon as we were basing ourselves in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue for our time in Provence and we didn’t want to get in too late. We got back to the A8 and high-tailed it to Arles (regrettably bypassing Aix) as we wished to get to Les Beaux around sundown. We did, and it was a stunning evening. Although we missed the cut-off to get into the upper castle (by 5 min!) we thoroughly enjoyed browsing the town and witnessed a wonderful golden Provencal sunset from the Chapel of Penitents. The town was fairly empty by this time and we enjoyed free reign without crowds to compete with in the shops or for the views.

After leaving, we continued north, stopping briefly at Glanum wishing to see the ruins. They were also closed, but we were satisfied with the arch and accompanying tower honoring Augustus’ grandsons (from around 4 BC if I remember correctly) as our first Provencal Roman ruins. They were incredible. The expanse and wealth the Roman Empire required unbelievable funding for such far flung and extravagant building and we were to see more evidence of that later. From here we went through St. Remy, over to Cavaillon and made our way to Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. It was late when we arrived, and after getting situated in our hotel (Hotel les Nevons), we found a place still open for a quick bite. ISLS is a wonderful little town on the Sorgue River that splits into little veins that meander through town providing it with the title “Venice of Provence”. These waterways were lit up at night with colored lights for a wonderful ambiance. Our hotel was a clean, though simple place on a branch of the river running through town. It was an economical base for us, though not as charming as other options, I’m sure.

Day 15

As planned, today was market day in town, and we were excited to experience the Provencal country market. After a fine breakfast at the hotel that included homemade jams, we walked across the street and past one of the town’s many mossy and slow turning old waterwheels into the area holding the market.

We were not disappointed with the market at all; it was quite large with fresh produce, fish, breads, as well as clothing, local jewelry, local scented soaps, and artwork among other things. It was quaint to see many of the older locals browsing with their baskets picking up items to use for the next week. In the rural areas, we found fewer people, especially the older ones, who spoke English so I spent quite some time following mom around endeavoring to translate as she shopped and made various purchases. After noon, we went back to the hotel with our purchases and prepared for the drive to Orange.

I primarily wanted to go to Orange to view the theater. It is the best preserved Roman Theater (like we saw in Volterra) in the world with its entire back sound wall intact. So, after parking and stopping by the TI for a map, we set off through town in search of this ancient jewel. Coming around the corner, I was shocked to see the size of the wall facing a now busy and modern street. I can’t remember the exact dimensions, but it was probably 300 feet long and 150 feet high and was quite impressive. We bought tour tickets and went inside. Making our way to the top it was fun to imagine the scene as it may have been 2000 years ago with the ornate marble colonnaded wall, timber acoustic roof, canvassed shade awnings with toga clad Romans coming into the show, seating as their social class allowed. The seating, access, and even shaded porticoes off the back entrance hallways for breaking from the days activities give insight to the building advancement of the Romans.

From there, we walked into town for lunch, and then back to our car. On our way out of town we stopped by the old Roman Arch honoring Germanicus that has graced the entry to Orange for the last 1,984 years. It was completely intact, in good shape, and was monstrous. The busy streets of the town slit around it and provide a contrast that exists throughout Europe where the modern world goes on in the shadow of the medieval and ancient. There wasn’t much else we wished to see in Orange, so we headed back south.

It was still late afternoon and the drive to Orange was not far so we decided to bypass our town and head to Roussillon for the sunset. On the way we stopped at the Pont Julien, a Roman bridge built in the 1st century BC over a river on what was the main Roman thoroughfare from northern Italy. Up until a year or so ago, it was still being driven on as the modern road is build over the old Roman one, but now a modern bridge is built and Pont Julien is finally resting after 2000 years of transporting humans in various forms over her back. It was quite interesting as it was built entirely with fitted and dry-stacked stones without an ounce of mortar. It was a beautiful and peaceful setting to be there as the late evening light came down, the cicadas buzzed, and the air sweet with the smells of the French countryside. Finally, we left to head up the road to Roussillon to capture the sunset.

It was a beautiful drive – the evening light is wonderful and similar to Tuscany other than the fact that it is golden rather than pink. It’s no wonder that both regions have attracted so many artists throughout history. We winded up the hill amongst the red ochre cliffs to a parking lot just below the town. The sun was just going down, so I raced up the hill ahead of everyone else to try and get some pictures. I did, and they turned out great. Roussillon was a quaint little hill town especially unique with its red ochre. It was absolutely quiet and peaceful in the evening with surprisingly few people around – maybe because it was later.

After meeting up with the others, we started to look for a place to eat dinner where we could enjoy the view. Dad found a place, looked a little expensive, but had glass walls and a deck overlooking the countryside so we decided to give it a try as there wasn’t anyone in eating yet. We had been touring all day and were dressed casually. As the menus came and the restaurant started to fill up it became apparent that we may have outclassed ourselves. The high society of the area started coming in and we could not make heads or tails out of the menu even when we translated it. After ordering things that seemed to offer the least risk (infused with lavender? – I thought that was a flower) we tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, made more difficult by the fact that we occupied a large round table in the middle of the dining room and the time expanse covered several meal courses. Some of the food was good, but much of it was quite raw with unidentifiable garnishing. The place was nice, and I’m sure someone with a little more class than us country rednecks may have even rated the experience highly, but we just left hungry and with the giggles over the whole experience. We drove back into Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, stopping to get some munchies on the way, and went to bed completely satisfied with the day.

Day 16

After another good breakfast at the hotel, we left fairly early as we had some ground to cover today. Our first stop was going to be the Pont du Gard on the other side of Avignon from where we were.

I’d done some reading on the structure, prior to the trip out of engineering and historical interest. It was built to feed the town of Nimes, an important Roman town, with water from Uzes about 12 air miles away but took over 30 miles of aqueduct in order to navigate the most economical route. Most of the aqueduct runs under or over the ground and, incredibly, sloped less than an inch over a city block. The ability to plan the route and grade with the surveying techniques of the day is in itself amazing to me. The Pont du Gard was built to span a river canyon on the route and was originally almost a quarter mile long, reduced to about 800 feet now. The arches of the bridge were the largest span that the Romans ever built – again with fitted stones and no mortar. There are three levels of arches to the bridge – all to carry a 4 foot by 6 foot channel of water feeding over 9 million gallons of water per day (over 6000 gallons per minute) to Nimes. In my opinion, this structure alone would be worth a trip to southern France. We marveled at the bridge from the banks on both sides, the river bed below, and finally walking up one side and sighting down the aqueduct. It is truly a marvel. After several hours, we regrouped and went back to the car and continued on to Nimes to see where all this water went.

We drove into the town, found a parking garage centrally located, and went to find the Roman Arena – one of the best preserved examples. It was so interesting to see how modern stadiums use much of the design principles that the Romans employed so many years ago: multi-level, open exterior passageways leading to sectioned seating areas allowing fast filling and emptying of the arena. The structure was in remarkably good shape, and now houses bull fights as well as other events. From the arena, we walked over to the Maison Carree. This was an old Roman Temple of some sort build in AD 4. The scale and proportion of the building are deceiving as it looks small until you walk up the grand stairs and to the absolutely massive doors housed under a covered entry area with high coffered ceilings. Standing next to the massive columns on the structure gives perspective to the size of the building. What a well preserved treasure – I felt privileged to have been able to see all these remnants from the past. Perhaps our time in Provence was tilted a little heavily to the Roman aspects, but it was an interest of ours and not regrettably so. There is certainly much more to see in this beautiful area of France and we didn’t even begin to scratch the surface. So much more reason to return some time in the not so distant future.

From Nimes, we drove to Avignon. Parking outside the city walls, we made our way into the Palais de Papes. What an incredible project to build on such a massive scale for such a short period of use. We arrived a few minutes late and were not allowed to attend on the last tour of the day. We seemed to run into this a little more in France than in Italy where it seemed like things were open later and were less regimented. We spent a little bit of time wandering around the outside of the building marveling at the time and expense of construction. From there, we found an area close by with several outdoor restaurants – we chose one, had a good meal, and made our way back to our car. We drove the N100 back to our hotel.

Mom and dad went to bed, but we were not ready to end our last night in France yet so we walked into town. We could hear some lively 80’s music playing down the street so we ambled over to see what was happening. A couple of younger fellas were actually breakdancing and were pretty good, spinning on the heads, twirling on their hands and shoulders, etc. Wow, I thought that was out long ago. From there we walked down some of the backstreets, bordered with the waterways and took pictures of the waterwheels lit up so nicely in the dark. It was a fun evening of horsing around, visiting, and exploring the town which was super quiet this late at night. After some time we returned to our room and went to bed.

The End of Days

We awoke fairly early in the morning as we had to drop the car at the Avignon TGV station early in the morning to catch the train into Switzerland. We could have driven and it would have been cheaper, but I’d always wanted to ride the TGV. We took the train to Geneva and connected to Lausanne where we stayed for 4 nights before returning to Geneva to fly home. We had to find time to tour around the conference schedule so I won’t detail this part of the trip.
Our time in Switzerland was a pleasant surprise. It was viewed earlier as a necessary component of the trip as a result of the conference and not anticipated as much as the earlier bits. But the Swiss people were friendly, helpful, considerate, and the cities were clean and orderly with public transportation running like clockwork. What an industrious people and society – we enjoyed our time there immensely. Lake Geneva, Montreaux, and the surrounding Alps were breathtaking. I would definitely return given the opportunity.

It was day 21 when we finally boarded our plane for home, minds still digesting the experiences we’d just underwent and relishing the memories. In writing this report, I’ve been able to relive the trip once again and it’s been pleasurable. Of all the places visited, though, Italy holds a special spot in our hearts and we long to return when possible. I’d still like to see Rome, the lakes region (is it similar to Switzerland?) and maybe spend a little more time in Florence. I’ve got a yearning also to see the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii and Herculaneum, Monte Cassino and other areas around Naples. Sicily anyone? We’ll see what happens, but when it does I’m sure I’ll rely on this forum once again to help plan that adventure.