Provence, Part 1 - Aix to Orange

After two days reminiscing of the times spent in Cannes so long ago, we embarked for 5 days in Provence, to see some familiar sights from years past as well as some new ones! Complete with our trusty but almost to detailed map of provence and a list of the most beautiful villages in the region, courtesy of the official website, we were set, taking off on a one tank of gas, six day journey. One tank of gas courtesy to the Renault Megane, which gets 68 mpg; most impressive. 

Our journey began at the towns of Cotignac and Villecroze, where we picked up a picnic and wandered around the narrow lanes and popped into antique shops. One of the best picnic snacks were the sausage sticks in the market. Not quite your average beef jerkey stick, this is the real deal! It washed down well with an Orangina. 

After the towns, we made our way to Aix en Provence. I had been to Aix during my stint abroad, but it was literally for 2 hours and we didn't get to see much. Aix is a great town with LOTS of little shops to keep you occupied for a day. Lots of fountains too!

After going into the church in the old town, Saint Sauveur, we walked around for a couple hours, grabbing a couple beers at Brasserie les Deux Garcon, where Cezanne and Matisse used to mix it up.

We had dinner that night at a thai restaurant - it was decent but not worth recommending, so I won't include the name. Most of all, it was to change it up after French and Italian meals for so many consecutive nights. We stayed at Hotel du Globe, which is moderately price and very central. They even have a small parking lot that you can stash your rental in for the night. A good option for EUR80 a night. 

The following morning we were up at the crack of dawn to explore some more villages before our wine tour and tasting scheduled at Beaucastel in Chateauneuf du Pape. We went to Ansouis, Lourmourin, Roussillon and finally Gordes, before getting to Chateauneuf.

All of these villages are on the Plus Beaux listing that is linked to above. Our favorite was Gordes, mostly because of the stunning situation of the town, hanging on the side of a cliff. All were nice, but if you time to do only one, go for Gordes.

Following Gordes, we treked to where we thought was Beaucastel, incorrectly directed by a google map search. We showed up right on time for the tasting, but it was just the wrong estate! If you are on google maps, there is a point on the map called Beaucastel, just follow to that point, not trusting other suggestions! As we finally made it to the estate 30 minutes late, one of the Perrin brothers allowed us to re-book for the following day, joining a couple who owns a vineyard in Paso Robles, California.

This freed up the rest of our afternoon so naturally we crammed in a trop to Pont du Gard, perhaps the best and most in-tact roman aqueduct in the world. I visited this in 2001 with my CSB/SJU group, canoeing from a couple miles away for 30 minutes before concluding at the aqueduct. The weather was nice enough to splash into the water a little. I always had such a great impression of this UNESCO site, and returning just reinforced that impression as one of the coolest sites I have ever seen. It is a must see if you are around Provence. 

We then ventured to our accommodation for the next four nights, Domaine de Rhodes. The Domaine is situated on Ile de Barthelasse, a surprisingly undeveloped island between Avignon and Villeneuve-les-Avignon that made a great base for exploring Provence. We got a gite so we could cook a couple meals ourselves. Our gite was EUR400 for five nights, which is pretty good for that area.

The main house on the property is extremely beautiful, dating back to the 16th century. It is a nice tranquil oasis to return to after a long day of touring the region and we recommend to all. We made dinner three of the four nights we stayed, highlighted by a mussel and prawn pasta.

The following morning we went to Orange, to check out the Thursday market and the Roman amphitheater. Orange is a nice city to wander around for an hour or two in addition to checking out the roman sights. One doesn't need more than an hour or two to do this however.

The amphitheater itself is fabulous and worth the EUR8 admission. Your ticket includes an audio guide which is helpful to explain the significance of the site and its place in history. After the tour, we had a nice lunch before heading to the second attempt at a tour of Beaucastel!!