Provence, Part 3 - Arles to Cassis

Just when we thought we couldn't see any more amazing villages, enter St. Remy and Arles. Two jewels of Provence, these are two great cities to combine together for a day trip from Avingnon. We began the day in St. Remy, which has a much smaller Saturday market than I was expecting. Regardless, it was nice to wander around the town where Van Gogh lived for a summer and got a morning espresso (or as the french say, cafe).

Following St. Remy, we took about 20 minutes of beautiful, windy roads past Les Baux (not recommended as it isn't really a village but more of a tourist trap) and to Arles. We caught the tail end of one of the largest Saturday markets in all of France, even buying a few goodies to go along with the photos.

After the market, we had lunch at A Cote, the little sister to the famous Michelin-starred L'Atelier that shares the same chef's and kitchen. I splurged for the grilled lobster, which was of course amazing.

Following lunch we did the tours of Roman Arles, checking out the amazing colliseum and Roman Ampitheatre. The colliseum is surreal and really relaxing to get lost in. And for €6 for the two sites, not a bad value either. It is really well preserved and worth a separate visit to the city just to see this site.

Following our tour of Roman Arles, including checking out Cafe La Nuit, which was immortalized by Van Gogh in one of his famous paintings, we wandered around the tiny streets of the town before heading back towards Avignon.

Once back to Avignon, Erin and I took the opportunity to see the sunset over Avignon across the Rhone from the city itself. It is really peaceful with lots of benches and grass to enjoy the views from.

We then made it back to our Domaine for one last night of home cooked Provencial food ala Erin. Below is the Domaine, a 16th century manor house converted B&B.

The following morning, our last in France, we made it back to the coast to Cassis, another amazing village that I had visited when studying abroad. Aimlessly strolling along the boats and promanade of the village is a great way to begin a relaxing day.

The weather was also amazing this time and we were able to take a Calanques tour. The tour itself was €20 for two and takes about 90 minutes to do all the Calanques. We would've liked to stop at the beach below but time didn't really permit, and the water was still on the chilly side.

Following the tour and a marginal dinner, we decided it was time to head home and get back to reality in London. It was a great return to where my passion for traveling began and was equally great to share all of it with Erin.