Encore Provence; Part 5. Other places and things

Because of the Mistral, on our first day we decided to move a bit further afield than locally and revisit Aigues-Mortes down in the Carmargue area. This is a walled town from which several of the French crusades set sail. It is impressive! Hugenot prisoners were also kept here in the Constance Tower.

These days, the place is full of lovely shops and restaurants, some memories of history past and is a charming place to visit. Plus I found some sandals at long last to replace the ones that broke in Hong Kong.

The formidable walls at the back of Aigues-Mortes. The panorama shot makes them looked curved, though they are straight, but you get some idea of size. The water used to be very close to the walls but has somewhat silted up.

The rear main gate

View from our nice cafe onto the sunny square

This is the Constance Tower. One can visit inside and also walk the ramparts. We didn’t on this visit.

However, we visited a chapel of the Penitents Grise, a religious lay fraternity which does good deeds and exists to this day, along with penitents of several other colours. Their chapel is in need of repair but has this amazing stucco altar with angels and twisted columns, all rather Rococo.

The chapel

One angel from the altar. Love the hand signal!

And this amazing detail from one of the columns

That was Sunday. The next day we visited Orange which was new to us. Of course, being Monday, most of the town was closed. However, the main drawcard, the Roman Theatre, was open and Oh, my!!! This is huge!!!

Again, the panorama format curves the theatre stage, but it gives you an idea of size and impact. The biggest preserved Roman theatre in France, it is still used for opera and musical evenings. The form immediately evokes the wooden theatres of Italy we saw on the last trip in places such as Vicenza, Parma and Sabbioneta.

Only the first three rows of seating are original but many of the walls and passageways in the hill supporting the seating are intact. It would have had canvas awnings, your seating was according to your rank in society and theatre might occur, free, for up to 100 days a year. It all became rather debauched in the end apparently.

We liked the fact that the statue of the emperor in the niche over the stage had a removeable head. New emperor, bring in a new head.

This is part of the seating. The triumphal arch was also in Orange and very decorative. Built by Agustus sometime around the Christian age.

Theatre seating

The Arc of Orange

We also made a long trip to Aix-en-Provence as we had never seen it. A pretty town with the wide Cours Mirabeau all lined with plane trees. There was a market on as well, but mostly clothes and household linen.

The pretty Cours Mirabeau. There are shops and banks and cafes behind the trees

The clock tower makes an archway to the old town

We wandered into the old town with the intention of visiting the cathedral but it was, of course, closed for lunch. Speaking of lunch, the people love to grab a crepe and go, with nutella, or nutella and banana being popular fillings. This is a crepe stand which you find in all the towns.

On our way out of town we stopped at the field where Cezanne and others used to paint, with Mt St Victoire in the background. A lovely spot. We couldn’t see the view after walking up the hill and I was cursing the houses built in the way, until I turned and looked behind me.

The scene beloved by Cezanne

That finishes posts on Provence. Next stop Millau and my beloved viaduct. The story comes with a few mishaps.

Encore Provence; Part 4. Mt Ventoux

This is one seriously weird mountain! White at the top as if covered with snow. And “vent” is the French for wind. Our first few days in Sablet were very windy, in fact a mild Mistral, so we weren’t going up Ventoux then. But Tuesday was bright, clear and calm, so off we went.

This mountain is used as one stage of the Tour de France. We approached from Malaucene. Every kilometre there were little markers with the distance to the summit and the degree of grade, such as 12%, over the next kilometre. I am told you can buy replicas as souvenirs. There are also photographers lying in wait who will photograph your upwards efforts and have the prints ready for you at the summit. After all that work, who could resist?

Naturally the road was steep and winding. A few kilometres out we reached the timberline where pine gave way to a low scrub and then…nothing! Just a white scree that made the mountain seem like a giant’s sandcastle. Driving up was eerie, no trees, just a low wooden barrier which in itself is unusual for French roads. This is so difficult to photograph because everything is white. This was the best I could do.

The approach with just a tiny patch of snow

The top was spectacular. Views to forever, in fact about 250km to Mt Blanc, and this feeling still that it was all somehow artificial. There truly are no rocky outcrops or areas that look stable. In fact, it all looks like it will slip downhill if you step off the road. Which may explain the marked run below.

The summit with communication equipment

A marked run of some sort, maybe a ski run or walking track

Nick’s panorama from the summit

And the rather over-processed picture with Mt Blanc in the background

But the most fun was had using the polarisor on the camera with the blue skies and white scree

Then down the mountain, the way marked by snow poles (and the memorial to the cyclist who died on the ascent).

Well worth the visit, and the cyclists say well worth the effort. They seem to want to do it again and again.

Next episode, visits to further places from Sablet.

Encore Provence; part 3. Villages nearby to Sablet

Nearby to Sablet are towns such as Beaumes de Venise, Vaison la Romain with its Roman ruins and lovely Roman bridge, Malaucene where we visited a market, Seguret which requires a walk from a lower parking lot for visitors and seemed to be totally closed when we arrived and pretty Gigondas with a number of lovely restaurants and cafes in a plane tree lined square. Nearby, the gorgeous old church of Notre Dame sits among the vineyards.

Beaumes de Venise was setting up for a bicycle race the next day, from Beaumes up Mt Ventoux (more of which later) so lots of bicyclists in town and they were even cleaning the town fountain. The wine made here is a naturally sweet wine, one of only two in the area, and the one you are most likely to be served if you ask for a dessert wine in France, excluding the very expensive Sauternes of course.

Church, Beaumes de Venise Restaurants under the plane trees in Gigondas Pretty Gigondas The Dentelles behind neat rows of vines

Yellow house, Beaumes de Venise Old church in the vines, Notre dame d’Aubune House backed by the Dentelles New wine in the making

The other mountains of note in the area, apart from Mt Ventoux, is the Dentelles, the French name for lace (but also for teeth), seen above.

We went to Seguret for lunch at a recommended restaurant, neglecting to check the days of closure. Alas, closed for lunch, as was most of the rest of the village. Incredibly picturesque, but the inhabitants seem to survive on this one tea room. We didn’t find a shop anywhere. Sometimes the old towns become residential only and the new towns with easier access become places of business.

Fountain, Seguret Church tower, Suzette Old Roman bridge, Vaison-la-Romaine Part of the extensive Roman remains at Vaison

Roses and chairs at the tea rooms The lavoir at Malalucene Clocher and bell at Vaison

In Vaison, a disastrous flood in 1992 covered this bridge by about two feet and 30 residents of the town died. No one expected that a town so well protected by its deep walls for the river could possibly flood. The bridge survived intact.

In Suzette we found a sweet restaurant with a view out over the vineyards and lunched well. The English  bicyclists also eating there had stories to tell of cycling up the three routes of Mt Ventoux in one day and the previous day cycling up to be hit by hail and rain, their gloves and goggles covered in ice. Otherwise, they seemed quite sane.

Next post, Mt Ventoux itself.

Encore Provence; Part 2. Sablet

Sablet is a pretty little village set high above the beautiful surrounding vineyards, one of many towns, each with their many wine domains from the Cote du Provence, but mostly names we haven’t heard of, except of course for Chateauneuf du Pape and Beaumes de Venise. However, just like going through the Hunter Valley, one sees names and caves for tasting and buying “degustation et vente”.

Sablet itself is a working town, not a tourist destination. It has a small square with the Sports Bar and Cafe, which also seems to own the pizza shop and the Cornucopia Cafe. One more small restaurant, a little supermarket, two hairdressers, two boulangers and a boucherie complete the shops in the town. On the outskirts are a pharmacy, doctor and dentist and one good restaurant, Les Abilles.

Terrace at Les Abilles where we had an evening meal

The Sports Bar is the centre of life for the town. Buy a croissant at the boulangerie and take it to the bar to join it with a cafe au lait. Have a beer, join in the paella and wine tasting event on the square outside. It all happens here. Kids everywhere, all the townspeople out, especially on Friday and Saturday nights.

Up the top is a four square church which chimes the hour, twice, in case you didn’t count right the first time. Near our house is the Place du Barry, or place of the ramparts with a gorgeous view and an orientation table so you can figure out what the towns and mountains arte.

The church And the obligatory siren nearby Some old walls held up with vines The face on the town fountain

The clock tower and wrought iron clocher A passage, the roof supported by massive old beams The fountain feeds the old communal laundry

There are paved passageways and old, old buildings constantly someone having something repaired. It is very pretty in a way that Australian towns can’t be. We just don’t have the age or those sort of charming buildings. On the other hand, our streets are usually wide enough to drive and park which is certainly not the case for most Provencal villages round here.

Sablet streets Not for cars unless you are very careful Corner house

Pretty house Houses and shadows from the Place de Barrie The eaves of houses Some of the wiring came well after the houses

Then there is the view. Morning or evening it looks different and the sunsets are amazing.

Panorama of the view, day

Panorama evening

And the sunsets. Not bad.

Surrounding villages next.