Moving South

---

---

We left Paris for Avignon on Sunday. TRAVEL TIP: Don't buy your TGV tickets with American Express cards. When we got to Gare Lyon, we went to an automated kiosk to print out our e-tickets (because we booked a couple months ago - tickets are much pricier if you buy in Paris), but soon found that the kiosks cannot process tickets purchased by American Express. We had to stand in a slow-moving line at the ticket counter to get our actual tickets.

But, the train ride was fun and fast and we arrived in Avignon in under 3 hours. The car rental area is right next to the train station, and we received our reserved car with no problems. Our cottage is located on the grounds of the most gorgeous B&B on a little island in the Rhone, across the bridge from Avignon. The setting is ideal; the B&B owners are so friendly, and we just love the main house which was originally a hunting lodge in the 16th century.

Our past two days here have been spent going on bike rides around the island, laying by the pool (with lots of sunscreen - the sun is intense here!), going grocery shopping, and yesterday we did a loop of St. Remy, Baux, and Arles (lots of Roman Ruins and landscapes made famous by Van Gogh). Today we are off to Cassis, a reportedly beautiful protected beach with lots of nature walks.

---

Photos

Our Train
We had seats on the upper level.

Our Car
A little SUV. Robarn loves its name - the Panda.

The B&B
The downstairs is just incredibly gorgeous. We had petit dejuener in the 16th century dining room!

Our Cottage
Newly renovated and very cute, our cottage is on the far corner of the property, closest to the pool.

Our Kitchen
It's nice to cook our own meals instead of going out for dinner every night.

Roman Ruins
The road from St. Remy to Baux is punctuated with the remains of Glanum, a Greco-Roman settlement dating to 300 B.C.

Van Gogh's Provence
Across the road from the Roman ruins is this landscape. The building in the back is the asylum where Van Gogh stayed at the end of his life. Most of his most famous paintings were done here.

Glanum
The town center of Glanum. A marvel of engineering, we saw the remains of their sewage system, the baths, and many homes. The wells here are still filled with water.

The Arena
Arles was a retirement community for Roman soldiers. Its area seated 20,000, and is the best preserved of all of the Roman arenas.

Comments

[Mary Beth Bauerle]

your trip
Very cute cottage - can't wait to go to the South of France. Very jealous here in Pa.!