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Published: March 19th 2013
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Le Pont D'AvignonMy weekend in Provence was fantastic! We visited 4 different cities in just two days, and packed in an amazing amount of site seeing. Everywhere we went was incredibly beautiful. The first day, we met up at the train station at 6:30 AM to go to Avignon, which is almost 700 km away from Paris, in the South of France. We had a beautiful sunny day (although quite chilly and windy--uncharacteristic for the South of France). We visited the Palais des Papes, which was the official residence for a few different French popes in the 14th century who chose to move away from the Vatican and into France. We also got to take a walking tour around the entire walled city, which was very interesting. We got some pretty amazing views of the famous Pont d'Avignon, which no longer functions, but is still very well known.
After a delicious lunch (mussels and frites!) we moved on to Saint Rémy de Provence, where we visited a vineyard and did a wine tasting. We learned all about the proper smelling and sipping procedure (although I don't think many people spit out their wine like we were supposed to!) and tried some pretty
amazing wines. Provence is known for its rosés, but we tried whites and reds as well. The family-owned vineyard was altogether 125 acres of land, and the couple who owned it fed us endlessly with cheese, bread, mini croque-monsieurs, pâtés, and countless other goodies. Once the wine tasting ended, we went to our hotel for a delicious three course pre-arranged dinner and a relaxing night.
Sunday was also packed with things, although the weather was much less accomodating. We woke up to pouring rain with 25 mph winds and a high of 43, and the whole day was planned to be outside! When we got to Les Baux de Provence, a medieval city with huge ruins of an ancient fortress, the wind was so strong everyone pretty much gave up on umbrellas, and we saw what we could of the castle without freezing too much. The city itself was pretty interested to explore, and many of us had the chance to buy organic lavendar, produced in the shops themselves by the owners. Lavendar is another of Provence's specialties, so we shopped around and made the most of our time indoors. To compensate for the weather, our guide bought us
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Across the river from the Palais des Papes all admission tickets to this incredible virtual art show in Les Baux de Provence, where they projected impressionist paintings on the walls of an old quarry. They had music and effects to go along with it, and the entire spectacle was pretty amazing. It was definitely a high-light of the trip.
Last but not least, we went to Roussillon, a small southern village known for its natural ochre deposits. Ochre is a sediment in the soil that is very orangey-red, and all the buildings of the city are painted in different hues of the mineral. The city is also built on the top of a cliff, so the views are absolutely breath-taking. We unfortunately were not able to walk the famous Ochre Trail, which had originally been the plan, but we still got to explore the city and managed to find a great little creperie for a (hot!) snack.
All in all, the weekend was amazing!
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