Provence to Avignon

Room service dinner is exactly what we had. J had fish and I had a burger. Cannot remember the last time I had one and this was really good.

In the morning we farewell Nice and are underway at 8.30. Forecast for the direction we are heading is 26 balmy degrees. Our first stop is at the medieval village of Saint Paul de Vence which is perched high above the Riviera beaches. It has lovely views just walking up to its archway entrance.

It is just gorgeous and we are here early enough that we almost have the place to ourselves.

There are narrow winding streets that have gorgeous pebbled paths, some laid out in lovely flower patterns. Around corners are delightful fountains and a vast array of different buildings, some with vine covered stone walls. Right at the top are magnificent views all around.

Some of the houses, villas, mansions are magnificent and remin me of home.... yeah right....

The cemetery which is almost the highest point has the family plot for Marc Chaggal who was a very famous artist (in a number of different mediums) in the area and lived almost 100 years so survived 2 world wars which was no mean feat for a Jew living at one stage in Russia.

Views from the summit are spectacular.

There are fabulous little galleries and shops along each alley and we provide quite a bit of assistance to the local economy.

(At this point, I am abandoning trying to add any more photos for the time being as the wifi is now incredibly slow and the photo uploads keep crashing, so I’m out of patience until I have more time, so check back again later if you want more Okay, I’m back for a second round so am trying again with the photos...

After finishing our wander around, and our shopping, we stop for a cafe au lait and then it is time to board the coach. More lovely countryside and more vines appearing again as we head into another wine region.

We have a short rest stop just prior to arriving in Aix en Provence(the Aix is pronounced Ex) where there are major road disruptions so that it isn’t nearly as postcard pretty as I was expecting.

This is our lunch stop so we wander along Cours Mirabeau and seek out a likely lunch venue. Canadian Ann has tagged along with us. It is very busy in all the restaurants and cafes we pass. I find one that I would like to try but when we go in, there are only a couple of tables for two free. At that point I hoped Ann would offer to try elsewhere but she wasn’t going to let us out of her sight so on we went and finally found a small cafe where I had a nice Penne Provencal and a glass of rose. There isn’t much t8me left for anything else so we wander aimlessly along the main mall and then head back to the coach where we then get tothe village of Chateauneuf du Pape where a sommelier shows us the finer points of correct wine tasting. Too much fru fru for me, but supposedly his way really gives a serious wine drinker the best way of realising all the flavours of the wine. Good for them, because I can’t be bothered.


Back on the coach and a short drive to Avignon which is our home for the next three nights.

Upon arrival at our hotel about 6.15 we are delighted to find that we have a suite with 2 king size beds, a separate little living room and what is even better is that we have a proper walk in shower and I reckon I can work out the taps without an engineering degree. Can’t say the same for all the chrome over the bath though!
Dinner in the dining room at 7 which was okay but nothing to get excited about.
But that’s your lot for now as I spent way too much time faffing with the photos and I need to get to bed. cant even work up the energy for a quick proof read...
We are half way through our Country Roads tour (still have Normandy, Brittany and Loire Valley tour to follow) and it really has been great to date.