Adieu Provence

Marseille

Via the magic of the internet, we'll combine Days 3 and 4 in the south of France. Largely because Day 3 was mostly uneventful, unless you consider Noah's Ark-esque rains in one of Europe's sunniest regions eventful.

A comfortable train ride from Avignon to Marseilles takes you through rolling hills and meadows and quaint small towns, as you can plainly see here:

Arriving in Marseille to a beautiful train station - modern on the inside, old-fashioned on the outside - some two hours later, you're greeted by a helpful information center and get pointed in the right direction to your hotel.

It's on the 15-minute walk to hotel that you get a sense that Marseilles (* you'll see various spellings, avec ou sans "s" - so we'll go with both here to appease both the s and non-s camps) has fallen on some tough times. It is one of the poorest large cities in France, and you can feel a bit of the edge when walking around, especially at night.

Still, it is France and that means there are some very nice-looking buildings, some great cafes and a bustling street market, mostly all centred around the Vieux Port. The trade-off: you lose Paris' polish for friendlier people in stores and restaurants in Marseille.

A meandering 30-minute uphill walk (you can also take the bus or a trolley from the Vieux Port) takes you to a stunning church called Notre Dame de la Garde, with a bona fida how-the-&%#*-did-they-do-that monument as it's crown jewel. It's a huge gold statue, weighing 9800 kilos and standing 11 meters high on top of a tower. It was erected in 1870. The entire site started as a small chapel in the 1200's.

The trolley from the Vieux Port to the church

Irrespective of your denomination, this is well worth the trip for the 360-degree views of the city and the ocean in addition to the impressive church.

Overall, Provence lives up to its sterling reputation. Oui, it can be a bit too touristy, but with any kind of patience and with an appreciation for the sights and tastes and smells, one can easily overlook the tourist hordes and be charmed a hundred times in just a few days.

Marseille train station

The view from the hotel room terrace

Le Vieux Port

Le hotel elevator

Notre Dame de la Garde

Below, views from the courtyard of the church and the interior

Parking, only 2 bucks! Cheap!

Day 2 of the 4-day trip in the South of France trip brought with it quite a bit more rain, but we managed to hit a great little market in the town of Bonnieux. It seems that each town or village hosts a market day on a different day of the week.

At these places, soaps, oils, sausages, wine, and cheese are the main sellers, with fresh produce sweet treats, and tons of kitchsy-but-somehow-tasteful souvenirs also in abundance. Toothpick-holders, soup spoons, tea cozies, you name it. But still, the quality of the food is so high, it makes you never again want to buy a supermarket-packaged item.

The afternoon brought us to Gordes, a dramatic-looking town essentially pasted onto a hillside. More of the same for sale, with the added plus of great art stores and restaurants.

You feel the sense of history in Gordes, much the same as so much of France - things feel as though they are largely untouched from when horses and knights walked the streets, perhaps also selling lavender-scented oven mitts for 10 Euros.

Next up on the blog: a day in Marseille, eh?

The town of Gordes

These walls lined many properties on the drive up to Gordes

Mon dieu! Centuries-old graffiti perverts? The famed Saucisse du Saignon? Or just an extremely juvenile photographer?

Saignon

Saignon

The view from Saignon

Saignon

More Provence

Provence is one of those rare places that lives up to the cliches. It is just as full of great food, poetic landscapes, and old-school charm that you think of when hearing "Provence".

Yes, there are some run-down towns (Apt) with graffiti and boarded-up windows; a few traffic snarls; and you can imagine places being overrun with tourists when the weather is nice.


But the rolling hills and amazing little shops of fine foods, oils, and fragrances (yes, I said "fragrances" - sorry, the place got to me) and head-turning scenery all more than make up for it.

The fog in Saignon

Same spot, 10 minutes later

Art shop in Gordes

Provence Day 1

The guidebooks will tell you that the sun shines over 300 days a year in the Provence region of France.

From the airport to Avignon

I, however, will tell you that we happened to be there on four of the other 65 days of the year.

And yet...and yet. There were enough holes in the clouds and moments of light to really enjoy every day of the trip. The small villages/hamlets (not sure what the difference is, but saying "hamlet" somehow sounds at once more appropriate and more pretentious) were of the melodious sort - Bonnieux, Cassis, Avignon - and the less so - Apt, Gordes (the "es" is silent). I expected Gordes to be full of lumberjack-jacket-clad Canadians.

Staying in a small dot on the map called Saignon - technically defined as a commune - you're instantly transported back a few hundred years. The houses are cobbled together haphazardly, so you 're never quite sure which path leads to your front door. Renting a place is quite affordable, with a very spacious 2-bedroom place with stone walls going for 500Euros/week, split-able between friends even.

From there, it's a series of day trips to various town markets and wine regions throughout the day.

The next few days will showcase some of the region, with pics taken between the raindrops. It ended with a night and a day in Marseille. So tune in this week for more. A bientot.

The view from Saignon