Dec 2, 2011 - Provence

After finally regaining possession of the missing bag, we headed off to Saint-Remy de Provence, in the region of Provence (http://www.saintremy-de-provence.com/home.html). The weather isn't looking too good, and before long we run into our first bit of rain. Freeway travel doesn't make for a very interesting drive, but it does get you to where you want to go to in a hurry. After an hour or so we leave the freeway for the slower, but more interesting, regional roads through Provence to the village we are staying at. the drive as absolutely...

Oct 17, 2011 - Catching up

Marilyn's Musings I need to catch up on entries, so here’s a potpourri of stuff from our last few days in our gite in St. Remy; we were too busy “doing” and forgot to do any “posting”. Sorry. We visited Menerbes just so we could say that we visited the scene of A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle. I can understand why he fell in love with the area; unfortunately, he put the place on the map and prices for everything including one’s daily pastis have skyrocketed. He also got so beleaguered by friends and acquaintances wanting to visit that he...

Oct 14, 2011 - Market report, part 2

Joint Jottings Monday’s market was a bit different than the others. Cavaillon is very much a working town; its industry is produce especially the famous Cavallon melons. And their weekly market caters to the needs of the folks who make their home there -- in this case, lots of Middle-eastern products, clothing, spices. Although France has made the wearing of full, face-covering veils illegal, most of the women in the market wore head scarves and long cover-ups. The prices were excellent, so, of course, I had to purchase a couple of scarves...

Oct 11, 2011 - A marketing we will go

Joint Jottings And now for the market report Bob’s trip back to the south of France was a bit eventful; his train from DeGaulle was canceled because of mechanical problems on the track and the subsequent trains were packed with people. His seat for an hour or so was the luggage rack at the end of the car. But he’s fought off his second case of jet lag in a week and we’re back in holiday mode. The plan for our two weeks in St. Remy at the Mas de la Chouette was for it to be the vacation within a vacation. We had seen most of the “have to...

Oct 7, 2011 - We're back

We’re back! Well, I never left; Bob did, but that’s the subject of the next paragraphs. We are, indeed, back in St. Remy de Provence where we spent three weeks on our trip in 2007. And we are back at La Mas de la Chouette, the vacation rental where we stayed previously. The mas consists of three 2 bedroom “townhouse” type apartments; two are rental units and one is occupied by family (last time it was the son, this time it is an older aunt). It is obvious that 5 years have passed -- things are just not as shiny bright as last time and I...

Jun 7, 2011 - Pont du Gard to Provence, France

After Nimes, we traveled about 20 kilometers so we could see the famous Pont-du-Gard Roman aqueduct. We stopped in the little town of Remoulin for an overnight in a municipal lot filled with autocaravans, directly along the river on the left bank. The following morning we rode our bicycles over to the well-preserved Pont-du-Gard, the tallest surviving Roman aqueduct bridge. The bridge (pont) was a key link in the lengthy canal that carried water from underground channels in the mountains across the pont and then another 15 miles to Nimes....

Aug 4, 2009 - Sambuc to St Remy 60kms

Too windy, too hot, too far! We followed the directions, "pick up the road you were on yesterday.." I dont know why they couldnt say go back the way you came! So once again we travelled a couple of extra kms before Ali remembered the farm they referred to from the day before. Not impressed when we had such a long day ahead of us! Perhaps we need to consult the maps more frequently?! We rode into a very strong wind for most of the day, which was like riding up hill and we walked a few kms rather than rode, making more progress! By the time...

Sep 28, 2008 - The fools have landed

Well, it has been a long day of traveling for the fools. We arrived an hour and a half early in Paris much to our surprise. Turns out it was probably a good thing. We had to get our Eurail passes validated, get on the train, change trains at Lyon and then another train to Avignon and then finally a taxi to the hotel in St. Remy. Then several of us treated ourselves to massages. A lovely dinner followed in the evening - I recommend the risotto with prawns. The wine was good too. Tomorrow some touring and hopefully more updates of our goings on.